Good Afternoon!  It was such a beautiful day with the sun shining!

This morning we painted.  We were given 3 different items: a thin bristle brush, a sponge brush and a Q-tip to paint with using blue, red and yellow tempera paint.  We used the different brushes and Q-tip to mix new colors onto our papers while creating our painting masterpieces.

We then danced with our dancing scarves to Shake Your Sillies Out.

Breakfast:  Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh oranges.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded mozzarella cheese, fresh pineapple and orange bell pepper slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Refried beans with shredded mozzarella cheese and whole grain wheat flatbread.

Wee Sprout:  Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-15

Good Afternoon!

In PREK1 group, children found a card at the bottom of the board with their name written on it. On the back, they counted how many starts were in their circular array. After counting their array, they identified their number on the board where they then taped their card!

K.NS.5: Count up to 20 objects arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle. Count up to 10 objects in a scattered configuration.

In the art center we experimented with squeegee painting.  Several friends were interested in painting with the rubber scraper we tried last week.  Kids discovered independently how to use it as a squeegee.  This week we built upon that art interest!  Friends used squeeze bottles to make dots (or lizards in one case ) and then used the squeegee to pull the paint across the paper.  The kids were ecstatic about how the paint looked when they did this! 

Friends explored loose parts building during our welcome activity this morning.  There were all sorts of ideas about what to build in our large table-sized tuff tray!  Friends made ‘playgrounds with slides and merry-go-rounds’, ‘church steeples with bells’, ‘bridges’ and ‘neighborhoods’.  Our kids liked building together in the large tray as it allowed them to connect their creations and play together!

Our PREK2 journals are getting ever more descriptive and detailed!  This week we have had, “A rainbow monster with his eyes closed”, “My house in a windy storm” and “a rainbow with rainbow grass”.  There is certainly a rainbow theme pervading the PREK2 journals which makes sense given that they often share ideas as they work!  They all apply the ideas in their own way however!

Breakfast– Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh blueberries.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat flatbread, fresh oranges/pineapple, and fresh cucumber/carrots.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with butter and raisins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrots.

Have a fantastic night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-15

Good afternoon!

We started off our morning by reading some books that were donated to our classroom. One of the books we read was “Never Touch A Dragon,” and our friends took turns feeling the different textures on the pages.

Some of our friends took a break from reading books to head into the kitchen for a loose parts activity. We were given a tray with wooden shapes, a wooden occupation figurine and miniature farm animals. Our friends asked,  “What’s that?” to inquire what occupation each of their figurines had. Other friends stacked their wooden shapes to make a tower and then watched as it lost its balance.

We also brought down a basket of bugs and a basket of waffle blocks for our friends to play with. We identified the different kind of bugs we were engaging with. Eleanor pretended that her bug was climbing “up” the wall, like in the Itsy Bitsy Spider song. Our friends collaborated together to build a path out of the waffle blocks and then took turns walking on it.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios cereal with fresh orange slices.

Lunch: Whole grain tortilla with peanut butter, 1/2 slice of mozzarella cheese stick, fresh blueberries and cucumbers.

\Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout: Yellow bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening and stay warm!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-14

Good Afternoon!

We kicked off our day by exploring our one to one correspondence skills! PREK1 friends came up to the sign in board one at a time where they identified their name and the number written next to their name.

They turned around to the ledge where they searched through various strips of paper. They were asked to find the strip that displayed their number using shapes. For example, Paige’s number was 10 so she searched through a few strips of paper before finding a paper with ten shapes. She used her finger to point to each shape as she counted, showing that she understands one to one correspondence.

K.NS.4: Perform one to one correspondence tasks.

