Good Afternoon!

**Please take home your child’s snow pants this evening. We shouldn’t need them anymore!

We read, ‘The Kissing Hand’, in K/PREK1 today. There are times when our friends miss their mommy and daddy. Today just happened to be one of those days! We read this book to validate our feelings. Don’t be surprised if your child takes your hand and kisses your palm!

Once we finished the story, we talked about various numbers up to 20. Specifically, we discussed ‘one more’ and ‘one less’. I asked children to identify the first number which was 9. We did this example together. Friends chatted amongst themselves and what numbers were ‘one more’ and ‘one less’ than 9. When they were able to identify each number, I placed the numbers before and after the given number to show the relationship.

Each friend had the opportunity to come to the board and tape the number that was one less and one more than their given number. As a whole, we were quite confident in finding the number that was ‘one more’. The concept of ‘one less’ provided some struggles but we worked them out as a group. This week, we’ll use manipulatives to understand this concept more by using our hands.

K.NS.3: Find the number that is one more than or one less than any whole number up to 20.

In PREK2, children identified their name and changed letters in a word to make a new rhyming word for example. Miss Kim wrote the word ‘spring’. One of our four year old friends was up first and he switched the ‘spr-’ for a ‘b-’ making his new word ‘bing’. At the end when every friend had a turn, they said each word, realizing quickly that they rhymed.

Our Monday went fantastic—we hope your day went wonderful too!

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter/cinnamon and fresh oranges.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with butter and shredded pork, fresh strawberries/banana, and fresh carrots/peppers/tomatoes.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with banana.

Wee Sprout– Fresh peppers/cherry tomatoes.

Have a great evening.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 3/25

Good Afternoon and Happy Monday!

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from learning. But for children, play is serious learning!” ~Mr. Rogers

Whether we are inside the classroom or in the outdoor environment, the dramatic play center is always fun and our friends always find good foods to cook!

While engaged at the inside dramatic play center, Jack and Daniel made soup, and bagels. Outdoors, Daniel and Evie made yummy cookies.

While playing outdoors we also built sand castles, watched the older WF friends play a little, played in the rocks, and climbed up the logs and big rocks to get to the top of the slides so we could slide down really fast! What a great day!

Breakfast: Whole wheat peanut butter toast with raspberries.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta noodles with butter and shredded pork, sweet potatoes, and banana.

Snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Corn.

Have a wonderful evening!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljcw7pio82-TefA3tqw

Happy Friday! I hope you all had a great week.

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” ~Kay Redfield Jamison

What a fun and exciting music time we had this morning. We listened to Pandora music and one of our favorite songs includes using our fingers and toes to count to ten.  Friends always get super excited when we hear How Many Fingers.

Despite the wind, we braved the outside to get some fresh air and sunshine. We had a fabulous time and we didn’t get blown away.  

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

Lunch: Whole wheat bread with chicken and avocado, carrots, and banana.

Snack: Whole grain cheese crackers and block cheddar cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a great weekend! See you on Monday.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljcs2RBnlqw427ljuKQ

Happy Friday!

Enjoy a few pictures from our day.

Breakfast– Rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh pears.

Lunch– Homemade chicken avocado on whole wheat bread, fresh pears, and fresh cucumber/carrots/snap peas.

PM snack– Pretzels and block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/snap peas.

Have a great weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 3/22

Good Afternoon!

**The Wee Wee classroom would love to have more fancy dress up shoes. Rather than buying new fancy shoes, we’d love to repurpose fancy shoes that your child may have outgrown. If you have any that you’d like to donate, our Wee Wee’s would be so grateful. Thanks!

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I catch myself from time to time interrupting play because I ask the question, “What are you doing?”. At the time, children may not be ready to answer that specific question or any question for that matter! I have been trying to catch myself, silently sit next to a child or group of children, and patiently wait for a good moment to start a conversation about what they’re doing. Sometimes, children are working so well together (or by themselves) that my questions may hinder the cohesiveness they have going on. BUT, teachers are always around to answer questions, extend their play, or be a listening ear.

I’ve attached an article that talks specifically about self directed play and that moment adults try to ask the question, “What are you doing?”.

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/self-directed-play-moment

Breakfast– Chex with banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded pork, fresh apples/banana, and fresh cucumber/snap peas.

PM snack– Whole wheat crackers and pumpkin seeds.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber.

Have a fantastic evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 3/21

Good Afternoon.

Experience precedes understanding. ~ Pinterest.com

Please enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and oranges.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded pork, corn and apples.

Snack: Whole wheat Ritz crackers with hummus.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a great night.

Marty

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

Good Afternoon and Happy Spring!!!

