Good Afternoon and Happy Monday. I hope you all enjoyed the fabulous warmer weekend we just had!   

“You don’t have to be perfect to be amazing.” ~Pinterest.com

We want to extend a very big thank you to the Hirsch family (WF)  for donating a couple of hats to add to our dramatic play center.

Jack and Daniel got right into their play by placing these hats on top of their heads.

Daniel just wanted to tell the camera “Cheese”showing off his backwards facing blue hat and Jack wanted to add to his hat by putting on a skirt, a nice button up shirt and some ruby red slippers.

Miss Marty asked Jack where he was headed, and he responded, “I’m going to work.” I then proceeded to ask him where he worked, and he replied, “In Indiana.” What a great imagination.

Later in our day we utilized our fine motor and sensory skills by engaging in playdoh. Friends used the playdoh hammers and cookie cutters and tongue depressors to enhance their experience.

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon along with banana and raspberries.

Lunch: Whole wheat butter noodles with shredded beef, carrots and cantaloupe.

Snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots.

Have a lovely night!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljdYHtnkSEyNVJu22IQ

Happy Monday!

This week, we’ll be focusing on plants and animals and today, our focus in K/PREK1 was solely on plants. After reading ‘The Tiny Seed’ which goes through the cycle of how a plant starts, we identified four parts of a flower.

I had six flowers printed out and using our background knowledge, children were able to identify most of the flowers! They also used their knowledge of letter sounds to help match the flower to the name. For instance, the first flower I held up was a rose. After friends identified it as a rose, we looked for a word that started with that sound.

Science: K.4.1 Give example of plants and animals.

In PREK2, children talked about the different parts of a plant as well as parts of a bunny! They discussed the differences that each item had along with any possible similarities.

Enjoy the pictures from our sunny morning!

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

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with butter and shredded beef, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh snap peas/broccoli.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with fresh apples.

Wee Sprout– Fresh broccoli/snap peas.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/8

Happy Friday!

I saw this Teacher Tom blog post earlier this week and it resonated with me. Throughout the day, children are deeply involved in various activities ranging from experimenting in the habitrail, creating at the art table, or strengthening their knowledge of dinosaurs in the science area. As teachers, majority of the time we stand back, ready to assist at any minute but what good does it do if we walk up, interrupting their meaningful play to ask an irrelevant question? We want to have meaningful conversations with kids about what they’re doing, questions they have, or think of ideas on how to extend an experience BUT there is a lot to be said for waiting until children are willing and able to have this conversation.

http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2019/04/they-say-theres-no-such-thing-as-stupid.html

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We are out of pink markers. For preschool aged children, this can be a challenging time. K/PREK1 friends thought we should do something about it. Enter: a letter to Miss Tami. We said our thoughts aloud and constructed a letter to Miss Tami explaining our dilemma. A friend shared, “We do like all of the other colors but pink is one of our favorites!”. Lucy looked at her peers and said, “We do have to do a better job at helping our younger friends put the markers all the way into the block so they don’t dry out!”

K.W.1: Write for specific purposes and audiences.

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh raspberries/banana.

Lunch– Ham/turkey on whole wheat bread, fresh banana/apples, and fresh pepper/broccoli.

PM snack– Pirate’s Booty: Aged White Cheddar and fresh raspberries.

Wee Sprout– Fresh broccoli.

Have a fantastic weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/5

Happy Friday!

“The children are the curriculum.” ~Lisa Murphy

Friends discovered what they called a seed outside this morning, and were very fascinated by it and observed it for quite some time. When playing outdoors we always find so many incredible things to observe and touch! The wonders of nature are awesome.

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with cream cheese and raspberries.

Lunch: Turkey and cream cheese roll-ups, peas and raspberries.

Snack: Baked rice and corn Puffs, with cheddar block cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots.

Have a great weekend.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljdUe9nHj1M3sNbVYgA

Good Afternoon!

Children sat down at the circle table and explored the morning activity. Colored tape was used to make different sized lines. Friends used popsicle sticks or wooden toothpicks to trace the lines that were on the table. Mack told Sophia, “These popsicle sticks match the line!”

A few friends helped Miss Kim make two different batches on slime! The end result was a fabulous sensory experience that kept our attention.