Today, we explored a salt and ice experiment.  We sprinkled salt over several large blocks of ice.  We shared with the group what we observed happening.  Friends noticed that the ice was beginning to melt under the salt.  We noted this observation as we remembered salt getting sprinkled on icy sidewalks in the winter time.  Some of our friends noticed that tiny holes or dots were forming on top of the ice.  At this point, we began to add color using watercolor paint.  As we added drops of color, all of the tiny tunnels and structures formed as the salt melted the ice, were illuminated!  The result was an ephemeral sculptural science project.  We talked about the meaning of the word ephemeral.  Afterwards, one friend explained the meaning of ephemeral to another saying, “Yep! It just fades away!”.

PREK2: Today we read the story “Snow”.  Given the weather and our class ice experiment, it seemed appropriate!  After the story we talked about our experience with the ice earlier this morning.  We shared what we remembered.

Breakfast– Corn Chex with fresh clementines.

Lunch– Peanut butter on whole wheat tortilla, sliced colby jack cheese, fresh apples/clementines, and fresh cucumber.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-14

Good Afternoon!

This morning, we focused on syllables specifically in our names! Each PREK1 group member came to the board where they found their name written on a notecard. We worked together at counting the number of syllables in our first names by clapping them out. We found out that we have a lot of two syllable names in our group!

K.RF.3.2: Orally segment words into syllables.

Later on in PREK1 group, we read a story from our MACK collection titled ‘Tortoise and Hare’. The two main characters, Tortoise and Hare, do things VERY differently. The author gave us several examples as to how each character is different from the other. After we were done reading the story, we read several words that I pulled from the story that were on vital importance to the storyline. We read each word and sorted it based on the number of syllables the word had. We used two strategies for counting syllables: clapping out the syllables and placing our hand under our chin to count syllables.

K.RF.3.2: Orally segment words into syllables.

MACK Week 1: Children will learn that mindfulness involves paying attention on purpose in the present moment with curiosity and kindness. Children will use their sense to describe what they are feeling and seeing in the world around them.

This morning we explored aspects of water movement.  We experimented with water displacement as we added stones to full cups of water.  We noticed that as the stones went in, the water poured down the handle of our measuring cup.  This led to the idea of putting a cup underneath and watching the water fill the second cup as it was displaced from the first.  Some kids took it a step further, adding a third cup making a tier system.  

A problem that arose as the kids worked was getting the water back into their cups, so we tried different ways to collect the water and decided which method we preferred.  We tried a turkey baster, a scoop, a spoon and a sponge.  The turkey baster and the sponge were the preferred methods.  Some kids explored squeezing the sponge inside of a funnel and letting the water pour back into the cup.  Great solution!  Throughout the process,

friends worked together, watched each other and shared ideas!  This kind of open exploration allows attention/focus, creative problem solving, executive planning, social emotional and fine motor development to occur simultaneously and effortlessly through play!

PREK2:  Older kids have been practicing clapping syllables, so today we sang the “name song” and clapped the syllables in our names as we went.  We counted how many syllables each name had.  We read the story, “I Can Handle It”, giving examples of difficult scenarios the characters worked though.  At the end of the story, we thought of what we could do to “handle” different situations. 

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and fresh pineapple.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with red kidney beans, fresh banana/clementines, and fresh carrots/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with granola.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrots.

Have a lovely night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-13

Good Afternoon!

We began our morning dancing with bean bags.to the Beanie Bag Dance by Greg and Steve.

We then engaged in a shaving cream sensory experience.  We added a bit of fresh snow which changed the texture to make it a little clumpy and cooler to the touch.  We then were given plastic cars after exploring it with our hands to make tracks in the shaving cream.

Miss Tina then pulled out the tiny turf steps and slide for us to climb on and slide, and the rainbow mats for us to teeter totter.

We also enjoyed listening to books on the reading steps.

Breakfast: Whole grain wheat bread toasted with butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh pear slices.

Lunch: Whole grain penne pasta with black beans, fresh apple slices and sweet potatoes.

Afternoon Snack: Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a great evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-13

Happy Friday!

We wrapped up our week talking about community helpers. Today, PREK1 children found their name on the board and we read aloud their ‘what if’ statement to see what community helper fit! We’ve loved learning about different community helpers this week and especially hearing children’s stories about various community helpers that they’ve came across in their life!

