Good afternoon!

Its finally time for lots of seed planting!  Many Wee Friends helped plant seeds in the garden today.  Others helped water and break up soil…and some of us alternatively hunted for insects. We planted beans, beets, zucchini, sun flowers and cucumbers!  Everyone was so helpful and careful to plant the seeds and cover them well.  We have learned a lot about how fragile plants are growing our bean indoors so we got to apply that knowledge outside. 

While we worked we snacked on some deliciously fresh kale!

During our ever popular bean journaling this morning, Daniel noticed that the stem of his bean was purple while others were green or white.  Millie exclaimed with excitement that her bean in fact had a purple stem as well.  We talked about why that may be.  We realized that we had different kinds of beans.  We talked about how the bean plants that produce purple bean pods often have other parts that are purple, so this is a possibility.  The two used purple markers in their bean journals today!  It is so encouraging to see excited young children developing their observation skills, learning and having fun doing it.  At Wee Friends we  believe whole heartedly that this is how learning should be…filled with wonder!

Breakfast- Whole grain cheerios with fresh apples.

Lunch- Peanut butter on whole wheat bread, block cheddar cheese, fresh cantaloupe/strawberries, and fresh carrots/green beans.

PM snack- Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout- Fresh carrots/green beans.

Have a great night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-05-09

Happy Tuesday!

We had a great start to our morning as friends all chose different activities. Dax shared smiles as he used his imaginative skills in the play kitchen. Our friends collaborated with each other to make a huge train track for their cars and trains. Hannah listened to Miss Bekah read different stories to her. Emily flipped over her plastic block and turned it into a boat. Paige engaged in dress up and tried on different hat and scarf combinations. Eleanor enjoyed playing on her mat with different toys.

We made our way outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.  We engaged in the sandbox with trucks and dinosaurs, explored the texture of the grass with our hands and cooked in the housekeeping area.  Today we helped in the garden.  One of the garden beds had clumps of dirt.  We helped to break up the clumps and feel the different texture between our garden soil and sand, to get it ready for planting.

Breakfast:  Whole grain Cheerios and fresh oranges.

Lunch:  Refried beans and cheese on whole grain wheat flatbread, fresh strawberries and corn.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain wheat bagels with cream cheese and fresh cantaloupe slices.

Have a terrific evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-05-09

Happy Monday!

**Wee Friends will be closed on Monday, May 29 for Memorial Day.

Our FAB focus for the week deals with jobs that people have as well as the tools needed to do those jobs. We read, ‘Andrew’s Loose Tooth’ since one of our K/PREK1 friends was heading to the dentist this afternoon! While this story is highly fictional, we did talk about real dentists and what they need to do their job. As children were rolling up their mats, they had to say aloud one job and a one tool that worker needs. A few jobs that were shared were: painter (who needs paint), dentist (who needs toothbrushes), army (who needs weapons), plumber (who needs a wrench), and mechanic (who needs a hammer).

Social Studies: K.4.2 Identify and describe different kinds of jobs that people do and the tools they use.

We have all been enjoying the out door space at Wee friends!  Our outdoor art center has been very popular allowing both Wee friends and Wee wees to create art together.  This is something new for them as part of the change of seasons that they have enjoyed!

Rowan found a little pet rolly- polly today!  She made a habitat for her pill bug in the lid of a jar using a wood chip, a pebble and some grass.  She put her bug inside and was amazed to he exclaimed out loud “how did he get out?” finding him on the outside of the lid.  We talked about how many members of the arthropod group can climb vertically in ways we could never because of their very small size as well as hooks or barbs on their feet allowing them to hang to seemly smooth surfaces.

The first seeds we planted this season have begun to come up in the garden!  Hopefully we will begin enjoying fresh snap peas as summer begins!

We hope you have a terrific rest of your day!

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and fresh apples.

Lunch– Whole wheat noodles with marinara sauce and shredded cheese, fresh pears, and fresh carrots/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/cucumber.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-05-08

Reminder:  Wee Friends will be closed on Monday, May 29th in observance of Memorial Day.  Thank you.

Happy Monday!

This morning several of us sat on the reading step or in the rocking chair to read a book independently.

Paige, Arthur and Emily worked independently or together to create a Magna-Tile structure.

We then headed outside to ride on the teeter totter, bikes, pull the cart up the hill, spend time with our sibling or engage with the dinosaurs in the sand.

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

Lunch: Whole grain wheat penne pasta with butter and shredded chicken, fresh oranges and red/orange bell pepper slices.

Afternoon Snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Have a marvelous evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-05-08

Happy Friday!

Many of us worked together this morning creating tube systems.  We used them to drop pompoms and marbles down and to see how far they went.  One of our tubes reached all the way to the loft and we worked together to help drop the marbles and pompoms down, collect them and bring them back to the top.  We learned a lot about how objects move in space with this hands on building project. 

Enjoy a few more pictures from the rest of our day!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh watermelon.

