Good Afternoon!

**Wee Friends will be closed Thursday, June 27th through Friday, July 5th. We will reopen on Monday, July 8th.

We wanted to send a big thank you again to our graduating children and their families for making Friday so special! We LOVE celebrating our graduates as well as their families because it does take a village. The relationships and true partnership formed with parents is something that we never take for granted.

This week, we’ll be discussing 2-D and 3-D maps. After reading a story in K/PREK1, friends shared their understanding of maps and why we use them.

“Sure, they’re not fully focused on the kids, but I’ve come to fully embrace the promise of the cooperative model: that we are not just a place for children, but rather for entire families. In our school, the parents are every bit as important as the kids: they are there to learn as well, to make friends, to create community, which is exactly why the children are there. It serves all of us, especially the children, when we spend our time amongst good neighbors, good colleagues, and chatting is a big part of how that happens.”

http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/chatting.html

We opened the door this morning to observe the pavement. Since it rained so much AND there seemed to be some sort of car leak, there were several ‘rainbows’ on the pavement. We stood there coming up with reasons why there were visible rainbows on the road.

“Let kids imagine the story and design their own play.”

Breakfast– Whole wheat english muffins with butter and banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and shredded cheese, fresh watermelon, and fresh peppers/carrots.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with banana.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/pepper.

Have a fantastic night.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 6/10

Link to Friday’s graduation pictures: WF Graduation Pictures

Happy Chilly Monday. I hope you all had a great weekend.

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Albert Einstein

Today we engaged in a special art project. We LOVE to get our sensorial senses active and today we did just that! We had so much fun getting our hands full of paint. 

Our littlest ones even had a fun day! The babies are scooting and crawling around the classroom and loving every second.

Breakfast: Whole wheat butter toast with cinnamon and pears.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with shredded mozzarella and marinara sauce, peas and apples.

Snack: Whole milk yogurt with grahams.

Wee Sprouts: Corn.

Have a nice night.

Marty

LINK https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljoQE4erboVcawP2T8w?e=cNZIYM

Happy Friday AND Happy Graduation Day!

Graduation day always brings a mix of emotions. Today, we witnessed happiness, anxiousness, curiosity, and hesitation. These feelings stem from my blog yesterday: transitions and change.

Four of our friends are going to be going through a big change come August. The environment and friends they’ve become accustomed to for the last several years will change.

That’s why the memories that we’ve made are so special.

“We didn’t realize we were making memories. We just knew we were having fun.”

We hope you have a FANTASTIC weekend.

Breakfast– Organic whole wheat pancakes with organic blueberries and banana.

Lunch– Ham and turkey cream cheese roll-ups, whole wheat tortilla, fresh pears, and fresh peppers/carrots.

PM snack– Goldfish and mozzarella sticks.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/peppers.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 6/7

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

“Teaching is in everything you do, every word, action and experience. ~ Kylie Kinnell

The social/emotional bonding our toddlers bring to one another is an amazing site to behold. They are the best of friends and have so much love and empathy to share with everyone. It’s just priceless.  

Nesta is starting to spread her wings at age nine months. She LOVES to crawl all around the inside and outside environments. Just look at her go!

Breakfast: Whole wheat English muffins with peanut butter and oranges.

Lunch: Whole wheat bread with turkey lunchmeat, corn and apples.

Snack: Whole grain cheese crackers and mozzarella string cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh Cucumbers.

Have a fantastic weekend. Enjoy the beautiful weather.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljoJ2wS8Iz9nEu-We7g?e=swPnL7

Good Afternoon!

Changes or transitions can bring about big emotions. Even if children aren’t verbally relaying these uncertain feelings, this doesn’t mean they’re not struggling through a time of change and transition.

Something as simple as a friend leaving the environment can affect children at this age. Summer often brings about a lot of change in our environment: friends taking vacations, children graduating and moving on, or simply a change in their own schedule (i.e., late mornings).

