WF 09/22/2023

Happy Friday!  We hope you enjoy the pictures from our day!

IMG_7620IMG_7634IMG_7642IMG_7646

IMG_7650IMG_7662IMG_7663IMG_7666IMG_7668IMG_7671

IMG_7675IMG_7693IMG_7694

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and bananas.

Lunch: Cheese quesadillas on whole wheat tortillas, fresh pineapple/pears, and fresh cucumbers.

PM Snack: Whole wheat crackers with block cheddar cheese.

Wee sprouts: Fresh carrots and bell peppers.

Link to Photos:2023-09-22

Have a lovely weekend!

~Wee Friends Teachers

WWF, 9/21/2023

Good afternoon!

We engaged in a sensory art activity in the kitchen with Miss Bekah this morning. We were given some shaving cream and then some drops of watercolor for us to mix around with our hands. Miss Bekah then helped us place a paper on top of our mixture to make a ‘print.’

IMG_4205IMG_4206IMG_4208IMG_4209

Eleanor, just like the rest of the babies, loves trying to climb the reading steps. One day they’ll be able to join their older friends at the top!

IMG_4190

We were very helpful to Miss Tami while we were outside. Several friends helped pick weeds from the rock area and then helped take them over to waste bin. Eden enjoyed some outside time today and spent it with her brother.

IMG_4226IMG_4225IMG_4231IMG_4230IMG_4237

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios with fresh oranges.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with red beans, apple slices, and orange bell pepper.

Afternoon Snack: Sunflowers seeds with whole wheat Triscuits crackers.

Have a beautiful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2023-09-21

WF 09/21/2023

Good Afternoon!

For sign in, our PREK1 friends had to sort shapes into two groups: zero sided shapes and four sided shapes. We sorted the shapes by similarities and afterwards, children identified the shape and wrote their name next to it.

IMG_7604IMG_7528IMG_7522

We hit on our fourth and final text genre today in PREK1 group: fairytales! We read, ‘Cinderella’ and talked about the characteristics of fairytales. A few friends shared other fairytale books and movies such as Beauty and the Beast and Frozen.

IMG_7605IMG_7611IMG_7610

PREK2:  Today we read the story “Bear Feels Scared” at group.  We each chose what would help us most for feel better: Ask for a hug, talk about it with a teacher/parent or play with friends.  We put our name up under our choice on on the board.

IMG_7614

At our welcome activity this morning we practiced different ways of sorting.  Arthur enjoyed using his small tongs to find the smallest bead and put it in the smallest jar then doing this with medium and large.  Ryan, who was looking on, was happy to jump in and help when Arthur was looking for the various sizes.  They worked together to solve the size puzzle!  Some older friends chose to sort by color.  Nesta and Hannah asked for more and more containers as they found they had a complex assortment of colors to categorize!

IMG_7519IMG_7518IMG_7498IMG_7538

In the sensory bin this morning friends enjoyed exploring ice blocks of different shapes and sizes.  We used tongs to try the slippery challenge of putting them in order from large to small.  William said he wanted to turn the ice into water and tried several ways of doing this, including chopping the ice into pieces.  We settled on an eye dropper to pour water over the ice, which was warmer and helped to melt it.  It was a fun way to experiment with water properties. 

IMG_7513IMG_7512IMG_7514

Breakfast– Toasted oatmeal squares with banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded chicken and butter, fresh oranges/banana, and fresh pepper/cucumber.

PM snack– Sunflower/pumpkin seeds with whole wheat crackers

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/cucumber.

Have a great night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-09-21

WWF, 9/20/2023

Good Afternoon!  Enjoy some of the pictures from our day.

IMG_4137IMG_4162IMG_4138IMG_4158IMG_4144IMG_4147IMG_4145IMG_4146IMG_4167IMG_4168IMG_4169IMG_4182IMG_4176IMG_4188

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

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs, whole grain wheat English muffin with cream cheese, fresh green bell peppers and oranges.

Afternoon Snack:  White corn tortilla chips and refried beans.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures:  2023-09-20

WF 09/20/2023

Good Afternoon!

We continue talking about text genre’s in PREK1 group. For sign in, children were given two books and they had to figure out which book was the fiction story.

During group time, it was all about poetry! We read poems from the book, ‘It’s Raining Pigs and Noodle’. We loved the rhyming addition that we noticed in the poems and most of them were quite funny!