Lunch– Homemade english muffin pizzas (cheese, pepperoni, or ham), fresh cantaloupe/grapes, and fresh cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Pretzels and cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh snap peas.

Have a glorious weekend! Enjoy the sunshine!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-05-05

Good Afternoon!

This morning we were quite busy with many different activities. We shook the shaker instruments together to make music, looked at our reflection in the mirror while holding the maracas, explored the textures of the stepping stones with our hands, cooked in the housekeeping area, enjoyed the texture of the ball in our mouth, wore the colored rings around our neck while walking around the room and engaged in a book.

We then headed to paint on bubble wrap with Miss Bekah.  We used blue, green, red, purple and yellow tempera paint using a paint brush at the beginning and then when we were finished made a print of it on white paper for us to take home.  We then explored the paint and bubbles with our hands to finger paint on it.  We had a blast!

We then headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather!  We engaged in the sandbox, pushed a cart around, scooped rocks and put them in the bed of a dump truck, played peek-a-boo with the shutters, rode on the teeter totter with a friend and explored a dandelion.

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Shredded mozzarella cheese pizzas on whole grain wheat English muffins, bananas/oranges and red bell pepper slices.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain Wheat Thins crackers and mozzarella cheese stick.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-05-05

Good Afternoon!

This morning a large group of friends decided to work on their bean journals and observe the growth of their beans.  Several of us noticed stems and leaves starting to grow.  One friend astutely observed that his bean had faint purple lines on the seed coat and drew them in his journal.  Another friend decided he wanted to decorate the outside of his journal with bean pictures and the whole group followed suit with interesting drawings.  Daniel made an unusual connection.  When I asked him about his drawing of a foot ball on his bean journal he explained that a football looks like a bean and that was why he drew it there.  It was a good argument for football art on the cover of a bean journal!

We were thrilled to spend lots of time outdoors today!  We worked on an outdoor collaborative water color painting which the Diltz sisters did the majority of work on today.  They spent the majority of our outside time covering this painting with “dots” “worms” and “trees”.

There was great interest in rolly-polly pill bug collecting at Wee Friends today!  Many older friends taught  younger friends where the best places to look for pill bugs were.  William happened to be particularly  good at finding pill bugs and was very generous sharing some of his with younger friends who where struggling to find the illusive insects themselves.  Diligent pill bug collectors  enjoyed building habitats for them in  jars.  Others used stones and leaves to create habitats in the rock garden area and released the pill bugs in new homes. 

Breakfast- Toasted oatmeal squares with fresh watermelon.

Lunch- Brown rice with shredded chicken, fresh oranges, and fresh cucumber.

PM snack- Crackers with peanut butter and sunflower seeds.

Wee Sprout- Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-05-04

Happy Sunny Thursday!

What a gorgeous day! Enjoy some of the pictures from our day.

Breakfast: Whole grain Corn Chex cereal with fresh apple slices.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with red beans, watermelon slices and corn.

Afternoon Snack: Peanut butter on whole grain wheat Ritz crackers.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a terrific evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-05-04

Happy Wednesday!

This morning we were busy with bubble wrap.  We jumped on it to see if we could pop the bubbles.  We then drove our cars on it to see if we could pop the bubbles that way.

Arthur, Emily and Paige were busy building.  They worked together to build a big structure with Magna-Tiles.  Arthur and Paige also built their own structure with the Duplos.

Ben, Dax, Eliza and Hannah were busy shaking the shaker instruments and jingle bells to listen to the difference in the sounds they made and to make their own music.

Breakfast: Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and oranges.

Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs, whole grain wheat bread with butter, broccoli, and bananas.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain wheat tortillas with hummus.

Wee Sprout: Green/yellow bell peppers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-05-03

Hello!

As I was getting ready to set up an activity at the round table this morning a friend came up to me and said he had an idea for an activity.  He wanted to make a habitat for one of the polar bears from hobbit trail.  He wanted to use sand along with bowls from the kitchen.  He also wanted to include some birds and also some eggs so the polar bear could have food.   I was happy to accommodate for this idea.  I got out a variety of animals since other friends were showing interest.  We found we could use some white beans for eggs and we were set to play!  Everyone put their own spin on how the imaginative play would unfold.  Some friends built nests and homes, some pretended to have their snakes devour all of the eggs and burrow under the ground.  Another friend asked if she could have a special pot from the kitchen play space.  She filled it with an animal and sand mixture then put on the lid.  There is no end to the flow of  imaginative ideas from the  minds of young children!

Rowan was excited today when she looked at her bean and found it had sprouted leaves!  She immediately went to get her bean journal so she could document the change in her bean!  She wrote “Growing green” in her journal. 

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh blueberries.

Lunch– Hard boiled eggs and homemade egg salad, whole wheat flatbread, fresh watermelon, and fresh carrots/pepper.

PM snack– Tortilla chips with hummus.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: 2023-05-03