There are several things that we can do to make sure that we support children in this phase:

• Keep our expectations the same. This provides stability in their regular day to day.
• ALWAYS be open to talk. Often times, all children need to do is vent and share their feelings. Even though this may not solve the problem, this offers children an outlet for venting!
• Realize that children fell things just as big as adults do, sometimes even more so. Never dismiss children’s feelings but acknowledge their feelings at the time and offer a way to express those feelings (i.e., drawing a book about them, writing it out, acting it out)

I’ve attached an article that goes into some detail about transitions and how this can affect children in several different aspects of their day and development.

https://extension.psu.edu/programs/betterkidcare/early-care/tip-pages/all/understanding-transitions

Breakfast– Quaker Oatmeal Squares and fresh strawberries.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded chicken, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh cucumber/carrots.

PM snack– Thin Wheats and pumpkin seeds.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/cucumber.

Have a lovely night.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 6/6

Good Afternoon.

Enabling environments “mobilise the energy, attention, curiosity and focus of children” ~Howard Gardner

Please enjoy our Thursday pictures.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and oranges.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded chicken, sweet potatoes, apples.

Snack: Graham crackers with Colby jack cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Peas

Have a nice night.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljoIJlsWoX5GtxwaFoA?e=nuMLEs

Good afternoon.

“Creativity seems to emerge from multiple experiences, coupled with a well-supported development of personal resources, including a sense of freedom to venture beyond the unknown. ~Loris Malaguzzi 

Today we decided it would be a great day to get messy with paints and engage in using our fine motor, color recognition, hand-eye coordination and sensory skills. We added in sponges to enhance our play as well.

While outside we utilized enhancing our gross motor skills by engaging in lots of running and climbing! What a beautiful day to do just that.  

Breakfast: Whole grain oatmeal with honey and apples.

Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded Colby jack cheese, whole wheat toast with butter, peas and apples.

Snack: Pretzels and mozzarella string cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh snap peas.

Have a wonderful evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljoEj_qa_hy6Yd2aDlA?e=OYlWdm

Hello!

Enjoy a sneak peak into our Wednesday!

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and fresh strawberries.

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

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with butter and raisins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/snap peas.

Have a lovely night.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 6/5

Good Afternoon!

“We can never have enough nature.”

-Henry David Thoreau

____________________________________________________________

Different forms of nature consumed our morning! Two groups explored nature in various ways.

The farm group set out for a short but muddy walk as we searched for different leaves and twigs on the ground to use for upcoming art projects! We were able to see different animals including chickens, dogs, horses, and goats.

Children searched the backyard environment for different bugs: rollie pollies, spiders, and ants occupied our bug containers. What a great group activity: searching for bugs together! We often see our older friends assisting their younger peers if they can’t find any bugs.

Breakfast– Corn Chex and fresh apples/oranges.

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat tortilla, fresh banana, and fresh carrots/cucumber.

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

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/cucumber.

Have a terrific evening.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 6/4

Good Afternoon.

“Every child deserves a champion – an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.” ~Rita Pierson

Today Daniel asked for Mar-Mar to read, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. Not only did we read this fun, interactive story… we did just that, acted the story out. We all LOVE this story and friends can listen to it many times throughout their day.  

We then decided it would just as fun to cook in the dramatic play center kitchen. Zoe made all kinds of yummy foods while Daniel made Oatmeal with honey.

This activity has multiple learning opportunities. Hand-eye coordination, the use of our imagination as well as fine motor skills.

Then we were off to find… BUGS BUGS and MORE BUGS!!!! This is yet another activity we could engage in everyday and as many times in a day as we possibly can. Having the Wee’s help us makes this hunt session even better!!

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with apples.

Lunch: Whole wheat/grain tortilla with hummus, carrots and banana.

Snack: Whole wheat bagels with peanut butter.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljf9wuMWtpQqmTQOrZQ?e=dtOhaw