Good Afternoon!

This morning the interest in making large collaborative drawings was still strong!  We got out our biggest paper roll and rolled out big sheets of it on the floor.  Several groups of friends worked on drawings together.  We had mountains, crayon factories, rain storms, castles, sunsets…even a large pit with a game store at the bottom! Imaginations flew free!

Some of our preschoolers have been finding “rolly polly” bug outside and have been extremely interested in them.  Today we researched how to care for these fascinating little creatures and and created a habitat for rolly polly bugs in our science center!  We are all excited! We spent our outdoor time combing the yard and found several to add to our new habitat.

Breakfast– Puffins cereal with fresh clementines.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded turkey, fresh apples/clementines, and fresh carrots/pepper.

PM snack– Crackers with peanut butter and seeds on top (peanuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds).

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/pepper.

Have a lovely night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-03-07

Good afternoon!

This morning we gathered at the front of the classroom to engage with instruments. Our friends made music with drums, shakers, pianos, and bells. We also followed along to the “Shake Your Sillies Out” song with our shakers.

We then made our way to the kitchen to play with playdough. We used a variety of tools like rolling pins, cookie cutters, and plastic egg halves. Our friends pretended to make foods like “mango,” “pizza,” and “hot dogs” with the play dough.

We used plastic and cardboard tubes to interact with wooden rings and beads. We practiced threading beads and rings through the long plastic tube.

We went outside to play in the sandbox, push cars down ramps, and to practice our balancing skills on the balance beams.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios with fresh pears.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with black beans, avocado slices, and red bell peppers.

Afternoon Snack: Peanut butter on whole grain Wheat Thins crackers.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a beautiful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2024-03-07

Good Afternoon!

Today we…

engaged in looking at books independently…

built tall towers with Duplos…

filled peg boards with pegs and made towers with them…

and went outside to engage in the sandbox pouring sand down the chute, dug the rocks and pushed the construction trucks in the rock area and explored a leaf we we found in the housekeeping kitchen.

Breakfast:  Overnight Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and bananas.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs, fresh cucumbers, apple slices and whole grain wheat bread.

Afternoon Snack:  Blue corn tortilla chips and hummus/avocado.

Wee Sprouts: Orange bell peppers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-03-06

Good Afternoon!

PREK1 friends came to the sign in activity where they were asked to create their own pattern! I left it completely open as far as how they made their pattern. I gave them a collection of five markers and children chose how they wanted to make their pattern. Most children used colors to create their pattern while others chose color and shapes!

K.CA.5: Create, extend, and give an appropriate rule for simple repeating and growing patterns with numbers and shapes.

Imagination was the theme today among our Wee Friends! In the art center, Adrian and William created a collaborative drawing featuring an imaginary world!  They taped nine pieces of paper together, each time extending and narrating what was in this world.  They said it was a city with no roads, which they both felt was a pretty radicle idea!  Under the ground, they drew a tunnel system where they said it became a video game world.  Above they drew a solar system in the sky!

For our welcome activity, we set out a variety of seashells and glass pebbles to encourage pattern making.  This area turned into several families of anthropomorphic shells playing out their daily lives.  Some shells became plates or seats.  The elderly shells were even accommodated with wheel chair shells in order to help them get around!

Breakfast– Oatmeal with fresh pears.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat tortilla, fresh clementines/apples, and fresh cucumber/carrot/pepper.

PM snack– Fresh Guacamole with Wee Friends grown cilantro and blue corn chips

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/cucumber.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-03-06

Good afternoon!

This morning, we danced along to the “Beanie Bag Dance” song. Our friends chose different colored bean bags and followed along to the prompts in the song like putting it on their foot.

We then made our way to the kitchen to engage with a loose parts activity. We worked on using scoops and tongs to pick up our pom-poms and dominoes. Our littlest friends watched their older friends pinch the tongs together to pick up items and they tried to mimic the motion.

We weren’t able to go outside because of the weather, but Miss Bekah kept us entertained with animal yoga. We recreated poses that resembled certain animals like a bug and a cat.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with fresh pear slices.

Lunch: Refried beans and shredded cheese on whole grain wheat tortillas, fresh avocado slices, and yellow bell peppers.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat cinnamon raisin bagels with cream cheese and fresh mandarin oranges.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2024-03-05

Good Afternoon!