IMG_7438IMG_7442

PREK 2: Today we read the story “What should Darla Do?”  The book talked about different ways that someone could solve a problem.  The kids helped choose what Darla should do when faced with different situations.  Then they got to hear how different solutions might work…or not work in Darla’s favor.  If Darla chose to push someone off her seat she might get pushed back and not get to enjoy being at the table in the first place.  If she chose a different seat,  Darla would get to have a nice time sharing in the table’s activity…

IMG_7484

Since yesterday was about tiny pointillism painting,  today was about big and bold painting.  We looked at the artist Mark Rothko’s work who made large expressive color block paintings.  We talked about how in the book the paintings looked small but in real life they are the size of the entire wall.  After we looked at examples of the style, we worked together to create some ourselves.  We blocked off sections with tape and spread the paint in our area.  We talked about how looking at large blocks of color like in Rothko’s work often evokes emotions.  We talked about how the different colors made us feel.  Some of us felt like the red color made us feel happy and others said it was the green color that was happy to them.  We talked about how different colors can evoke different emotions in different people.  This is part of the reason we all might have different color preferences.  We all experience what we see a little differently. 

While setting up, one of our friends chose to come into the art center and wait for the painting project to start.  Another friend asked her to go play something else and she said “no, I want to do this.”  When her friend asked why, she responded “Because I’ve never done this before”…  A beautiful way to approach experience that young children possess such simple but profound insight about. 

 

IMG_7450IMG_7454IMG_7465IMG_7466IMG_7459

At our morning welcome activity we worked on our grouping and counting skills.  We built groups of 1-10 cubes counting as many as we could based on our age and ability.

IMG_7421

Breakfast: Oatmeal with fresh pears

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with fresh carrots, cantaloupe and orange slices

PM snack:  Popped corn with raisins

Wee Sprouts: Fresh peppers and cucumbers

Link to photos:2023-09-20

Have a great afternoon!

~Wee Friends Teachers

WWF, 9/19/2023

Good afternoon!

This morning our friends danced to “Listen and Move” by Greg and Steve. We listened to the prompts like “skating” and then followed along.

IMG_4080IMG_4082IMG_4085IMG_4091

Some of our friends engaged with the Legos Duplos and used them to build towers.

IMG_4108IMG_4110

We then made our way outside to do some of our favorite activities like playing in the sandbox and taking turns going down the slide.

IMG_4115IMG_4114IMG_4112IMG_4117IMG_4122IMG_4124

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with fresh oranges.

Lunch: Whole wheat tortillas with peanut butter, 1/2 stick of mozzarella cheese, apple slices, and carrots.

Afternoon Snack: Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and pears.

Wee Sprout: Green bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2023-09-19

WF 09/19/2023

Good Afternoon!

PREK1 friends made their way to the sign in board as they had to determine which group had the most stars. All of the group members were able to look at each group and determine which group had the most, without counting the stars.

K.NS.9: Use correctly the words for comparison, including: one and many; none, some and all; more and less; most and least; and equal to, more than and less than.

IMG_7397

We’re continuing to talk about text genres in PREK1 group. On today’s agenda: nonfiction! We read two nonfiction stories: Apples and Tomatoes. We talked about how nonfiction stories are about real things and often offer facts about real life, such as food! We can’t wait to learn about the other two text genres later in the week.

K.RL.3.1: Recognize familiar narrative text genres (e.g. fiction, nonfiction, fairytales, poems).

IMG_7398

PREK2: In group we read the story “How Are You Peeling?” which talked about many different emotions.  Repetition of these ideas in different ways helps to create a solid foundation of understanding for our early preschoolers.  After the story, everyone thought of what made them feel better when they were experiencing difficult emotions. 

IMG_7396IMG_7395

In the art center today we created “Pointillism” paintings.  We looked at photos from an art book by Georges Seurat.  We looked very carefully at the paintings to see how they ere constructed only of tiny dots.  Many of us marveled at the artists ability to create an image just from dots.  Since we are talking about size comparisons in our curriculum,  we learned that something like a large and complex painting can be made of simple tiny dots  We each got the opportunity to try one of our own.   A group of older friends got creative, trying different ways to make marks with the pencil.  They all settled on a technique they tried using the pencil to roll across the dots.  This created an interesting effect.  The colors smeared but the dots remained…It was great to see the group so intuitively understanding the experimental nature of art.

IMG_7367IMG_7377IMG_7350IMG_7355IMG_7376

During our welcome activity we did a sorting project with stones.  At the first tray we tried sorting the stones by size in bowls that were small medium and large.  At the second tray we tried making “Cairns” stacking the stones and balancing them to make short medium and tall stacks. 

IMG_7341IMG_7343IMG_7330

…This was a great lesson in applied physics as well :).

