To our amazing parents:

Yesterday afternoon Hannah asked if she could come up with a project for the class to try in the art center.  She had the idea to use magnetic tiles from the building center to paint and use as stamps.  She though it could make “interesting shapes”.  We did this project today with some interested friends.  She talked about her idea for the project and demonstrated first.  Other friends created their own versions of the artwork afterward.  It was fun for her to get to see her idea through.

 

We all helped create a water piping system on the deck today.  We got to experiment through trial and error to figure out how to get the water to go the way we wanted it to.  We also got to work together and use each other’s brain storming to help.  We learned about water pressure as we got to the ground.  At first we could not get the water to travel upward, but when we got to the bottom we could attach a pipe angled upward and get water to come out.  We talked about why this happens.

Have a great weekend!

-Ms. Linsey

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes w/ PB & banana

Lunch: Cheese and turkey on whole wheat flatbread & green beans/cucumbers & bananas

PM Snack: Special treat from Ms. Kim

Wee Sprouts: Fresh green beans

Link to photos:  2023-04-14

“Children are brilliant teachers. They notice the small details, the bugs and snowflakes for instance, and invite us to slow down and enjoy each magical moment.”

-Author Unknown

I’ve truly felt this way these past five years. I’ve learned and grown as an individual from working with these amazing little people. Thank you again for entrusting your child/ren with me! I’m so blessed to walk away knowing they will thrive in the years to come, and that I’ve had a small hand in that!

Thank you all for being such wonderful parents!

Ms. Kim

Happy Friday!

Enjoy some of the pictures from our day!

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

Lunch:  Rotisserie chicken lunch meat on whole grain wheat bread, red bell peppers, and fresh pear slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Pretzels and mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful weekend!  Enjoy the sunshine!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-04-14

Good Afternoon!  Another beautiful day!

This morning we exhibited our amazing dress up skills by putting on character headbands, hats, and colorful scarves. Arthur lined up his wooden cars and made sure to put wooden people in them. Hannah made some music by shaking her maracas.

Emily worked on building with Legos pieces while laying down. Friends asked for some books, so Ms. Tina read “Mouse Count” by Ellen Stoll Walsh. After the book was over, a friend said the ending was “so silly.” Paige and Arthur explored the Habi-trail together and took turns sliding down. Ben stacked different color beads on a wooden pegboard.

We made our way outside to play with some tins full of water, frogs, and plastic boats. We also played in the sand box, enjoyed the sun on our playmat, attempted to catch bugs and made a habitat with grass in the jar, and built with plastic waffle blocks.

Breakfast:  Whole grain Corn Chex cereal and fresh pineapple.

Lunch:  Whole grain brown rice with shredded turkey, fresh cantaloupe and corn.

Afternoon Snack: Sunflower seeds with whole grain Triscuits crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Orange bell peppers.

Have a terrific evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures:  2023-04-13

Happy Thursday!

We have been playing with dinosaurs in the sandbox and talking about them, so today we looked at real fossils.  We got to see the ancient fossilized sea bottom of Michigan from long before the time of the dinosaurs.  We also looked at petrified wood from the Triassic period just as dinosaurs were beginning their evolution.  Last we looked at the rib bone of an extinct prehistoric animal from after the time of the dinosaurs but before our time. 

WF is starting its own band led by Daniel! Our friends all gathered in a circle with their own unique instruments. The practice was a little rough from the start, so we had an introduction in the concept of keeping a beat. Ms. Kim showed them how to do this. Of course, with any band, the artists just play their own style (which must be a rock band because they quickly went back to their crazy rhythms). More practice may be required.  

We took the interest outside where our teacher berried the jaw bone of a horse.  We pretended to be paleontologists searching for fossilized bones.  It was exciting to finally find the jaw bone and many friends took turns re-hiding and rediscovering the bone.  A friend asked if this what the top or bottom part of the jaw so we got to talk about where the mandible is inside our own bodies as we inspected the horse jaw. 

Of course we also took care to water out seed trays in the green house!

Breakfast: Cheerios & cantaloupe/pineapple

Lunch: Brown rice w/ pork, pepper/cucumbers, & pineapple/cantaloupe

PM Snack: Ritz & sunflower seeds

Wee Sprouts: Fresh cucumbers & yellow/green peppers

Link to photos:  2023-04-13

Have a great afternoon!

Ms. Linsey & Ms. Kim

This morning we were engaged in the housekeeping area…

sitting in a chair to play or rock…

adding a dress up tie to our outfit or looking at our reflection in the mirror.

We then headed into the kitchen for a sensory experience with shaving cream.  We let Miss Bekah know the color of our choice to add; blue, red or yellow food coloring to change it.  We then added another color to mix together to make a new color.  Friends were shouting, “it’s purple, it’s gray” as they saw it change.

We then went outside and sat on the benches to enjoy our Wee Sprout before engaging in our activities.  We rode on the teeter totters with a friend, engaged in a water activity with plastic boats that the pre-school class set up for us to enjoy with them, and walked around with the baby dolls with my sister.  Even Eleanor was out with us this morning sitting on the blanket engaged with her basket of toys.

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

Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, fresh pineapple slices, carrots and toasted whole grain wheat English Muffins with butter.

Afternoon Snack: Refried beans and white corn chips.

Wee Sprout: Yellow bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 203-04-12

Welcome to another beautiful day!

