Good morning!

Children took turns signing in on the PREK1 message board this morning. They wrote their name under their birthday month. We noticed that most of our friends have a birthday towards the end of the year!

In PREK1 group, we stayed with the theme of months and read, ‘A Child’s Calendar’. This week, we’ll be diving into calendars, why we use them, and what we can find on a calendar.

K.M.2: Understand concepts of time, including: morning, afternoon, evening, today, yesterday, tomorrow, day, week, month, and year. Understand that clocks and calendars are tools that measure time.

PREK2:  This week’s MACK book theme centers around defining and recognizing friendships. Today, our small group read “Kindness Starts with You.” This story give several examples of ways friends can show kindness to each other! Afterwards, each friend came to the front to explain one way they could show kindness while at school by choosing examples from the book or making up their own!

This morning we explored a loose parts tray.  We had a choice of bolts, a variety of washers, rings, carabiners and magnets.  We could experiment with any way we wanted to put them together.  One friend chose to make a “scrap magnet”, an enormous electromagnet that is used to move large objects.  Other friends realized when a bolt was connected to the magnet, it too became magnetized and could hold objects. 

In the art center we enjoyed some water color painting!

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and fresh watermelon.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, fresh watermelon/pineapple, and fresh cucumber/pepper/tomato.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with granola.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/tomato/pepper.

Have a great night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-10-02

Happy Friday!

The older friends headed into the kitchen with Miss Tina to do a leaf collage with real leaves.  We spread glue onto our piece of cardboard with a brush and then filled it full of colorful leaves.

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We then headed outside to push our bikes up the hill, ride them down the hill and take a little break, sitting on the bench with a friend.

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh pear slices.

Lunch:  Ham lunch meat on whole grain wheat tortillas, bananas and peas.

Afternoon Snack:  Colby jack cheese slices and Pretzels.

Have a great weekend!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-09-29

Happy Friday!

Our PREK1 friends ended their week by coming to the sign in board where they were asked to identify the setting for the story, ‘Froggy’s Lemonade Stand’. They got to choose from three options and friends were quick to point out that the setting was in the yard! A few children also pointed out that a setting from the story was also the kitchen where Froggy made the lemonade.

For PREK1 group, we read the story, ‘Arthur’s Nose’. Before I started reading, I asked, “Who do you think may be a character in the story?”—the group shouted, “Arthur!”. We hit on the fact that the title often times tells us quite a lot!

Afterwards, we dissected the story by talking about the characters, setting, and several events that happened in the story. The members of our group have done a great job this week identifying characters and the setting of stories as well as coming up with specific events that occurred.

Today we discovered that we have a dragon fly larvae living among the tadpoles! While we were feeding them this morning a couple of friends found the creature that did not belong…so we learned all about the new animal this morning. Ms. Linsey was able to capture the insect so we could observe it more closely along with the tadpoles. We talked about how the two kinds of animals are the same and how they are different. One observation was that both animals swim, so we learned that they are both aquatic animals. We also learned what the word aquatic means. Another observation was that they have about the same coloring. We learned that since both animals live in the same environment, this must be the color that helps them hide the best. We learned that many animals are the same color as their environment so that they can hide easily. We noticed some differences too, like the number of legs. We talked about how one animal is an insect while the other is an amphibian, leading to different body plans. We drew pictures of the two animals in our tadpole journals and recorded (mostly dictated) our observations. Here is all of our hard work!

We did finger painting and mono prints in the art center today! We learned that a print is like a reflection so if we write our name in the paint, our print will always be backwards. 

Enjoy a few more pictures from our day.

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh pears.

Lunch: Turkey on whole wheat bread, fresh watermelon, and fresh cucumber/carrot.

PM snack: Pretzels, banana, and string cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh carrots/pepper/tomatoes.

Link to Photos: 2023-09-29

Have a wonderful weekend!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Good Afternoon!

PREK1 friends were asked to come sign in this morning! When they got to the board, they were given three different numbers and they had to determine which number was less than 13. We talked about number sequence and every child signed their name under the number 10!

K.NS.7 Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group.

Later on in group, we read ‘Jump Frog Jump’ before introducing a new concept: greater than, less than, and equal to signs. I associated the greater than and less than signs to an alligator eating food. For example, would an alligator want to eat 10 pieces of pizza or 13 pieces of pizza? It would want to eat the bigger number so the mouth of the alligator will open to the bigger number. Then, we introduced the equal sign when the two numbers are the same.

K.NS.7 Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group.

PREK2:  Today during group we read “Pie In The Sky”.  We counted several item through out the book. Since the book was about a making a cherry pie, we counted a group of ten cherries at the end.  We each got a chance to try.

Today during our welcome activity we explored different ways to group numbers in a way that was fun and hands- on.  We had a few different levels of difficulty so everyone could be challenged in a way that fit their developmental level.  We had trays with groups of twos and fives, a ten-twenty- thirty tray and a one hundred tray grouped in tens.  Some older friends were able to count thirty objects and talk about groups of ten.  Other friends were able to count to ten, others just began to count…but  everyone seemed to agree that 100 buttons is a lot!

Breakfast- Toasted oatmeal squares with banana.

