Happy Friday!

PREK1 friends wrapped up their week by completely sign in earlier today. Each friend had to find their name on the board along with a group of shapes that were specific to them. There was one shape in their grouping that didn’t fit. They had to figure out what shape didn’t fit into the group and share why. Albert said, “This one is a circle and it’s not a triangle like these.”. Everyone was able to quickly identify their ‘misfit’ shape and explain why it didn’t fit into the group.

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.

We’ve been focusing on book genres all week in PREK1 and we finally came to the final genre: nonfiction! We have a few different animal life cycle representations that are displayed in the science area. One of those displays is the life cycle of the ladybug. So, we dove into the book ‘Ladybug Life Cycle’ and used the displays to help us get a close look at each stage. Friends were interested to find out that ladybugs aren’t just black and red but yellow, brown, and white!

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

A couple of our young friends came up with a project idea earlier this week.  The project, referred to by its creators as “hook things together inventions”, was brought up yesterday afternoon in hopes that it could continue.  We brought the materials back out so the kids could continue to experiment and see the project through until they felt they had investigated all avenues!  Today we explored both new ideas and innovations to the old ones. Among our new ideas were an air plane with jet engines, a tiny umbrella and a pumpkin.

There is continued interest in the written word at Wee Friends!  Several kids have been very interested in a spelling game, using word cards and letter dice to sequence words.  Paige was clearly very pleased with her work!  Many of our younger journaling group have taken a leap from scribbling to making deliberate representational pictures and are beginning to write letters! It’s very exciting to see!

PREK2:  In group today we compared sizes.  We read the story “The Big Guy Took My Ball”.  We talked about the descriptive words large, small, big, little, and medium.  At the end of the story we came up to the board and picked a small, medium, or large “marble” to sort into a chart.  We used marbles given the strong interest in marble runs this week!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh grapes.

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat tortilla, fresh cantaloupe/grapes, and fresh pepper/cucumber.

PM snack– Goldfish and cheddar block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-09-27

Happy Friday!

Today we….

built with the waffle blocks…

worked on matching the bead colors to our pattern card and stringing the beads onto a pipe cleaner…

and then headed outside to ride bikes down the hill, practice our balancing skills on the balance beams, scoop in the sand, cook in the kitchen, and explore and point to all the different colored jewels in the cement.

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

Lunch:  Hummus on whole grain wheat flatbread, fresh cucumber slices and cantaloupe/tangerine slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Ritz crackers and Mild cheddar block cheese slices.

Wee Sprouts:  Mini sweet peppers.

Have a great weekend!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-09-27

Good Afternoon!

We’ve been working on sorting things this week based on different attributes. Today, PREK1 group members sorted food into different food groups such as fruits, vegetables, and sweets. We sorted foods such as a donut, strawberry, green bean, and carrot into the appropriate group!

Later on in group, we checked ‘poetry’ off of our book genre list by reading ‘It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles’. Each friend got to pick one poem to read so we read a total of six plus I read a few of my favorite poems from the book. A friend shared, “That looks like a long chapter book!”, before we started reading the book. We talked about the difference between poetry books and chapter books.

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.

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

This morning we offered a ‘sorting by size’ welcome activity that came with the option of open ended imaginative play.  Friends enjoyed finding a small, medium, and large size of each animal.  Not only did they sort the animals, they buried them in sand, built them houses and made small, medium, and large foot prints with them.

Everyone was overjoyed to be back outside after all of the rain!  Friends played tag or hide and go seek, played in the sandbox and road bikes all morning!

We hope you enjoy a few more pictures from our day!

PREK2: During group today we read the story, “When Sophie Gets Angry”.  After the story we talked about what happened at the beginning, the middle and the end of the story.  We made a list on the board, creating a simple sequence of when things we remembered from the story had happened.

Breakfast– Whole grain cheerios with banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded turkey, fresh pineapple/pears, and fresh carrots/pepper/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole wheat round crackers with peanut butter and sunflower/pumpkin seeds.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrots/pepper.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures:2024-09-26

Good afternoon!

