Good Afternoon!

Zoey made tons of bubbles today! She loves putting her tongue out and showing her friends and teachers! While on the floor, she did some baby stretches where she stretched her body to one foot then the other!

Friends started off their Tuesday morning by having group play in the kitchen. Children worked together to prepare food.

Emma enjoyed reading stories this morning. We enjoy listening to her read aloud to herself!

P.K. loves being around baby Zoey. This morning, he enjoyed softly tickling her feet and listening to a story with her.

Clara bounced on a purple bouncy ball while outside. She also shared the basketball with her friend P.K.!

The sandbox is a great place where friends share their toys and also where great communication skills take place.

Emma worked in insects at the kitchen table after lunch. They are scaly and have an interesting feeling to them. Emma loves taking her fingers and running them up and down the insect.

P.K. worked independently on building trains. He worked on his fine motor skills as he tried to put each piece on the train as well as his helping skills. When he needed help, he asked a teacher for “help”.

Daniel enjoyed bouncing up and down on the jungle gym this afternoon. He works on his gross motor activity a lot. He loves jumping and running in the house as well as outside!

Clara walked the Cookie Monster car around the living room this afternoon. She said, “Ride” as she was pulling the car along.

For breakfast, children had apples and cheerios. Lunch consisted of egg salad on tortillas, banana, and mixed vegetables. PM snack was graham crackers and banana.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

It was swimming Tuesday for our older Wee Friends and Music Making Tuesday for our friends in the classroom. From the “Hokey Pokey” to “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, friends delighted in making their bodies move and voices sing.

Music plays a big role in our Wee house. It is a transitional tool. Today a friend was missing her mommy. Melinda composed a song to help this friend transition into a peaceful activity. Music is a Life Skill Aid. Many friends tell us, after they’ve gone potty, that they have flushed and washed: “Flush and wash, flush and wash, when you go potty, flush and wash!”. When we gather our bodies close together to create music we sing “My space, my space, here I am in my space, my space, my space only me.”  Music cultivates literacy “Ada’s here today, Ada’s here today, let’s all clap together, ‘cuz Ada’s here today! A—da,(clap)   1—–2! Ada’s name has two claps!” Musical rhythm helps kids understand math concepts. We count keys and beats and hunt for time signatures (hearing the three count in a waltz).  Music develops brain cells, memory and musical preferences! Our new class of three year olds have three favorite songs in their repertoire: “Twinkle, Twinkle”, “ABC’s” and “Bah Bah Black Sheep”. Music comforts and soothes. When we play “Puppy Love”, it calls friends to find their lovies and lie down on the oval rug for music meditation. Music fills the house at naptime to create a calm and quiet resting time. Music is happy and fun. “Dynamite” is still the most requested song at Wee Friends.

What part does music play in your house?

FABS– Week of 9/24-Literacy: K.1.14-Match all consonant sound (mad, red, pin) to appropriate letters. K.1.7-Listen to two or three phonemes (sounds) when they are read aloud, and tell the number of sounds heard. Math: K.1.7-Find the number that is one more/one less than any whole number up to 10. K.1.6-Count, recognize, represent, name and order a number of objects. K.1.8-Use correctly one/many, none/some/all, more/less, and most/least.

Wee Sprouts: Broccoli. Breakfast: Cheerios and bananas. Lunch: Egg salad on whole wheat tortillas, mixed veggies and orange slices. Snack: pb/vanilla yogurt and apple slices.

Have a great day.

Happy Monday!

Zoey enjoyed her floor time today. She sat with her legs spread out which allowed her to work on her balance while sitting up. She has been working on going from sitting up to on her belly or visa versa.

The lion was a popular toy this morning. Friends swayed back and forth while riding it.

The blue gymnastic bus came next door to Wee Friends. Clara and P.K. watched their older friends do gymnastics on the bus. P.K. pointed at different kids that he knew. They did their own jumping on the jungle gym!

Emma sat and had some quiet time. She picked out a book and went to sit in a chair to read.

P.K. worked on his balance and leg strength by walking around the classroom with his legs spread apart. He staggered them as he walked from one end of the room to the other.

