Good Afternoon!

Our PREK1 sign in message focused on verbs, specifically action verbs! Each child came up and found their name on the board. We read aloud their sentence, focusing on the missing word which was an action verb! Children used the surrounding context clues in their sentence to choose the right verb.

For example, Ryan’s sentence read, “I ______ the soccer ball with my dad.”. I gave him a couple of options such as swim and build which he said didn’t make sense. Once I came to the word kick, he said, “Yes! That fits!”.

K.W.6.1b: Verbs—Writing sentences that include verbs.

This morning we explored a loose parts magnetic activity.  We chose from a wide variety of magnet shapes and used them to build using a coffee can.  There are several kids who the round table activates really appeal to.  They usually contain an open ended imaginative building component, clear individual spaces and something novel.  This seems to attract kids that have a need for calm focus. The art center offers this as well but in a little bit broader and less defined way.  Offering these spaces is important for all children in a busy classroom. 

Several kids took off on the collage mixed media painting idea today.  Watching our two older girls painting their collage today sparked interest in other friends to try this art project as well.  Others finished projects they had drying from yesterday.  What a busy day for so many individual project ideas!

Water play is always popular in the sensory bin.  It allows friends to explore different ways to divert and move water.  Water is also a calming sensory experience for most children and feels quite grounding to them as they play.

PREK2: We read the story “The Way I Feel” at group today.  We talked about ways we can calm our bodles when we have big feelings.  It was not surprising how many friends mentioned various calming activities from our Mindfulness shelf.  So many children in our class have learned to utilize these activities for emotional regulation. 

Breakfast– Puffins with fresh banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded chicken, fresh cantaloupe/pineapple, and fresh snap peas/pepper/cucumber.

PM snack– A birthday treat: fruit rolls with pumpkin seeds.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/cucumber.

Have a lovely evening!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-11-14

Good Afternoon!

This morning, we went on a bear hunt with our friends. We all chose a bear out of the basket and marched around the front of our classroom along to the “Going On A Bear Hunt” song. Even Cece joined in!

We then made our way to the kitchen to engage in loose parts play. We each had a tray with a bowl, spoon, tongs, pom-poms and dominoes. We worked our fine motor skills while trying to squeeze the tongs to pick up the pom-poms. Some of our friends also held the domino up to their ear and pretended that it was a phone.

We used our imaginative play skills in the housekeeping area with our friends. We all pretended to eat play food or mixed items in a bowl to pretend we were cooking.

Breakfast:  Whole grain Cheerios cereal and fresh pear slices.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded chicken, cucumber, fresh pineapple slices and green grapes.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat Ritz crackers with peanut butter.

Wee Sprouts:  Green bell peppers.

Have a beautiful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to picture: 2024-11-14

Good Afternoon!

Today, we manipulated playdough with our hands and several tools…

and then headed outside to ride bikes, play with baby dolls, and engage in the housekeeping area.

Breakfast:  Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and bananas.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded Monterey-jack cheese, fresh cantaloupe, red bell peppers and whole grain wheat bread.

Afternoon Snack: Cream cheese on whole wheat tortilla.

Wee Sprouts:  Corn.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-11-13

Good Afternoon!

There has been quite the sustained interest in building three dimensional projects with recycled material!  A few kids tend to check the art center materials bin every morning to see if there are any new building materials in it!  Today friends used carboard pieces to make rockets, binoculars and airplanes.  When the materials ran out and others were still hoping to make more, we turned to tongue depressors and popsicle sticks.  We got more airplanes, some ships and a picture frame! With the amount of building going on, we could use more materials.

 If anyone has any TP or paper towel rolls, paper egg cartons, or any other interesting carboard shapes that might arrive as packing material, please send it in so it can become a creative building project! 

Our creative builders used loose parts at the round table to build playgrounds, houses, barns, traps and slides for animals.  What great creative problem solving and critical thinking skills this group is developing!

The kids became aware that their bodies needed to move, so we simply added a little structure to support the need to move in new ways.  Teachers set up sensory squares and circles to hop around the building rug! Everyone had a wonderful time!

PREK2: Today we read the story “Thank You Earth” which talks about all of the beautiful things the earth offers.  We thought of all the different things we notice when we are outside and made a class list.  The PREK2 journal group has continued to think of all sorts of creative ideas to journal about! 

Breakfast– Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh oranges/strawberries.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat flatbread, fresh strawberries/cantaloupe, and fresh pepper/cucumber/broccoli.

PM snack– Air-popped corn with raisins

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/broccoli/pepper.

Have a lovely night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-11-13

Good Afternoon!

We started off our morning by engaging with the waffle blocks. Our friends worked independently connecting the blocks together or collaborating with a friend to make a row of waffle blocks.

Our friends then moved over to the front door to explore the Magna-Tiles. They placed their pieces on the magnetic door and made a wonderful collage of Magna-Tiles!

