Good afternoon!

This morning, our friends asked for the “Bear Hunt” song.  We chose a stuffed bear from the basket and then marched around the front area of the classroom with them as we listened to the song.

We made our way into the kitchen to engage with playdough and used a variety of tools. Our friends used plastic egg halves, cookie cutters, and craft sticks to manipulate the playdough into different shapes and objects.

We went outside to take advantage of the nicer weather before it rained. Our friends used their imaginative play skills while pretending to cook with weeds in the outdoor kitchen. They also rode the teeter totters individually or side by side with a friend.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with fresh orange slices.

Lunch: Whole grain wheat tortillas with peanut butter, 1/2 stick of mozzarella cheese,fresh green beans, and watermelon.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout: Green bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2024-07-09

Good Afternoon!

It was an imaginative day at Wee Friends! Some of our big kids had the idea to play Pirates!  We got out all of the pirate dress up we could find as well as a large pirate treasure chest!  The group played all morning.  We had to add a couple of trays at the round table filled with pirate treasure since there was not enough room in housekeeping to support all the pirates in the classroom!

In the art center some friends continued with collage.  They added some stamps so they could stamp the names of the people they were making their artwork for.  There were several for Moms and Dad’s.  Fun and kid spelling can go hand in hand!

There was a strong interest in books today…even more than usual!  There was a teacher in the reading area almost all day! 

It was also a day of personal growth.  Many of our friends pursued their own development using all of the tools for play available in the classroom.  This developmental progress ranged from cooperative play to gross motor skills!

Breakfast– Kix and banana.

Lunch– Peanut butter on whole wheat bread/tortilla, fresh watermelon, and fresh cucumber/pepper/carrots.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/carrot/cucumber.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-07-09

Happy Monday!

A few friends moved into PREK1 group today which was exciting! Katherine, William, and Hannah were extremely thorough when explaining our procedures in group time as well as journal time. We read, ‘The Gruffalo’ in group which elicited several comments about the characters and their intentions.

Our garden has been growing over break and many of us were thrilled to discover delicious snacks growing on our garden plants!  We enjoyed munching fresh picked snap peas and green beans during our time outdoors today!

We spent time in the art center this morning exploring colored fabric bits as collage material.  These kinds of open ended explorations allow for the development of creative problem solving, focus and overall executive function in the brain.  All this development is happening quietly in the background as a child is emersed in the flow of joyful creativity!

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with shredded turkey, fresh cantaloupe/banana, and fresh carrots/cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-07-08

Happy Monday and welcome back from summer vacation.  We hope everyone had a great break.

Today we welcomed a new friend and family to our classroom and Wee Friends.  We are so happy you all joined us.

We were busy getting back into the routines and engaging in our favorite activities in the classroom.  Charlotte and Milo sat on the reading step to engage in a book, Eliza engaged with the loose part colored bucket people and bowls at the table, Eleanor climbed on the habi-trail, a friend built with Magna-Tiles and another friend engaged with a shape house.

We then engaged in making beautiful sounds on the pianos and xylophones together. After we were done with the instruments, Miss Bekah got down our silk dancing scarves and we danced with them to the song, Shake Your Sillies Out.

We then headed outside to get some fresh air and engage in a variety of our favorite activities.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat bread toasted with buttery spread and cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat penne pasta with shredded beef, bananas and cooked broccoli.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a great evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures:  2024-07-08

Happy Friday!

It’s that time of year when our older kiddo’s move onto their next adventure and today, we say goodbye to two of our older preschool friends, Nesta and Adrian.

Both Nesta and Adrian started their Wee Friends journeys over at Wee Wee so needless to say, both of their families have been a crucial and intricate part of Wee Friends for several years! We hate saying goodbye but we are so thankful for these two and their families for all they’ve added to Wee Friends during their time here!

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Being the last day at Wee Friends for Nesta and Adrian, I asked them if there was a special activity that they wanted to do either that they enjoyed from their time here or something they hadn’t done.  Nesta said she wanted to make things with leaves from outside because she had really enjoyed that activity.  Adrian said he wanted to paint.  The two suddenly realized the two activities could be combined to make something new!  Everyone who participated in Nesta and Adrian’s activity was excited to come up with ways they could combine paint and natural materials from our outdoor space.  Here is what they came up with!