Friends enjoy the swing outside. It’s a peaceful place to be while watching children play throughout the yard.

P.K. played with the green monster truck today. He enjoyed driving it around on different surfaces such as the grass, sand, pavement, and steps.

Daniel participated in individual play while outside. He went to the wooden house to play by himself where his friends joined him later.

We walked through the garden to look at the flowers. The flowers and vegetables will soon be gone especially with the cooler weather we’re having!

Even outside, Emma loves hipping and hopping on her knees! Although she is getting much better at walking outside. She loves the rocks and the sand.

P.K. and Clara love sitting on the passenger bike together! Even though they don’t ride it, they enjoy each others company.

The Legos on the porch allow children to work on a calm activity while enjoying the outside breeze! Emma worked with the Legos for some time. She got one Lego out at a time and put them in a straight line.

For breakfast, children had soy butter toast and apples. AM snack was string cheese. Lunch consisted of cream cheese and ham noodles, watermelon, and green peas. Afternoon snack was goldfish and apples.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

 

Finn’s teamwork song has got it right. In the Land of Life Skills, it’s all about teamwork. With five friends gathered at one table to explore, sort, pile up and identify the color of plastic gems, it’s as much about working cooperatively next to each other as it is beginning math skills. The same goes with the wonder of magnetic materials. Not only are friends learning science, they are learning how to interact in a positive way with one another, sitting/standing so closely together, elbow to elbow.  Teamwork. Talk Work instead of Yelling Work. Gentle Touch Work instead of Pushing Down Work. Sharing My Tray Work instead of Crying Work. When you are two or three or four, in the Land of Life Skills, your needs are immediate and your impulse control is still developing. And that’s ok.

“It’s mine!” “No, it’s mine!” “I had it first!” “You took my spot!” “She has more than me!”

Learning to share. Life skill extraordinaire. It feels good to share with you and it makes you feel good when I share. Look what we can create together, when we share.

In our Land of Life Skills, we watch our older friends role model life skills beautifully.

In the Land of Life Skills sometimes Muppet Mascots help us along. Ideas like “Please don’t grab my face when you want to speak with me.” or learning a new song:

“It’s a hard day                                                                                                                            when you don’t get your way!                                                                                                      And Hey!                                                                                                                                      Sometimes I feel the same way!”

It’s been a fabulous day in our Land of Life Skills. What’s it Gonna Take? Teamwork. Thanks Finners.

Wee Sprouts: WF garden zucchini. Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon and pear slices. Lunch: Egg noodles with ham, peas and watermelon. Snack: WF garden zucchini muffins and bananas.

Happy Friday!

Starting on Monday, Marina will be transitioning to Wee Friends next door! We are excited for her to start this journey. We know she’ll do great things and have a fantastic time! However, we will miss her!

P.K. and Emma put puzzles together this morning.

A group of friends gathered to listen to a story.

P.K. worked with an Elmo truck and listened to the music.

Zoey loves sticking her tongue out. She is getting a bottom tooth and loves to feel it on her tongue.

Friends gathered this afternoon to build a choo-choo train. They did a great job at working together to build it as well as get the trucks and trains together.

Emma enjoyed working in kitchen as well as on her gross motor skills on the jungle gym.

For breakfast, children had bagels with soy butter with raisins. AM snack was string cheese. Lunch consisted of egg casserole with cheese, sausage, and hash browns along with oranges. PM snack was crackers and cheese.

Have a great weekend!

-Mindy

Wow. What an incredible morning! WNIT was here from 8am-1pm filming segments for upcoming Sesame Street episodes. They shot footage for the planned five segments and your young actors and actresses were unbelievable! They were camera ready at a moment’s notice, flexible when it came to who was a part of which segment, articulate when given a line to speak and ready to take direction and execute! We are so proud of Wee Friends for their hard work this morning. We also want to say thank you to Mary Collins, Angel Hernandez, Chris (sound man) and Dana (camera man) of WNIT for choosing Wee Friends to be a part of this incredible process of creating art. We also thank Matt and Rachel, interns, who were also in the house, working and playing with all our friends on and off camera. Here’s what happened:

We learned that these episodes will be aired in the Midwest, and possibly nationally.