IMG_7346IMG_7345

Breakfast: Kix cereal with fresh bananas.

Lunch: Peanut butter on whole wheat bread,  fresh orange slices/apples, and bell peppers/cucumber.

PM Snack: Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh cucumbers and peppers.

Link to Photos: 2023-09-19

Enjoy the afternoon!

~Wee Friends Teachers

WWF, 9/18/2023

Good Afternoon!

A few friends began their morning playing with the trucks and airplane and driving them around on the carpet.

IMG_3993IMG_3995IMG_3996

We then headed to the kitchen to work on puzzles that matched our skill level.  We matched our piece with the pictures on our puzzle board.  If our puzzle board didn’t have a pictures we worked on our problem solving skills turn the piece to see if it fit in the space until we found the one that worked.

IMG_4028IMG_4031IMG_4033IMG_4034

We also engaged in building with pegs in our pegboards.  We filled the holes with a variety of different colored pegs or built a tower using all the same color and a variety of colors.

IMG_4038IMG_4035IMG_4040IMG_4036

We then headed outside to enjoy another beautiful morning.  We climbed to the top of the climbing house, sat on the dump truck in the sandbox or played with the trucks by the little house.  Since it is Monday, we got to see the trash truck go down the road and empty our bin.  Eleanor also got outside this morning to enjoy her toys on her blanket.

IMG_4053IMG_4054IMG_4046IMG_4045IMG_4064IMG_4062

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat toast with butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat macaroni with shredded pork, fresh strawberries/watermelon and peas.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a great evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures:  2023-09-18

WF 09/18/2023

Good Afternoon!

To kick off our week, PREK1 friends came to the sign in message where they had to choose a word that fit into the group based on likeness. They were given the words orange, pink and purple. The44n, they had to sign under the word that fit into that group. They chose from the words green, finger, and carrot. Friends signed under the word green because like the group of words above, it’s a color!

K.DA.1: Identify, sort, and classify objects by size, number and other attributes. Identify objects that do not belong to a particular group and explain the reasoning used.

In PREK1 group, we started diving into text genres. Today, we focused on the text genre ‘fiction’. After reading, ‘The Day The Crayons Came Home’, we talked about what makes fiction books, fiction! Children started sharing books that they have at home that would be in the fiction genre. Throughout the week, we’ll read a book from each text genre and write it on our chart in the science area.

K.RL.3.1: Recognize familiar narrative text genres (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, fairytales, poems).

IMG_7228

PREK2:  At group today we read the book “Today I Feel Silly” which reiterates what we are learning about labeling emotions.  We chose what emotion we felt today at the end of the story.

IMG_7305IMG_7307IMG_7309

In the art center today we made paintings using Large, medium and small sized paint brushes.  We named which were large, medium and small as we sat down to paint at our tray.  We talked about how the brush strokes were also large medium and small.  Many of us preferred the biggest brush!  As we sat down to pant we also got to choose between warm and cool color pallets.  We talked about what warm and cool colors were, how they made us feel and what images they brought to mind.

IMG_7222IMG_7249IMG_7253IMG_7244IMG_7271IMG_7229

In the sensory bin we explored small medium and large as we played in water.  Every item came in small medium and large including spoons, funnels, bottles, cups, tongs and eye droppers.  We worked on labeling small medium and large as out teacher asked what we had picked to play with.

IMG_7207IMG_7236

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with butter and fresh green apples.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and shredded cheese, fresh watermelon/strawberries, and fresh cucumbers.

PM Snack: Whole milk yogurt with granola.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh green peppers and tomatoes.

Link to Photos: 2023-09-18

Have a wonderful afternoon!

~Wee Friends Teachers

WWF, 9/15/2023

Happy Friday!

Today we engaged with our musical shaker and bell instruments.  We enjoyed making beautiful sounds together.

IMG_3947IMG_3950IMG_3953

The friends then went into the kitchen to engage in the moon sand sensory table.  They were busy using shovels and scoops to scoop up the moon sand into their containers.

IMG_3967IMG_3968IMG_3975IMG_3970

The babies explored the texture of pom-poms while the older friends were engaging in the sensory table.

IMG_3980IMG_3977

We then headed outside to engage in our favorite activities on this beautiful day.

IMG_3990IMG_3988IMG_3987IMG_3984

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh pear slices.

Lunch:  Turkey lunch meat on whole grain wheat tortillas, fresh orange bell peppers and fresh cantaloupe.

Afternoon Snack:  Mozzarella cheese stick and Pretzel sticks.

Have a great weekend!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-09-15