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

Lunch– Homemade english muffin pizzas, fresh watermelon/banana, and fresh cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Pretzels and string cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a wonderful summer break!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-06-21

Happy Friday!

Today we are saying goodbye to two of our classroom friends, Ben and Eden. We are going to miss you both so much and wish you well on your next adventure!

Please enjoy some pictures from our last day before summer break!

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese/peanut butter (child’s choice) and bananas.

Lunch:  Whole grain English muffin pizzas with marinara and shredded mild cheddar cheese, fresh watermelon and fresh orange bell peppers.

Afternoon Snack:  Pretzels and mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a great weekend and summer vacation and we will see you July 8th.

Rebekah and Jena

Link to pictures: 2024-06-21

Good Afternoon!

We were SURE that the caterpillars would emerge from their chrysalis while we were on vacation but we walked in this morning, and THERE THEY WERE!

We spent the morning observing them, watching as they slowly started to move around their enclosure.

Right after breakfast, children who had been documenting the physical changes of the caterpillars headed to the art table where they completed one last entry into their journals. We started observing them when they were monarch caterpillars that a child had found in the backyard.

As the caterpillar’s physical characteristics started changing every few days, children would document the changes with a picture and then either kid spelling the description or having a teacher help them write their words.

The last step in our journey: releasing the butterflies! When they both were moving around in the cage, we knew it was time. Our four older friends helped as we slowly took the butterflies out of their cage and let them fly away when they were ready.

We are so thankful we were able to experience this before we left for summer vacation!

Breakfast– Whole grain cheerios with banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded turkey, fresh watermelon, and fresh cucumber/green pepper.

PM snack– Albert’s birthday treat: dried fruit and sesame sticks along with string cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a lovely night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-06-20

Good afternoon!

Our friends started off their morning with loose parts. Miss Bekah gave all of our friends different wooden shape pieces, miniature farm animals and wooden people to play with. Our friends identified the farm animals they had and stacked the shape pieces.

Our friends were also really engaged with building with the Duplos this morning. Two of our friends, Eliza and Ben, worked on stacking them to make towers. Their friends helped them stack additional Duplos and they competed to see who could build the tallest tower.

Our younger friends played with the wooden peg boards and the assortment of wooden beads, rings, and shape beads. They stacked their items on a peg board scale that went down as they increased the items on one side. After our friends were done building and stacking, we got the tunnel back out. Some of our friends who weren’t here yesterday got a turn at crawling through the tunnel first.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with fresh pears.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded turkey, watermelon slices, and carrots.

Afternoon Snack: Sunflower seeds with whole grain Triscuits crackers.

Wee Sprout: Orange bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2024-06-20

Good Afternoon!

Today we….

looked at books with a friend on the reading step…

built with the hollow blocks…

went outside early to play…

danced while shaking our scarves to Shake Your Sillies Out…

and worked on our balancing skills while walking on the BounceBlocks.

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

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs, fresh cantaloupe/pear slices, sweet potatoes and whole grain wheat tortillas.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole gain Ritz crackers with hummus.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-06-19

Good Afternoon!

**We are planning a pajama day for this Friday for any child who wants to partake as a kickoff to summer vacation!

Wee Friends were enjoying work in the art center this morning.  They used a mixture of paint and glue to create artwork that was sticky!  They used sequins and confetti to add to the sticky paint surface.  Some kids made five or more paintings!  These kinds of activities engage so many parts of the brain simultaneously, increasing cognitive abilities from attention and focus to executive planning.  Activities that hold the attention and stimulate multiple senses at once, teach the brain to function as one, while strengthening the overall mind body connection.  Sometimes it’s good to remember how much is happening in the young child’s brain during what seems like simple play!

Trays with wooden pattern shapes were made available at the circle table and after we came inside from an early outside experience, Hannah and Nesta set up camp and started creating. They initially started making parallel creations where if they did something to one side of the creation, they did it to the other side too!

Then, they moved onto creations that intertwined: a ship and a kingdom!

Nesta created a ship that was moving towards Hannah’s kingdom. We love the imaginative play that comes from open ended activities such as this one. Just by simply looking at their engaged expressions, you could tell that they were extremely focused on planning their next move.

Breakfast– Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon and banana.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs, whole wheat tortilla/flatbread, fresh cantaloupe/oranges, and fresh cucumber/carrot/pepper.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with butter and raisins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrot/pepper.

Have a great evening!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-06-19