We had a picnic outside today with egg casserole, goldfish and pear slices. For snack we are having apple pie!

Have a great weekend.

And cut.

Happy Thursday!

Zoeys ability to move towards a toy is growing and getting better each day. Her reach and stability are helping her to get toys she wants throughout the classroom.

She’s been able to scoot backwards for some time now and today she worked on scooting forward by taking her hands and sliding them so she moves forward!

Children love to listen to stories. Whether it’s a book they’ve heard before or a brand new book, their interest level peaks. Our friends imitate what they are shown. For example, if teachers read with enthusiasm and excitement, they are going to really like the book and the feeling it gave them. Children are going to follow that example and read with excitement! A few of our favorites lately have been choo-choo books (trains) and animal books.

The kitchen has been a place lately where pretend play is at a heightened level. Whether they’re pretending to be dad and mom or brother and sister, their play lasts for some time. It’s a great area to work on counting and colors throughout their play.

Our vocabulary is growing. We’re working on different words that our friends want to know. Through books and conversations throughout the day, children are getting a wide variety of words. It’s crucial that children are hearing different words and are shown the meaning. P.K. enjoyed a book today where at the end, there was a banana. He was asked to point to the banana which showed that he correlated the picture with the word.

It’s wonderful at Wee Wee Friends when children interact in group play. It’s also an important aspect of the day to have alone time to think and relax. Throughout the day, we really work on learning and pronouncing each others names! They love to say hi to their friends when they walk in the door in the morning.

For breakfast, children had rice krispies and oranges. AM snack was string cheese. Lunch consisted of whole wheat bread with tuna, applesauce, and corn. PM snack was animal crackers and raisins.

Have everyone has a terrific evening!

-Mindy

 

A bit of information regarding tomorrow morning:

• The Sesame Street producers of our local PBS affiliate, WNIT have partnered with PNC Bank to produce several 1-2 minute segments of real kids learning lessons pertaining to money: earning $, saving it, sharing it, spending it, values and making good choices.
• Tomorrow, those producers will be at WF from 8am-12pm producing 5 of these segments with our kids.
• The segments will be aired between Sesame Street “scenes”: EX: When the Elmo scene is finished, they cut away to real kids in a classroom, expressing, through activities, the ideas Elmo was sharing.
• They have given WF 5 scripts with activities and general ideas they want to shoot. Tami has worked closely with one of the producers to express our learning style and to make sure that we can stay true to this during the taping. In other words, making sure the kids are doing what they naturally do within the guidelines that PNC has fleshed out. The five activities are: 1) Build and share at the workbench 2) Dough to Dollars (mudpies and apple pies) 3) How Does Your Garden Grow? 4) E is for Energize and 5) Loan and Loaners (kids on bikes). All of these are subject to change tomorrow-but we hope not!
• After they’ve shot all morning, they will piece together/edit the story that will air. It is our hope that all of our Wee Friends will be represented in the segments, but it’s also something we have no control over. Like the 4 C’s video, a lot of film is shot for a little airtime. They haven’t shared when the episodes will air, but we will let you know immediately!
• In addition to the camera crew/producer, two representatives from PNC will be here working with the kids as they film.
• Wee Friends DO understand that Elmo and Cookie Monster are not coming, but rather, they might get to be on TV.
• For us at WF, it’s a normal day! Please arrive according to your normal morning schedule. We will have breakfast as usual and maintain a predictable WF routine around the requests made by the film crew.
• For the last few days, we have been introducing money concepts to Wee Friends and working with real/pretend coins, songs about $ and the ideas and games around saving and spending.
• THANK YOU to everyone for getting the release forms in so quickly.
• If you have a question that hasn’t been addressed above, please don’t hesitate to ask-we are happy to share any/all info that we have at this point!

Here are a few shots from today’s dress rehearsal .

See you tomorrow.