We tried using “things you would find in a kitchen” to paint with this morning.  We tried a whisk, a rubber scraper, a water pipe, a basting brush and a fork.  The kids were very interested in experimenting.  Several found new painting techniques that they liked.  Several kids found that if they painted in layers and then used the rubber scraper over the top they could make lines and see through to the under layer of paint.  One friend, feeling perplexed as he revealed the under layer, looked behind his painting …What wonderful curiosity!

This morning I noticed fewer kids around the sensory bin so I began setting up something new.  I added some stones and water with the idea to create a way to experiment with water displacement.  However, as I was doing so Arthur exclaimed “Oh we can make a pond!”.  There were several “Yeah!” comments from the other friends watching…so it became a pond!  We can try water displacement another day!  Paige was inspired by the pond play and made a drawing of a turtle in response!

Please enjoy some more pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh pineapple.

Lunch– Ham and cream cheese rollups, whole wheat tortilla, fresh cantaloupe/banana, and fresh cucumber/snap peas/carrots.

PM snack– Goldfish and string cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrots/snap peas.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-10

Happy Snowy Friday!

A few of our friends began their morning working on their color recognition and matching skills with the Galt Wooden Classic Pop-Up Toy, matching their person to the color on the base.

We then headed into the kitchen with Miss Tina to stack our pegs into our pegboards.  We worked to make a pattern with our peg colors to make our towers.

We then were climbing and crawling on the habi-trail and worked on our balance skills as we walked down the incline of the slide.

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Turkey lunchmeat and cream cheese roll-ups, whole grain wheat tortillas, fresh cantaloupe slices and peas.

Afternoon Snack:  Mozzarella cheese stick and bananas.

Wee Sprout:  Cucumber.

Have a wonderful weekend!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures:  2025-01-10

Good afternoon!

Cece explored the toys that hung from her play mat. She tried to reach for them and finally has arms that are long enough to touch them.

Our friends played with the plastic rings and placed them over their heads. Miss Bekah asked our friends what colors the rings were as they stacked them around their necks.

We worked more on our color recognition skills with the Pop Puzzle Popper Fidget pieces.. We worked our fine motor skills as well by placing the blocks together to connect them.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios cereal with fresh pear.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded roast beef, fresh cucumbers and oranges.

Afternoon Snack: Peanut butter on whole wheat Ritz crackers and blueberries.

Wee Sprout: Green and yellow bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-09

Good Afternoon!

Our PREK1 sign in continued to test our knowledge of various community helpers in our area. Each child chose a card from the bottom of the board that had a few clues written on it. After reading the clues, they shared what community helper they thought matched the clues. A few community helpers we learned about were lifeguards, plumbers, veterinarians, and teachers. One of our friends heard a conversation going on about plumbers and she immediately shared, “We had a problem with our drain and when my daddy couldn’t fix it, we had to call a plumber!”.

Social Studies: K.2.1 Give examples of people who are community helpers (inside the classroom and outside the classroom) and describe how they help us.

This morning we enjoyed exploring new window blocks filled with natural materials.  Friends were emersed in the experience of building with them, watching how things moved inside the block and closely observing that materials inside all at the same time.  Some counted pinecones, others asked questions about fossil shark teeth, others built a “movie theater” with the blocks. 

Our next painting experiment was underway this morning.  We tried using puff balls of all different sizes to make new kinds of marks.  Friends enjoyed using tweezers to dip each puff ball and then playfully move it on their paper.  Some dotted, others made wide sweeping marks.  Some even found that the tweezers themselves made interesting marks.  Allowing kids to simply explore with no set outcome creates a more experimental atmosphere around art leading to a deeper learning experience. 

We hope you enjoy some more pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Puffins with fresh blueberries.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded pork, fresh pineapple/oranges/pears, and fresh cucumber/carrots/snap peas.

PM snack– Trail mix with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, granola, and raisins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrots/snap peas.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-09