Our friends enjoyed dancing this morning. We followed along to “Listen and Move” and “We All Fall Down.” They walked, galloped, tip toed, hopped, ran and skated all around the front of the classroom with their friends.

We also read books on our own or with Julie, our visiting IUSB student. They all chose different books from the shelf for her to read to them.

We made our way to the kitchen to engage with some sensory play. Miss Bekah gave each friend some shaving cream and then sprinkled baking soda and added a little water on it to thicken the cream. Our friends mixed it together and watched as it crumbled into small, white pieces that we could manipulate.

We chose bears from the basket and listened to “Going on a Bear Hunt” with our friends. We walked around the front with our bears or snuggled with them on the reading step. Julie tickled Eleanor with one of the bears, which made her laugh.

We then made our way outside to play. We rode bikes down the hill, practiced our balance skills on the balance beam course, scooped sand in the sandbox and explored the logs in the log area.

Breakfast: Whole grain Puffins cereal with fresh cantaloupe.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded chicken, sweet potatoes and fresh pear.

Afternoon Snack: Sunflower seeds with whole grain wheat Triscuits crackers.

Wee Sprout: Red mini sweet peppers.

Have a terrific evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-09-26

Good Afternoon!

PREK1 kiddos kicked off their Wednesday by completing a sign in task that focused on sorting items based on similar characteristics. We talked about how we can sort things by size, color, and shape and today, we focused on sorting shapes based on color! Each friend came to the board where they chose one card. They flipped it over, looked at their shape, and sorted it based on color.

Later on in PREK1 group, we read ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. Throughout the week, we’ve been reading books from different genres. Monday called for a fiction story and today, we introduced Fairy Tales! We talked about different characters that are in fairytale stories and throughout the book, a few friends raised their hands to share characters from other fairytales that they have read.

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.

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

We enjoyed some spontaneous child lead learning experiences this morning!  Ryan and Arthur wanted to use stethoscopes to hook two baskets together in the housekeeping area.  Talking about the interest with them, it became apparent that we could build upon it!  After looking through our materials, we created a building station encouraging ways to hook things together in inventive ways.  We provided strips of fabric, clothes pins, cardboard squares and TP rolls.  The kids spent all morning experimenting with what they could make!

In the art center a similar situation occurred where one of our creative friends wanted to cut up envelopes for collage.  She shared that she was interested in the patterned paper inside the envelope.  In response we set out a variety of patterned colored paper, providing an array of paper collaging materials!  At Wee Friends we try to listen to what kids are telling us about their interests through their play.  Our job is often simply to offer avenues for further exploration, opening more doors for meaningful learning!

PREK2:  During group today we read the story “Ruby Has a Worry”. Before we read the story, we talked about things that made us worried.  As a group, we found that trying new food, monsters, the dark, spiders and daddy long legs were some of the things that make us feel worried.  We found that as we shared, that several other friends shared the same worry.  After reading the story and talking as a group, we found that sharing a worry makes it smaller!

Breakfast: Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh nectarines.

Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat flatbread, fresh pineapple/apples/oranges, and fresh snap peas/cucumber/pepper.

PM Snack: Hummus with blue corn chips.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh cucumbers and snap peas.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-09-25

Good Afternoon!  Another cold and rainy morning, that kept us inside, but we were busy.

We looked out at the rain out the window, engaged with a stuffed animal, built with our new shape blocks with our artwork inside, climbed on the habi-trail, and fed a baby doll a bottle.

We then headed into the kitchen to draw with markers.  We filled our papers full of colorful continuous lines and made small dots with the tips of our markers.  We filled both sides of our papers with our drawings.

We then headed out to engage with the rhythm sticks and shaker instruments.  We followed along to “Tap Your Sticks” by Hap Palmer with our rhythm sticks. When we shook our rain stick instruments, it sounded like it was raining inside, just like it was outside.

We then engaged with our object permanence boxes and watched our ball or coin disappear in the hole or slot and then reappear in the drawer or tray.  We also worked our fine motor skills as we stacked our shapes onto their stacking pole.