First, I want to let everyone that I have set up a new way for everyone to connect.   There is a Wee Friends Facebook Page.  I will connect the daily WF blog to the Facebook page as well as other educational, behavioral, and community information as it comes up.  I believe you should be able to “like” us on Facebook by searching for Wee Friends, South Bend IN.  If you have a problem finding us, just let me know!  I hope that Facebook is a better forum to add comments and start discussions. 

Today, our younger Wee Frienders took a trip to Prairie Winds Farm.  For most of this younger group, the farm is a new experience filled with new smells, new sounds, and new textures to feel.  I am so happy to report that it was a great trip! 

We started with two life skills lessons:

1. Your hands need to stay in your car seat.  For this age group, there is a great sense of space ownership that results in verbal conflict!

2. Where the potty facilities are at the farm.

We explored Mr. Wolfe’s big tractor while friends took turns in the potty.

Miss Charlotte proudly toured us through the front vegetable garden, letting the children sample fresh broccoli, kale, sage and green beans.  We saw grasshoppers and butterflies.

 

We stopped by the turkeys, who loudly gobbled at the children.  Some children gathered in close, while a few stood back about 3 feet and watched with great curiosity.

Miss Charlotte caught a chicken.  For you that have caught chickens before, you know this is a skill.  The children gathered around to pet the chicken.  Charlotte also showed the children the different chicken body parts including the wings, legs, and where the egg comes out.

We also learned about the horses and safety rules around horses.

We went out into the pasture and explored the hen house.  There were 3 chicken sitting, but no eggs at the time we were visiting.

 

Next, the children used the square for a jungle gym.  I am not sure what they use this equipment for, but it always draws the children!  (It looks just a little like a kid cage.)

 

We walked through the sunflower house.  Sorry Melinda that I made you pose for this picture

And then on to the prairie.  Miss Charlotte pointed out honeybees and milk beetles as we walked.

 

On our way back to the weehicle, we stopped in the pines for a quick game of follow the leader.  The branches are low and there are secluded little paths through the pines.  What fun and a great exercise in following directions (another life skill).

Today for breakfast, we had cereal and bananas.  Lunch was chicken salad on whole wheat, corn and applesauce.  WeeSprouts were cucumbers.

Miss Laurie will be posting some Sesame Street filming information is just a bit!

Have a fabulous day!

Tami

Happy Wednesday!

Zoey starts her mornings off with some delicious rice! She is beginning to eat a variety of foods and loves the new experiences throughout the day! Her movement capabilities are growing! She wants to go, go, go now! Between the rocking and trying to climb on different objects, she’s going to be moving about in no time at all!

Marina pounded softly on a musical instrument to make lights sounds. She then increased the volume so she could hear it better.

Clara and Miss Mindy read a book together this morning. Books and story time are a great way for children to get acclimated to their morning and daily routine.

P.K. and Zoey worked with wooden shapes this morning. P.K. took them and built towers in a variety of designs.

Daniel worked in the kitchen for a good part of the morning. He made breakfast for himself along with his friends. He also found a duck in the kitchen! He squeezed it and it made noise which he thought was funny.

Children love to laugh with their friends. It’s a crucial part of the Wee Wee day.

P.K. enjoyed quiet time while sitting under a tree. He examined the leaves and sticks that were on the ground.

Our friends love sitting on the big bikes. They see their older Wee Friends do this and they want to do the same.

P.K. worked on his balance as he walked along the tree logs. He stepped from one log to the other while maintaining his stability.

Marina spent some time in the morning and afternoon with her Wee Friends next door! Once outside, she sat and gathered rocks for her older friends to use for their pretend cooking.

The morning dove has another nest going and our friends observed the mother and father doves this morning. One flew away to get food while the other stayed near the nest. Our friends are very observant when the bird leaves or comes back.

Friends teetered and tottered.

Our beautiful flowers will soon be gone now that fall is right around the corner! We are loving the cooler weather here at Wee Wee Friends.

For breakfast, children had eggs and corn bran. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of whole grain rice with chicken, mixed vegetables, and mixed fruit. PM snack was pretzels and string cheese.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy