Happy Monday, I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.

Miss Tami bought a big pumpkin for us to explore and do a fun activity with!

Today we just looked at it and touched it to see what it and its stem felt like. Soon, we will take golf tees and small playdoh hammer/mallets and pound the tee’s into the pumpkin. We LOVE to explore and manipulate new things!

We then went onto the sensory bin, a fine motor/sensory activity. While engaged in the sensory bin, we manipulated our hands and fingers by picking off the small kernels of corn on the Indian corn stalks. This can be a tricky task, but with hard work and determination we DID IT!!!

Breakfast: Whole grain English muffins with cream cheese and oranges.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with shredded beef, corn and strawberries.

Snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers.

Have a nice night!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljuMZuk2kCOLrx8IuIg?e=JO6L8q

Happy Monday!

One of the longest standing traditions at Wee Friends takes place in the fall: hammering golf tees into a big pumpkin! Children always love this activity. Not only is it fun, but it requires hand and eye coordination along with motor control. The top of the golf tee isn’t that big so it takes concentration to hit the golf tee with a wooden hammer.

Choices are a main aspect of our day. Children know if they need some quiet time or down time, the reading area is a great place for that! Lately, friends have been taking the pillows and building a small fort where their body is enclosed as they read their favorite story.

We have several various activities that allow children to use their hands. One of our favorites recently is LEGO’s. Not only do LEGO’s require fine motor strength but it also requires concentration.

A group of friends collected loose materials throughout the yard and decided to build a campfire! Not only did they construct the campfire but they went around gathering sticks for their marshmallows!  We all love a good campfire story!

MACK for Week 6: Children will learn to define friendship and to recognize the friendships they have with their peers.

One of the wonderful things about our classroom setup is most of these children have been together for years! Sometimes, it more like a sibling relationship. Children know each other so well: they know what makes them happy, frustrated, or sad.

Strengthening the friendships between children is one of our highest priorities as being able to sustain meaningful relationships in our lives is crucial!

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and fresh apples.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with butter and shredded beef, fresh banana/apple, and fresh kale/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with fresh oranges.

Wee Sprout– Fresh kale/cucumber.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/7

Happy Friday!

What an end to the week!

“Learning is their journey. Let them navigate. Push them to explore. Watch them discover. Encourage their questions. Allow them to struggle. Support their thinking. Let them fly.”

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

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat tortilla, fresh grapes/pears, and fresh kale.

PM snack– Goldfish and block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots.

Have a great weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/4

Good Afternoon! I hope you have all had a great week.

“It’s okay to make mistakes. Mistakes help us grow!” ~Unknown

Boy oh Boy, did we have ALOT of fallen leaves in the outdoor play area today! So what better way to have some leaf fun then to get our small child size rakes and the roller buckets to rake them all up.

We raked up as many leaves as we could , then threw them into the roller buckets. We had a blast!! This fun activity can help enhance our hand-eye coordination and have a fun way to incorporate the use of our life skills.

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

Lunch: Whole wheat flatbread with hummus, peas and kiwi and grapes.

Snack: Pretzels and Cheddar cheese cubes.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljuFbHXqcbfDbYQOBhw?e=7M68JC=-098765

Good Afternoon!

Chloe turned FIVE today! We are thankful we were able to celebrate with her and hope she had a spectacular day!

In K/PREK1, we read ‘Mortimer’ by Robert Munsch. We’ve read this book in the past so before we started reading, I wanted to see how much information, they recalled. They told me several characters that they remembered being integral to the story as well as the setting. As we read the story and came upon a certain character that we wrote down at the beginning, we put a red checkmark next to it!

Children were able to recall not only main characters but specific events as well! Using this type of authentic assessment allows me to gage what types of events children remember and to what detail.

K.RL.2.3: Identify important elements of the text (e.g., characters, settings, or events).

Children transformed into paleontologists today! They searched for bones and dinosaur skeletons in sand and once they found them, they were able to dust it off.

When they took the bones and skeletons out, they used a pencil and paper to draw it. They used a ruler to see how long each were and drew it to size as much as possible.

Breakfast– Kix and fresh kiwi.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded chicken, fresh kiwi/oranges, and fresh pepper/cucumber.

PM snack– Chloe’s birthday treat: fresh strawberries with natural whipped cream and

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/cucumber.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/3

Good Afternoon.

This morning we worked on utilizing our fine motor skills by manipulating our hands with puzzles. We all love puzzles and we have many different levels of difficulty for our friends to try out. This also adds in using our cognitive skills by seeing just where that specific piece is supposed to go.  

During outdoor play a couple of the big kids from the other classroom invited us over to join in with their campfire fun. Our friends were more than happy to come in and join!

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with cream cheese and apples.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded chicken, corn and kiwi and grapes.

Snack: Pumpkin seeds and whole wheat Ritz crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh tomatoes.

Have a wonderful night.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljuBf-vvVJNN3d6FJAw?e=QSrZ2E

Good afternoon.

We beat the rain by engaging our bodies in some movement and gross motor fun. The big blocks were “boats” for us to row and stay a float from all the rain. What great imaginations we all have.

We then had some more fun by engaging in a sensory activity in the kitchen. We used corn kernels and paint to make beautiful fall like pictures. Corn kernels were added into a large bin and then paint was added. We then shook the bin all different ways to see how the paint would be spread onto our papers. It was so much fun!

Breakfast: Whole grain oatmeal with honey and pears.

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with cheese, whole wheat butter toast, fresh orange peppers and clementine’s.

Snack: Blue corn chips and refried beans.

Have a great night.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljuA5kZPjba9qmJ21GQ?e=VucYQK

Good Afternoon!

Enjoy a few pictures from our Wednesday!

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and fresh grapes.

Lunch– Scrambled eggs with whole wheat toast, fresh banana/strawberries, and fresh green beans.

PM snack– Blue corn chips with hummus.

Wee Sprout– Fresh green beans.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/2

Happy October!

What happens when children walk out and notice a HUGE, intricate spider web?

We grab materials to extend this exciting discovery!

Children patiently waited for their turn to draw what they saw. Items such as colored pencils, paper, and a clipboard were used to display what they observed. Several friends sat on the stool, drawing for at least 10 minutes. A few children were drawing 30 minutes after they sat down!

What a cool thing to document!

“While it is important to educate children, what is much more pressing is the need to love them. When education becomes more important than love, it is no longer education at all. For, tending to the delicate spirit of children is foundational if education is to fulfill its intended purpose of serving the greater whole.”

~ Vince Gowmon

Breakfast– Corn Chex and fresh pears.

Lunch– Melted cheese and refried beans on whole wheat tortilla, fresh pineapple, and fresh cherry tomatoes/snap peas.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and cottage cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cherry tomatoes and snap peas.

Have a lovely evening.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/1

WOW!!! Happy October. Where is this year going???

With that being said… Here are some upcoming dates that WWF/WF will be closed.

November 28th and 29th for our annual Thanksgiving holiday and December 23rd to January 6th, 2020.

It looks as though today will be the last of our hot summer days, so we decided to have some sensory play fun in the water table.

Friends loved the feel of the cool water on our hands and bodies while we engaged in the water toy activities available. The bright red pump that our water comes out of is ALWAYS a big hit and we LOVE pumping the lever to watch the water flow out and down the table as well.

We always love to take walks around the outdoor environment to see what we can see. Today we found this amazing spider web on some of our plants! That spider sure did work hard on building his web! Great job, Mr. Spider.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and banana.

Lunch: Whole wheat flatbread with refried beans and shredded Colby jack cheese, sweet potatoes, and strawberries.

Snack: Whole wheat/grain cinnamon raisin bagels with butter.

Wee Sprouts: Snap peas/green beans.

Have a fantastic evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljt53fU3XGxS9_nTJKw?e=5E5ThF