Today we created water bead marble runs!  In a bin filled with water and water beads, we worked independently, or with our teacher to make marble runs.  We used turkey basters to suck up the water beads and squirt them down the marble runs.  We also used scoops and bottles to fill with the beads and poured them down the runs, watching the cause and effect of what we made.

Since the water beads were so popular, we set up a couple of personal water bead activity trays for further exploration.  There were a variety of trays, scoops, jars and spoons to use for any  imaginative ideas we had for the beads. 

We had a blast outside in this lovely spring day. Some of our older friends went on a short walk (see blog link) around the neighborhood. Then we added some water in our kitchen area. A friend set up a restaurant that served milkshakes and coffee. He gave Ms. Kim three cups of coffee. Apparently she must have looked very tired, so he thought she needed that many. Haha!

Ms. Linsey brought in large toy dinosaurs for the sandbox. They took chunks of sand and stuffed the dinosaurs mouth with their “food.” Others created a made up scenario in which the bad dinosaurs (carnivores) attacked and ate the nice dinosaurs (herbivores).

Breakfast: Oatmeal & apples

Lunch: Farm fresh eggs, pita bread, carrots/snap peas, & cantaloupe/pineapple

PM Snack: Popcorn & raisins

Wee Sprouts: Carrot chips & sugar snap peas

Link to pictures:  2023-04-12

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Ms. Linsey & Ms. Kim

Happy Sunny Tuesday!

We began our morning moving through different areas of the classroom.  Arthur built a tower with Duplos, Emily was a doctor and gave her brother Ben a check-up, Eleanor was chewing on her finger while smiling on her playmat, Dax and Eliza were wearing headbands and walking around to show their friends and Paige was engaged with the airplane and colored rings.

 

We then engaged in the bird seed/rice sensory table.  We were busy filling our hands and scoops full of the mixture and pouring them into the different size containers.

We had so many different activities to choose from outside. Arthur and Ben chose the sandbox and used different tools to scoop sand. Hannah chose a baby doll to play with. Both Emily and Eliza enjoyed playing with their older siblings. Dax used a piece of chalk to draw big continuous circles on the chalkboard. Paige took a turn at painting with watercolors at the easel outside.

Eleanor has shown interest in sitting up, so she tried out our blue chair today and she loved being able to look around the classroom effortlessly.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal and fresh oranges.

Lunch: Peanut Butter on whole grain wheat tortillas, 1/2 mozzarella cheese stick, pear slices, and cucumber.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat bagels with cream cheese and apple.

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-04-11

Hello Beautiful Day!

Our friends enjoyed painting the branches yesterday and wanted to paint more, so we turned it into a project.  We painted a larger branch today so we can make a wind chime, or hanging artwork. This will depend on our preference. We then can attach our smaller sticks to it. We will also string some beads to add to the hanging art.

We took our artwork outside making a large group water color painting.  We intermingled our artistic ideas creating a very interesting piece! 

Friends enjoyed a loose parts welcome activity creating marble runs and mazes using wood pieces of all shapes and sizes.

Breakfast: Kix Cereal & oranges

Lunch: PB on whole wheat bread,  cheese slice, watermelon/pears, & carrots/peppers/cucumbers

PM Snack: Whole wheat English Muffins & cheese cube

Wee Sprouts: Fresh rainbow peppers, carrot chips, fresh cucumber slices

Link to pictures: 2023-04-11

Warmest greetings to all,

Ms. Linsey & Ms. Kim

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and gorgeous weather.

This morning we were so happy to see our friends and play with them.  Paige worked at putting an outfit on her baby doll while Dax, Eliza and Hannah engaged in their own books. Ben and Emily rocked together in the rocking chair and then Ben blew the teacher with the camera a kiss. Arthur was busy cooking in the housekeeping kitchen.

We then headed into the kitchen to use dot markers on coffee filters.  We created a lot of dots to fill up our filters with a rainbow of colors.

We then headed outside to enjoy the beautiful warm weather.  It wasn’t long before we took off our jackets because it was so warm.  We loved engaging in the sandbox, sitting in the shade on the bench to get out of the sun for a bit or drawing pictures on the sidewalk with chalk.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat bread toasted with butter and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat pasta with shredded turkey, fresh oranges and broccoli.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and watermelon.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a marvelous evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2023-04-10

Greetings!

Today, we started turning the soil in the garden.  We used garden tools like rakes, hoes and shovels to help.  We learned what each tool is best at, and tried different tasks.  Some of us aerated the soil and loosened it with the rake.  Some of us used the hoe to pull up weeds, and some used shovels to dig up weeds with deep roots.  We also removed extra leaves and sticks that had filled our garden boxes over the winter.  We found some earth worms while we worked.  This gave us a chance to talk about an earth worms job in a garden.  We learned that earth worms are decomposers who help turn dead plants back into soil as they process the leaves in their digestive tracts.  This puts nutrients trapped in the dead plants back into the soil for new plants.  We also learned that earth worm tunnels aerate the soil keeping plant roots healthy.  At small group today we read the book “An Earth Worm’s Life” and learned about how earthworms live. 

Several of us painted branches in the art center.  We picked out our colors and tried to create rings or dots in patterns around the branch using our brushes.

Breakfast: Whole wheat English Muffin w/ PB & banana

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta w/ tomato sauce & shredded cheese, carrots & green beans, & watermelon

PM Snack: Whole milk yogurt & granola

Wee Sprouts: Carrot chips & green beans

Link to photos: 

2023-04-10

Enjoy this lovely weather,

Ms. Linsey & Ms. Kim