We then headed outside to scoop in the sandbox, ride bikes down the hill, and practice our balance skills on the balance beam course.

Breakfast:  Puffins/Corn Chex cereal and fresh pear slices.

Lunch: Whole grain wheat flatbread with refried beans and shredded Colby-Jack cheese, chicken/avocado salad, fresh oranges and corn.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat bagel with peanut butter.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-11-12

Good Afternoon!

We offered another activity at the art table that cultivated children’s interest in letters! Today, we added playdough and letter stamp cutouts. Arthur immediately found his A while other friends searched for letters that they knew.

At the circle table, various manipulatives were made available for children to explore. Paper cups, rubber cars, and various sized popsicle sticks were offered and immediately, friends started thinking about what they could do with the materials. Paige gathered all of the materials to make…a racetrack!

A few friends sat with Miss Linsey as they made a scale using the materials. On each side of the scale, Miss Linsey placed a rubber car and the popsicle stick stayed even. But when she took one of the cars away, the popsicle stick immediately went up at one side because it was now uneven.

Enjoy a few more pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Corn Chex with fresh strawberries.

Lunch– Homemade chicken avocado on whole wheat bread, fresh apples/oranges, and fresh green beans/cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/green beans/cucumber.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-11-12

Happy Veteran’s Day!

This morning we engaged in the corn/black bean sensory table.  We used a variety of different sized scoops to scoop up the mixture and then pour it into a cup or back into the table.

We then engaged with the finger puppets working to place them onto our fingers.

We then engaged in a variety of activities.  We worked at dressing a baby doll, looked at a book, built with and sat on the hollow blocks, and made music together with the shakers.

We then headed outside to play.  We were busy climbing, riding and sliding.

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

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat penne pasta with shredded chicken, fresh green beans and apple slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and fresh strawberries.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a marvelous evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-11-11

Good Afternoon!

This morning we had a younger friend who was interested in writing letters.  Several others got interested in letters as well so we set out our letter stamps to let the kids explore them.  Several stamped their name and friends names.  Others made artwork with the letters but talked about which letters they were using.  Learning was happening either way!

There were other things happening in the art center as well.  Several individual projects were going simultaneously, since they were all child lead.  Katherine made an ocean picture.  Paige worked more on her house project that has been going on for three days now!  Asher wanted to make some artwork out of popsicle sticks.  It was wonderful to see the variety of ideas!

PREK2:  We talked about “action words” in group today, as we thought of was to describe how our bodies could move.  We read “The Busy Body Book”, then came up with our own ideas about the different ways our we like to move!

What great weather for spending lots of time running and climbing outdoors!

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and fresh pears.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, fresh strawberries/pineapple, and fresh carrots/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with granola.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/cucumber/pepper.

Have a wonderful night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-11-11

Happy Friday!  Enjoy some pictures from our day!

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with peanut butter and bananas.

Lunch:  Turkey lunch meat and cream cheese roll-ups,  whole grain wheat bread, fresh strawberries/oranges and cherry tomatoes.

Afternoon Snack:  Pretzels and mozzarella cheese sticks.

Wee Sprouts:  Fresh green beans.

Have a great weekend!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-11-08

Happy Friday!

**Please clean out your child’s art cubby. Thank you!

What a busy and productive end to our week! Our morning was full of constant movement, creation, and engagement.

At the circle table, we had two welcome activities going. Two trays were put out with the wooden rainbows which immediately attracted children to come explore. Asher sorted the puff balls based on color while Hannah focused on using the tongs to place the puff balls on to the rainbow.

The second welcome activity was a collection of wooden materials including people and circles, both opened and closed. Arthur and Dax focused on matching colors for all three items and stacking them together.

There was SO much going on at the art table this morning, all completely child driven. First, children wanted to work on cutting. That lead to an interest in puppets, which lead to our very own puppet show!

Ryan and Paige spearheaded the event, first helping out their younger peers at the table by showing them how to make a puppet with the materials that were available to them.

Once the puppets were completed, children started gathering in housekeeping, setting up stools so they could watch the puppet show. It was quite the experience!

Our art table creations mostly come from open ended art experiences where children drive the interest and curriculum. There are so many benefits to open ended art including creativity and imagination, self expression, confidence and independance, problem solving, and social skills. Here are a few articles and blogs about why open ended art is so important and ways to implement it in your house!

https://adventurouschild.com/benefits-of-open-ended-art/

https://www.cmosc.org/benefits-of-art-during-early-childhood/ (this one has a few good recipes for at home sensory/art experiments!)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh oranges.

Lunch– Ham and cream cheese rollups, whole wheat tortilla, fresh oranges/grapes/pears, and fresh snap peas/pepper.

PM snack– Goldfish and string cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/snap peas.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-11-08