Happy Monday!

**Reminder: Wee Friends is closed next Monday, September 4th for Labor Day. Thanks!

In PREK1 group, we read, ‘Blueberries for Sal’ which brought up the conversation of one to one correspondence, or counting! In the story, Sal and her mom went blueberry picking and they put one blueberry into their buckets at a time. After we read the story, each friend came up to the bench or stayed on their mat where they were given a pile of colorful counters. They had to place the counters out in front of them in a line and using their index finger, count them!

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

PREK2: At small group today we read the book “alphabet adventure” working on our letter recognition. 

It was an “aquatic” morning! Today we got to meet out new classroom Tadpoles!  We will be observing them as they complete their stages of metamorphosis over the coming weeks. We spent some time looking at our life cycle cards and talking about the stages of change the tadpole goes through.   We could arrange the model tadpoles in order and match them to the cards.  Next we started our “Tadpole Journals”.  We focused on making “observations”.  A couple of older friends were able to verbalize this as meaning “looking closely”.  We talked about descriptive words and how they help us record our observations.  One friend said that the tadpole looked green and black and that it had a “Swishy tail”.  Another fiends noticed that it had a round head.  An older friend  chose to draw the life cycle in the front of her journal, labeling each developmental stage.  A younger friend drew the tadpole with all of its “brothers and sisters”.  After  observation journaling, we got to use our imaginations to play in a  “frog and tadpole terrarium.” 

Breakfast: Whole wheat bagels with butter and fresh orange slices.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta and black beans and butter  with fresh banana/ pineapple, and fresh red/green peppers.

PM Snack: Whole milk yogurt with granola.

Wee sprouts: Fresh tomatoes and bell peppers.

Have a wonderful afternoon!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to Photos: 2023-08-28

Happy Friday!

Enjoy some pictures from our day!

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

Lunch:  Hummus on whole grain wheat flatbread, fresh cucumbers/red bell peppers, fresh pear/bananas.

Afternoon Snack:  Mozzarella cheese stick and fresh cantaloupe.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a great weekend!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-08-25

Happy Friday!

We ended out our week in PREK1 reading, ‘Strictly No Elephants’. Earlier in the day, children signed in where they were prompted to share a way that they can be a community helper in the classroom. We continued this theme into group time where we filled out a web with ways we can be helpers!

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.

PREK2: We continued our life skills conversations at group today.  We read the book “Hands are not for Hitting” which gives lots of great examples of things we CAN do with our hands when we feel a need to use them as well as things we can do instead of hitting to communicate how we feel and to calm our bodies before we react.  At the end of group we made a list of all the things we can do with our hands.

Earlier this week one of our older friends started making patterns with colored water.  We started talking about different ways we could make patterns, so today we set out some art materials for older friends to experiment with making patterns.  There were a few that really got into pattern making and made five and six different patterns with their materials!

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh orange slices.

Lunch: Hummus on whole wheat bread with bananas/pears and cucumbers/carrots.

Snack: Pretzel sticks, sliced cheddar cheese, and banana.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh carrots and green peppers.

Have a fantastic weekend!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to Photos:2023-08-25

Good Afternoon!

**Reminder: Wee Friends is closed Monday, September 4 for Labor Day. Thanks!

After reading, ‘I Want To Be a Firefighter’, we played a small game of memory! It’s one of PREK1 group’s favorite games. Children had to find the matches for the community helper and the description!

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.

PREK2:  We have been focusing on Life skills this week during pre-K2 group time .  Today we read the book “I Can Do Hard Things”.  We made a list of things that we felt were hard for us to do, but that we COULD still do anyway.  We practiced mindful breathing that can help us calm our bodies when we have to do hard things.

Our butterfly emerged from its chrysalis this morning!  We spent the morning observing the butterfly and talking about what it was doing.  First it hung from its chrysalis and held very still allowing its wings to dry.  We noticed later it began to walk around the top of its habitat, opening and closing its wings.  We learned that this is a sign the butterfly is practicing flight and ready to go!  We looked at books about Monarch butterflies and recapped the metamorphosis we had observed.  Some of our older friends have been keep a journal documenting the metamorphosis.  Others drew the butterfly! We took the butterfly outside with all of our older friends.  Nesta, being the oldest, got to gently hold the butterfly until it flew way!

Breakfast- Toasted oatmeal squares with fresh pineapple.

Lunch- Brown rice with butter and shredded turkey, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh cucumber/carrot.

PM snack- Seeds (pumpkin and sunflower) or peanuts with whole wheat crackers.

Wee Sprout- Fresh carrots/cucumber.

Have a great night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-08-24

Good afternoon!

This morning our friends Dax and Ben engaged in imaginative play in the kitchen area. Eliza and Hannah dressed up in scrubs and added different accessories like ties to their outfits.