Children manipulated the slime in several different ways: stretching it, rolling it, and poking it, just to name a few!

Welcome to the Wee Friends smile gallery!

Breakfast– Kix and fresh raspberries.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded chicken, fresh oranges/apples, and fresh cherry tomatoes/broccoli.

PM snack– Peanuts and wheat thins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cherry tomatoes.

Have a fantastic night.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/4

Good Afternoon.

“The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil.” ~ Rachel Carson

Enjoy the pictures of our Thursday!

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and oranges.

Lunch: While grain brown rice with shredded chicken, corn and apples.

Snack: Pretzels and Mozzarella strong cheese.

Have a nice night!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljdQ7QRcrzFip_e3WVg

Good Afternoon.

“Our task is to help children communicate with the world using all their potential, strengths and languages, and to overcome any obstacle presented by our culture.” ~ Loris Malaguzzi

Today our friend Evie was making shapes with her hands! Miss Rebekah asked Evie what she was doing with her hands and she responded, “I’m making a triangle.”

We talk about shapes within our play daily. Whether we have a puzzle we’re working on that is full of shapes, or whether we are just simply talking about the objects that we see inside the classroom or even outdoors, we have MANY opportunities to learn what the many shapes are that we see in our every day lives.

During outside play, we found that it was so much to play in three’s! 

The WF kids were playing a game called, Sharks and minnows and the WWF’ers thought it would be awesome to play along with them…. just in their own type of way. They all had so much fun. We are all so fortunate that our classroom gets to engage and have fun with the big kids.  

Breakfast: Oatmeal with honey and raspberries.

Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs, whole wheat butter toast, red peppers and banana.

Snack:  Whole wheat Ritz crackers and cream cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Red peppers.

Have a fantastic night!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljdM_J9KDK4XwgDRHIQ

Good Afternoon!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Wednesday—enjoy the pictures!

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and fresh raspberries.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat bread, fresh cantaloupe/banana, and fresh carrots.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with butter and raisins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/peppers.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/3

Good Afternoon!

In K/PREK1, we read, ‘A Little Prairie House’ which centers around ‘Little House on the Prairie’. When Lucy got to group and saw we were reading it, she said, “Oh! A calm book. That makes me so happy.”

There were several words that were new to us so after we were done, we used the context around each word to come up with our own definitions. Anna kept saying, “Back in the old days,…”. We noticed that the characters had on different clothing and talked differently than us. Grady asked, “Why do they keep calling him Pa?” (what they called the dad). We were extremely engaged throughout the story, constantly asking questions.

A theme from the story was brought into our activity. The ‘Pa’ in the story worked tirelessly to build a house for his family. So, each of our friends built an addition or subtraction house! We used two different shapes, triangle and square. First, we talked about each equation and when friends came to the answer, they had to find the correct number before taping the house and the roof together.

K.CA.1-2: Solve real-world problems, objects, or drawings that involve addition and subtraction within 10. Demonstrate the equation (e.g., 5=3+2 and 5=4+1).

PREK2 children used dominos as a tool for finding the answer to addition problems. Chloe took her domino, placed it on the laminated sheet, and added up each section before telling Miss Kim the answer! Having something concrete to work with when solving addition and subtraction really is beneficial at this age.

“Childhood is not a race to see how quickly a child can read, write and count. Childhood is a small window of time to learn and develop at the pace which is right for each individual child.”

-Magda Gerber

Breakfast– Quaker Oatmeal Squares and fresh apples/oranges.

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat tortilla, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh carrots.

PM snack– English muffin with peanut butter and block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots.

Have a terrific evening.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/2

Good Afternoon.

It’s your home and their “school.” It’s your furniture and their “learning space”.  It’s your backyard and their “exploration area.” And the children you care for are not just your “students,” they are apart of your extended family.  ~Gee Whiz

Today a couple of friends asked to play with the colorful shape stackers.

This activity enhances our color and shape recognition as well as the understanding of how items can go from large to small and vice versa. We can also learn how to share and take turns when we want to switch to another shape stacker. 

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix and bananas.

Lunch: Whole wheat tortilla with hummus, corn, and banana.

Snack: Whole wheat English muffins with peanut butter.

Wee Sprouts: Sweet Potatoes.

Have a fantastic evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljdI8-2emRm5tjljWdA