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

“Children are not a distraction from work. They are the most important work.” ~C.S. Lewis

Today we had a special visitor visit our classroom. Betsy comes about every six months for our Paths to Quality check to see how things are progressing in the classroom. We all did very well with a stranger entering our play area. Some of our friends were a little shy at first but others warmed right up to her.

Our friend Evie was nicely engaged in the dramatic play center today cooking up all kinds of yummy foods for her friends and teachers to eat!

While playing in the dramatic play center (Housekeeping) our friends can utilize their imaginations to their fullest extent, they can work on using their social skills with their friends, and also start to understand what is real and what is just pretend.

We then took our dramatic play fun to the outdoor world. Friends also engaged themselves in the outside housekeeping area. Daniel was making cookies, and Rose was helping him. Meanwhile, Zoe was taking her baby for a cart ride.

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon and PPC banana.

Lunch: Whole grain tortilla with c=shredded cheese, carrots, and fresh PPC pears and banana.

Snack: Graham crackers and Mozzarella cheese sticks.

Wee Sprouts: Corn.

Have a fantastic weekend and we’ll see you on Monday! 

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljOJ3qgc-4EkKwfJMFQ

Good Afternoon!

In pre-k/k group, we read one of our favorite stories: ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’. As we read, children shared their favorite crayon/marker to color with during the day. After we finished, each child got a card with a word on it. Together, we read each word. After all of the words were read, children worked to find their rhyming match! For examples, Penny had ‘spoon’ and Anna had the word ‘moon’ so they quickly were able to find their match.

Before rolling up our mats, each child came up to the board and ‘smacked’ a given shape. Lucy came up to the board and was told to find the hexagon. She looked for a little bit and found it! She lightly smacked it and we talked about the characteristics as she was rolling up her mat.

K.RF.3.1: Identify and produce rhyming words.

K.4.1: Identify and describe geometric objects: circle, square, rectangle, diamond, trapezoid, hexagon, octagon, parallelogram, sphere, and cube. (2006 standard)

Our welcome activity involved using magnatiles to make dinosaurs. We used different sized triangles and squares to match the shapes that were on the paper. Children took turns and either worked by themselves or with a peer to complete the three dinosaurs.

“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences.”

-Loris Malaguzzi

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and PPC pears.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded pork, PPC banana, and PPC pepper.

PM snack– Pumpkin seeds with wheat thins.

Wee Sprout– PPC pepper.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 9/13

Good Afternoon!

“THERE ARE TWO GIFTS WE SHOULD GIVE OUR CHILDREN; ONE IS ROOTS, AND THE OTHER IS WINGS.” ~Maria Monetessori

Enjoy the pictures from our Thursday.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal, and fresh PPC peaches.

Lunch: Whole grain rice with shredded pork, peas, and fresh PPC peaches.

Snack: Pretzels, and Colby cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a wonderful night!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljOIXM4fhifWIcrg84A

Good Afternoon Everyone, I hope you’re having a great day!

“Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded.” ~ Jess Lair

This morning we spent the majority of our time in the kitchen utilizing our fine motor skills, hand- eye coordination, learning about the different placement spaces that our puzzle pieces would fit into, as well as working on our color recognition. Puzzles and pegs are also a fantastic way to get our minds working!

Rose and Miss Rebekah played some catch during our outside time today. Rose did very well holding her arms and hands out to catch the ball as Miss Rebekah threw it to her. Not only did Rose get some very valuable one on one time with a teacher, she was able to work on her hand-eye coordination, and work on learning how to catch a ball.  Way to go Rose!!!

Breakfast: Whole grain Chex cereal, and fresh PPC Blackberries.

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, whole wheat buttered toast, garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, and fresh PPC peaches.

Snack: Whole wheat Ritz crackers with cream cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Garden fresh Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening.

Marty

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

Good Afternoon!

“Are we going to talk about shapes today?!”

Before I started reading our book for the day, this is how pre-k/k group started! Lucy saw what was on the chalkboard and immediately became interested. After reading, ‘The Spotted Pig’, we talked about the shapes that were displayed.

To start, I asked questions such as, “What is the orange shape?”. Children answered, “circle!”, and after we talked about the characteristics of each shape (specifically how many sides it has). As I was taping the names of each shape up, I had my older friends help me find each word.

I asked them, “What letter does circle start with?”. They answered ‘c’ and I flipped through the shape names and when I got to ‘circle’, they shouted, “There’s circle!”. Not only did we work on expanding our knowledge of shapes but also letter identification and letter sounds.

As children got dismissed one by one to journal, each child was asked to come to the board and identify a shape by lightly pounding it. As Maxwell walked up to the board, I asked him to find the hexagon. He found it and lightly pounded it. As he rolled up his mat, we talked about how many sides it has as a group.

K.4.1: Identify and describe geometric objects: circle, square, rectangle, diamond, trapezoid, hexagon, octagon, parallelogram, sphere, and cube. (2006 standard)

Children found areas in the house that they found interesting and dove into different activities. We’ve been very interesting in our play, felt money lately. Today, Maxwell informed us that a Lamborghini only cost $500! Some deal!

Outside time is so precious to us as we are able to run freely while also being able to explore the wonders of the outside. The sandbox was a popular space as it was mostly shaded which was PERFECT!