“Feel free to grow up but never stop playing.” ~Pinterest.com

Our morning was full of songs, dancing and just plain being silly. We sang and acted out Rain Rain Go Away and It’s Raining it’s Pouring with such enthusiasm! We were all very excited to have our snoring sounds going when we went to bed.

Then the sillies came into our play! It’s never a dull moment in the Wee Wee classroom. We love our little silly friends.

Breakfast: Whole grin Kix and apples.

Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs, whole wheat butter toast, corn,a nd raspberries.

Snack: Pretzels and mozzarella string cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Sweet Potatoes.

Have a wonderful night.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljcl3drwVrCjCTfGtvQ

Good Afternoon!

How GOOD does it feel to be five?! We hope you had a terrific 5th birthday, Anna!

Once we finished, ‘The Secret Birthday Message’ in K/PREK1, each friend got a laminated base ten block. Together, we counted by ten’s and talked about how the base ten block could help us do that. A physical manipulative seemed to put a ‘name to the face’. “Oh! This is what 20 looks like”, said a friend who was shading in 20 squares. I asked Lucy to shade in 90 blocks. Using her prior knowledge of counting by ten’s, she knew she had to shade in 9 rows. Our older friends were able to assist their younger peers during this time which offered up a great ‘teaching’ moment for them!

K.NS.1: Count to at least 100 by ones and tens.

In PREK2, a puzzle was used to fill in missing letters of the alphabet. Miss Kim had taken several letters out and it was our friends job to fill in the missing letters! Children pointed to the pictures that they saw on each piece and also discussed the sounds that they heard when saying a specific word.

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and fresh cantaloupe.

Lunch– Scrambled eggs with whole wheat tortilla, fresh cantaloupe/oranges, and fresh cherry tomatoes/pepper.

PM snack– Anna’s birthday trail mix and string cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots.

Have a great night.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 3/20

Good Afternoon!

We used the tornado siren alert this morning as an opportunity to practice our tornado drill procedure. We gathered all of our friends in the reading area to talk about tornados. Children shared stories, asked questions, and prepared for the siren. As we were waiting, we talked about what we were going to do once we heard the siren. Friends carefully went down the basement steps one at a time before finally congregating in the basement where we took a headcount.

Some children exhibit fear during fire and tornado drills. Even though it’s not ‘real’, we always tell our friends that it’s best to be prepared JUST IN CASE. If feasible, it’s always a great idea to talk about what you would do as a family in case of a fire or tornado. This way, children become more comfortable talking about it. Routines are a great thing, especially when we’re dealing with something a little scary!

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K/PREK1 read a book titled, ‘Friends’ which talked about the characteristics of being a good friend. We chatted about the topic for a bit before switching gears to counting. Each friend got a laminated piece of paper with their name on it. As they observed their paper, we talked about the numbers that they saw. Together, we counted from 10 to 100 by 10’s. After, each friend had the chance to count to 100 by 10’s without any help before rolling up their mat. Several older friends counted by 10’s successfully so the next extension will be switching focus to counting by 5’s!

K.NS.1: Count to at least 100 by ones and tens.

PREK2 used eggs to connect a number to the correct number of dots. Each friend got a half of an egg that had dots on it. They used their one to one correspondence skills to count the dots. Each friend found the matching number and connected the egg together.

Children took turns at the art table where they created an egg of some sort. The materials that we used were glitter, feathers, sand, mulch, and paint. Each friend had the choice to make any animal egg. With the help of a teacher, the animal egg they chose was explored via the internet. The animal eggs that we created ranged from platypus to frog to chicken.

“Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.”

-Roger Lewin

Breakfast– Kix and fresh pears.

Lunch– Ham and shredded mozzarella on whole wheat flatbread, fresh oranges/pears, and fresh cucumber/carrots.

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

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrots.

Have a fantastic night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 3/19

Good Afternoon.

“Igniting enthusiasm for discovery.” ~Unknown

What a beautiful morning! We are all so happy for some warmer weather and SUNSHINE!!! Just look at those happy faces.  

We did a little cooking, played in the sandbox scooping up sand and then dumping it into all kinds of different containers, and had a little playhouse fun!

Five new foam puzzles were introduced into the classroom today and friends LOVED them!

We have a turtle, dinosaur, Easter egg, construction digger, and doggies. These new puzzles could be a tad challenging, but they were figured out quickly. Friends asked to do each one of them over and over.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and Apples.

Lunch: Whole wheat flat bread with ham and shredded mozzarella cheese,corn, and oranges.

Snack: Whole wheat bagels with kids choice of peanut butter and or cream cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a fantastic night!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljchfqm9xaHuDOVw5Cg