The babies shared baby toys with one another and explored some sensory objects like the silk scarves. Eleanor has mastered moving from her belly into a crawling position and then to a sitting position!

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios cereal with fresh oranges.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with red beans, pear slices, and cucumber.

Afternoon Snack: Sunflower seeds with whole grain Wheat Thins crackers.

Wee Sprout: Orange bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening (and stay cool)!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2023-08-24

Good afternoon!

Reminder:  Wee Friends will be closed Monday, September 4th for Labor Day.  Thank you

This morning we were all busy engaged in looking at books independently on the reading step.

We headed outside early to beat the heat, so we enjoyed our Wee Sprout cucumbers outside before engaging in activities.  The babies engaged in their basket of toys on the blanket while the rest of our fiends engaged scooping, digging and sitting on a truck in the sandbox and water play with sea animals and rocks.

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

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs, fresh strawberries, orange bell pepper slices and whole grain wheat tortillas.

Afternoon Snack: Refried beans with corn bite size tortilla chips.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening and stay cool!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures:  2023-08-23   (may have some issues loading)

Good Afternoon!

**Please look for Tami’s email about announcements and reminders later this afternoon. Here are two items on the email we want to make sure everyone sees today. Thanks!

1. In the WF classroom, we have cups and water available all day long. Please do NOT leave a water bottle at WF for your child. (Exception: if we have already spoken with you about using a water bottle for your child, please continue to bring one, but all others will be sent home.)

2. Backpacks take up a lot of space in your child’s cubby that will be needed as soon as winter coats are necessary. You are welcome to use the grocery bags (located in an empty cubby) to take home art and other items and skip the backpacks.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In PREK1 group today, we read ‘The Paperboy’ which is a story about a young boy who has a job as a paperboy! We talked about how paperboys/mailperson’s help us. Afterwards, we read seven community helper jobs on the chalkboard. Then, I read one description at a time and children worked together to share which job that description matched!

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.

PREK2: At group time we read the book “Germs are not for Sharing”.  As we read we practiced hygiene lessons like how to cough and sneeze into your elbow, how to wash hands thoroughly, when we wash our hands and so on.  We got to talk about why we do these things keeping our bodies and our classroom safe.

In journal group we got name sticks and worked on picking out our own name from the pile before we spelled it out in our journal. 

In the art center we explored a colored water activity, using our color mixing skills to create  hues.  Next we used an eye dropper to fill a variety of shape trays  with our colors creating visually interesting patterns and color block art work.  A few friends got into making alternating AB patterns with their colors instead of mixing them. 

Breakfast- Whole grain oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh pineapple.

Lunch- Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat flatbread, fresh strawberries/pears, and fresh cucumber.

PM snack- Air popped popcorn with raisins.

Wee Sprout- Fresh cucumber/carrots.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-08-23

Good afternoon!

Enjoy some pictures from our day!

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with apple slices.

Lunch: Whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter and 1/2 mozzarella cheese stick, fresh pear, and carrot chips.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain English muffin with cream cheese and watermelon slices.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2023-08-22

Good Afternoon!

We are discussing community  helpers this week in PREK1 group. We read, ‘Albert the Fix It Man’ in group and afterwards, we talked about specific community helpers like doctor, dentist, veterinarian, and librarian. As children were rolling up their mats to go journal, I gave them one community helper and they had to share how that helper helps us.

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.

Enjoy a few pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Kix and fresh watermelon.

Lunch– Peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread, fresh apple/pineapple, and fresh carrot/cucumber.

PM snack- Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrots.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-08-22

Good Afternoon!

This week, we’re talking about classroom rules and why we follow these rules. After reading, ‘Be Kind’ in PREK1 group, we made a web where we added school rules. Once a friend shared the rule, they had to tell us why we follow that rule.

Social Studies: K.2.3 Give examples of classroom and school rules and explain how each helps us.

During our welcome activity, we found different ways to sort interesting treasures.  Some of us collected them in compartmentalized tins sorting them by shape, color or texture.  Others sorted them directly on the mirror tray created beautiful little ephemeral artworks in the process!

We experimented with corn starch and water in the sensory bin today.  Everyone has been very interested in squeezing glue, so to satisfy the interest, we filled bottles with a cornstarch and water concoction.  Everyone enjoyed mixing the ingredients and creating imaginative play experiences with the materials!

Our PREK2 group practiced deep breathing in order to calm our bodies when we are experiencing difficult emotions.  We read the book “My Magic Breath” and tried the breath excises in the book.

Breakfast: Whole wheat peanut butter toast with fresh pears.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with shredded beef, fresh peppers and fresh watermelon.

PM snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh carrots and tomatoes.

Link to Photos:2023-08-21

Have a wonderful afternoon!

~Wee Friends Teachers