Breakfast– Kashi Blueberry Clusters and PPC peaches.

Lunch– Scrambled eggs with whole wheat tortillas, fresh honeydew melon/PPC banana, and garden cucumbers/fresh cherry tomatoes.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with PPC banana.

Wee Sprout– Garden cucumber/fresh cherry tomatoes.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 9/12

Good Afternoon!

In pre-k/k group, we read ‘How The Elephant Got It’s Trunk’. Throughout the story, we shared with one another our thoughts on what would happen next. We learned how the main elephant character got it’s trunk. At the end, the author asked us if we believe this version or not. The vote was split 50/50. After everyone voted, we talked about whether we thought this book was fiction or non-fiction!

As children were dismissed, each child had to come up with a shape and we talked about the characteristics of each shape, specifically how many sides it has. The shapes we discussed were heart, square, triangle, rectangle, hexagon, and circle.

Our day’s full of motor development. We exhibit fine motor skills when we work at the circle table with manipulatives or color at the art table. These lay the ground work for children to complete self help tasks and hand/eye coordination.

Gross motor skills are the big motions that you see: running, skipping, marching, riding a bike. We have two areas where we engage in gross motor work: in the habitrail area and outside!

Both are crucial to development and such an important part here at Wee Friends!

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/building_fine_motor_skills_and_why_it_matters

Breakfast– Kix and PPC banana.

Lunch– Homemade chicken avocado salad on whole wheat flatbread, PPC peaches, and PPC cucumbers/peppers.

PM snack– Homemade cinnamon muffins and block cheese.

Wee Sprout– PPC peppers/cucumber.

Have a wonderful night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 9/11

Happy Tuesday!

“Play turns out to be so stunningly essential to childhood, it’s like love, sunshine and broccoli all juiced together.” ~parklandplayers.com

With the fall season quickly sneaking up on us, we switched out our sensory table from the green moon sand to the more fall like corn and black bean mixture! Our friends LOVED using their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination skills, and being able to feel the hard texture of the corn and beans. Teachers also talked with our little ones about not eating this mixture as it was not edible and would taste very yucky, and the colors they saw in the sensory bin.

Our friend, Jack loves the habi-trail and all the fun and exciting things he can do while being engaged on it! He’s definitely utilizing his gross motor skills here by climbing up the ladder, getting up all the way to the top wrung, and then being ever so brave and jumping off into his Dad’s arms. Way to go jack!!!

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and PPC banana.

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

Snack: Homemade muffins from Miss Kim and our WF, and mozzarella string cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Garden fresh cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening! 

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljOBb5vXT8X0g1wmL7Q

Happy Monday!

**Parents: Please clear out your child’s art cubbie at pick-up. Thanks!

An art experience was made available for this morning for children who wanted to partake. Using a box, construction paper, paint, and a pinecone, children created their own masterpiece. Children moved the box in different directions which made the pinecone transfer the paint to various areas on their construction paper. We really seemed to enjoy the process!

Our pre-k/k group started off the fall by going on their first farm trip. We saw several animals including turkeys and baby bunnies! Several friends requested to hold the bunnies: they were so soft!

It was the PERFECT morning for a walk. We ended up walking a little under two miles! On our walk, we heard several birds, spotted and held a frog, picked flowers off the ground, and ran freely.

**Parents of 3’s/young 4’s: keep a look out for a farm date (and a rain makeup date) within the next week!

“A child, more than anyone else, is a spontaneous observer of nature.”

-Maria Montessori

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and fresh apples.

Lunch– Whole wheat noodles with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese, PPC grapes, and fresh broccoli/carrots.

PM snack– PPC mango with whole milk yogurt.

Wee Sprout– Fresh broccoli/carrots.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 9/10

Link to farm pictures: WF 9/10 FARM

“While we try to teach our children about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”

Today was pony tail day for a couple of our little ladies. Our friends love to get their hair brushed,  played with, sprayed with a little water, and the BEST part of all…. getting to choose the color of the pony that Miss Marty uses to make the actual pony tail. Our bigger friends getting their hair done that are more verbal can even tell Miss Marty how many ponies they want in their hair.  

 

We had a few friends ask for the swing today. Sometimes we like to spin really fast, lie down and swing slowly, and sometimes we just like to sit on the swing and swing freely! It’s a nice way to get some alone time and just relax.

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with Sunflower butter and banana.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, corn, and fresh PPC peaches and pears.

Snack: Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Have a wonderful evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljN8vs8gUsbwyP6d42A

Happy Friday!

In pre-k/k group, we read ‘Chicka Chicka 1-2-3’ and explored numbers up to 100. Afterwards, each child got one card with a certain number of dots on it. As they were excused to journaling, each child counted the number of dots on their card and taped it under the correct number. All children used their one to one correspondence skills by using their index finger to count the number of dots on their card.

K.NS.4: Perform one to one correspondence tasks.

K.NS.5: Count up to 20 objects arranged in a line, rectangular array, or a circle. Count up to 10 objects in a scattered configuration.

Here are a few pictures from the rest of our day!

Breakfast– Rice cakes with peanut butter and PPC pears.

Lunch– Turkey on whole wheat bread, PPC mango/banana, and fresh broccoli.

PM snack– PPC banana and cheddar block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh peppers/cherry tomatoes.

Have a great weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 9/7