Lunch- Brown rice with shredded pork and butter, fresh honeydew melon, and fresh carrots/pepper/cherry tomatoes.

PM snack- Whole wheat crackers with peanut butter and seed mixture.

Wee Sprout- Fresh carrots/pepper/cucumber.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-09-28

Good afternoon!

This morning we practiced asking our friends for consent when playing together. Hannah had plastic rings and she went up to every friend asking “Do you want a ring on your head?.” Friends then either responded “yes” or “no.”

Our babies explored the musical shakers, the textured ball, or the plastic rings.

We engaged in some of our favorite outside activities like going down the slide, playing in the sandbox, riding the teeter totter, pushing trucks around the rock area, and balancing on the wooden planks.

Breakfast: Whole grain Chex cereal with fresh strawberries.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded turkey, honeydew melon, and cherry tomatoes.

Afternoon Snack: Peanut butter on whole grain Wheat Thins crackers.

Have a beautiful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2023-09-28

Good Afternoon!

This morning the majority of us engaged in a book independently.

We then acted out the Ten In The Bed nursery rhyme.  We used the big pillow as our bed and since there was only room for 2 friends to lay on it at a time, we practiced taking turns.  We all loved rolling off the pillow and acting it out multiple times for multiple turns.

The babies enjoyed wearing the color rings and engaging with the balls in the habi-trail area as well as shaking the scarves in housekeeping.

During outside play, we were all busy pushing the construction vehicles around the rock area.

Breakfast:  Overnight Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh bananas.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded mozzarella cheese, fresh honeydew melon, sweet potatoes and whole grain wheat flatbread.

Afternoon Snack:  White corn tortilla chips and refried beans.

Wee Sprouts:  Yellow bell peppers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures:  2023-09-27

Hello Families, we hope you enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast: Oatmeal with cinnamon and pears

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with fresh honey dew melon, apples and carrots

PM Snack: Hummus with tortilla chips

Wee Sprouts: Fresh peppers and cucumber

Link to Photos:2023-09-27

Have a lovely afternoon!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Good afternoon!

This morning, our friends held up different colored Magna-tiles up to their faces. Miss Bekah prompted our friends with the question “What color do you see?” as they looked through them. Our friends worked on identifying the colors such as “purple” or “red.”

Our babies explored different shakers. They held the maracas in their hands and shook them to hear the sound they made.

Our friends took turns going down the slide while holding hands. They also helped each other fill their buckets with rocks or used trucks to push the rocks.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with orange slices.

Lunch: Whole grain wheat bread with hummus, fresh strawberries, and peas.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat Cinnamon Raisin bagel with butter and apples.

Wee Sprout: Red bell pepper.

Have a wonderful afternoon!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2023-09-26

Good Afternoon!

Our PREK1 friends started their Tuesday off by having to decipher which number was bigger when given two numbers. Friends found their name and identified the four numbers that were written by their name. They had to circle the larger number in both scenarios.

K.NS.7: Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group.

PREK2:  Today we read “Where the Wild Things Are”.  We learned that since this story is not real, it is a fictional story. We talked about what characters are in a story.  At the end of group time we picked whether we preferred the Max character or a Wild Thing character. 

Today we had a special guest come to teach us about the Mid Autumn Moon Festival.  Hannah and her family enjoy celebrating this Chinese holiday and we were lucky to have them share it with our classroom.  Tarryn read two stories called “A Big Moon Cake for Little Star” and “What is the Moon?”.  We got to learn about the festival as well as about the phases of the moon.  At the end everyone got to close their eyes and make a silent wish, which clearly required great concentration :). We got to taste moon pie and Asian pears which are traditionally eaten during the celebration.  What a treat!

We explored a little science project collecting seeds from our waning zinnias.  We learned that inside each dead flower there are seeds promising new life and more flowers in the spring!  We used magnifying glasses and tweezers to explore.  Then we collected the seeds we needed…along with multiple parts of the flower that we didn’t really need…to save for spring.

Breakfast: Kix cereal with fresh strawberries.

Lunch: Peanut butter on whole wheat bread with fresh Asian pears/orange slices, and fresh peppers.

PM Snack: Whole wheat cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh zucchini and green peppers.

Enjoy the rest of your afternoon!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-09-26

Good Afternoon!

This morning we engaged with the hollow blocks and ramps.  We carried them to where we wanted to sit and scoot around on them on the carpet.  We also used the ramps to drive the wooden cars with people down.

We also switched out the moon sand sensory table for something new.  We brought up our Fall bin that is a corn and black bean mixture. There is also some pine cones and corn cobs in it for us to explore.  We were busy scooping the mixture with many measuring spoons to put the mixture into a cup and pour it out back into the table.  We also talked about how squirrels and other animals like to eat it.

We then headed outside to work on our balancing skills on the balance beam, take a little break and sit on the bench, engage with toy boats in the sandbox and engage in the rocks with the construction trucks and use our loader bucket to dump rocks into a bucket.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat English Muffins with peanut butter and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat elbow macaroni with red beans, fresh pear slices and fresh cherry tomatoes.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Yellow bell peppers/cucumber slices.

Have a marvelous evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-09-25