Breakfast:  Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh nectarine slices.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded mozzarella cheese, whole wheat English muffins with butter, fresh cantaloupe and red mini sweet bell pepper.

Afternoon Snack: Fresh guacamole with blue corn tortilla chips and 1/2 mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumber.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-09-25

Good afternoon!

Enjoy some pictures from our (rainy) day!

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios cereal with fresh nectarine slices.

Lunch: Whole grain wheat tortilla with peanut butter, 1/2 mozzarella cheese stick, fresh watermelon and red mini sweet pepper.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat bagel with cream cheese and fresh tangerines.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a beautiful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-09-24

Good Afternoon!

We explored sizes in an open ended way at the circle table this morning!  In the center of the table, there were three sizes of each shape and each gem.  Many friends chose to create imaginative play scenarios, making and decorating cookies or treats of different shapes and sizes.  We were able to casually talk about size, shape and how they were categorized through child lead play.

Please enjoy some more phots from our day!

Breakfast: Chex cereal with fresh pears

Lunch: Peanut butter on whole wheat bread with fresh cucumbers/carrots and pineapple/apple slices

PM Snack: Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese

Wee Sprouts: Fresh carrots and cucumbers

Enjoy the rest of your day!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures:2024-09-24

Happy Fall!

We began our morning engaged in a variety of activities.  We danced with bean bags to the Beanie Bag Dance song by Greg and Steve and sat in or stacked the BounceBlocks to stand on at the habi-trail.

Today we switched out the sensory bin to our Fall bin of corn/black bean/pine cones/corn cobs/ and a gourd mixture.  Miss Bekah talked to the friends about the colors of the corn/ beans and pine cones.  We were busy scooping and pouring the mixture with a variety of different spoons and cups.

We then headed outside with jackets or a sweatshirt to play on this much cooler than we are used to Fall morning.  We scooped in the wet sand, went down the slide, worked on our balance skills on the balance beam and walked up the rocks between the slides.

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

Lunch:  Whole grain penne pasta with shredded chicken, fresh pineapple slices and cooked broccoli.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Mini sweet peppers.

Have a marvelous evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-09-23

Happy Monday!

*Just a reminder as it is suddenly beginning to feel more seasonally fall, we go outside for an hour to an hour and a half every morning, so please send a jacket or sweatshirt if the morning temp is on the chilly side. 

We kicked off a new week and for our PREK1 sign in, we started talking about comparison words such as least and most. Children had to look at three different groupings of stars and determine which group had the most stars. Katherine talked it out by saying, “Well this group right here has only one star. This group has one-two-three stars. This group has one-two-three-four-five stars…this one has the most!”.

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.

We love reading books in different genres in our classroom. This week, we’ll focus on the different genres and specifics that set each genre apart. Today, we read, ‘Alexander and the Wind Up Mouse’. Before we started reading it, I talked about what the ‘fiction’ genre is and what we look for in books to determine whether they are fiction or not. Very quickly into the story, we were able to identify the book as fiction because as PREK1 kiddos shared, “Real mice can’t talk!”.

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

We explored some sorting activities this morning at the round table and in the sensory bin.  At the round table we had four trays set up with different things to sort by color.  The sensory bin contained magnetic wands and different colored magnetic chips, encouraging friends to sort the chips into jars using magnetism.

Arthur and Ryan have acquired quite a following with their daily cricket hunt in the garden.  Everyone has become very interested in watching them and trying to catch crickets themselves.  Arthur has enjoyed showing off his crickets and sharing his cricket hunting strategies…

PREK2:  Our MACK curriculum this week focuses on teaching children to manage strong emotions constructively.  Today during group we read some calming breath exercises from the book “Breathe With Me”.  We read that we could try belly breathing or balloon breath when we are trying to calm our bodies for rest or bedtime and when saying goodbye to Mommies and Daddies.  After the story, we practiced the sorting skills we have been working on today.  We each came up to the board and chose a paper square to sort by color.

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with black beans, fresh watermelon/banana, and fresh broccoli/green beans.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprout– Fresh green beans/broccoli.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-09-23