PREK1 friends came to sign in this morning where they were asked to choose a card at the bottom of the sign in board. Each card had a specific colored shape. They looked at the patterns on the board and figured out where their shape went. Their shape finished a pattern that was already on the board! Not only did children have to take shapes into account but also color.

Later on in group, we read ‘Caps For Sale’ which incorporates pattern into the story because the main character has caps on his head that he sells for fifty cents! He places the caps in order based on color.

K.CA.5: Create, extend, and give an appropriate rule for simple repeating and growing patterns with numbers and shapes.

We’ve been working with repeating patterns in the curriculum this week, so we brought out a welcome activity that could encourage more pattern thought.  Several friends worked together to create some variations on pattern.  One group created rows of each color across the board.  Another group created a three dimensional repeating rainbow pattern, focusing more on building upward.  Younger friends, just beginning to understand patterns, focused more on building tall towers but also paid attention to what the older kids were doing.  Where ever our variety of ages were developmentally, they were able to enjoy working on this activity,

In the art center, many friends explored play dough color mixing with primary colors.  A few friends chose to make a lollypop shop with the orange playdough they had mixed.  We added some popsicle sticks to help the business get started :).

PREK 2: During group we read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”.  After the story we recalled our favorite food from that the caterpillar ate in the story.

Breakfast– Whole grain cheerios with fresh watermelon.

Lunch– Homemade avocado chicken sandwiches on whole wheat bread/flatbread, fresh oranges/apples, and fresh pepper/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/cucumber.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-03-05

Happy Monday!

Today we welcomed Miss Tina back.  We were all so happy to see her.

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat bread toasted with peanut butter and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat penne pasta with black beans, fresh avocado slices, and cucumber.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and honey graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Yellow bell peppers.

Have a great evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures:  2024-03-04

Happy Monday!

Enjoy a few pictures from our day!

Breakfast: Whole wheat english muffin with butter and fresh watermelon.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with marinara and fresh basil, banana/fresh pears, and pea pods/cucumbers.

PM Snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh pea pods and yellow peppers.

Link to Photos:2024-03-04

Happy Friday! 

Yesterday a group of friends discovered a black and red beetle outside.  They were very interested in what kind of beetle  it was, so today I brought in some Audubon field guides to look through in order to identify the beetle.  We found it in the Insects&Spiders book and identified it as a Milkweed Bug.  Hannah and Nesta took a special interest in the books and decided to make their own.  Nesta made a book about “bugs” and Hannah made a book about “birds” since, she said, she preferred them to bugs.  Hannah picked out birds she new from the Audubon book like a Cardinal and an Owl to draw and label in her book.  We talked as a group at the art table about the bird book.  As we went through it, we  got to learn some new things about birds.  We learned that  Gray owls are day owls, Egrets are fishing birds, the Male cardinals look different from female cardinals and Grebes have bright red eyes.  In the insect book that Nesta was going through we all learned that there are several types of Milkweed bugs.  Nesta felt that the one she found yesterday looked most like the Eastern type.  Nesta also enjoyed doing some teaching herself as she helped younger friend Arthur make his own book about bugs!

 

Expanding on the interest in bugs this week, we explored materials we could use to create insect terrariums and enjoy some imaginative play with all we learned!

Breakfast: Brown Rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh blueberries

Lunch:  Humus on whole wheat tortilla with fresh watermelon, carrots and cucumbers

PM Snack: Goldfish and MIss Amanda’s goodbye treat: sliced apples!

Wee Sprouts: Colored bell peppers and cucumbers

Have an excellent weekend!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to Photos: Link is down currently. We’ll post pictures ASAP. Thanks!

Happy Friday! 

This morning several friends were busy climbing and crawling on the habi-trail.

We then headed into the kitchen to paint with balls.  We chose blue, red and yellow tempera paint to roll our balls into.  We then placed our balls into our bin and slid our bins on the floor to roll our balls across our paper to make lines. We all loved it and filled our papers full of colorful designs.

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with cream cheese spread.

Lunch: Black forest ham slices, fresh watermelon, peas, and whole grain wheat tortillas.

Afternoon Snack:  Goldfish crackers, mozzarella cheese stick and fresh watermelon.

Wee Sprout: Orange bell peppers.

Have a great weekend!

Rebekah and Jena

Link to pictures:  Due to technical difficulties we are unable to post a link today.  Sorry for the inconvenience.