*Reminder—Our Halloween Parade is tomorrow at 4:00 pm. All parents are invited to join us as we sing a Halloween song and show off our costumes!

*Announcement—Cold weather gear for our daily outdoor play

As colder weather approaches, we are in need of items to stay at WF that are both comfortable and easy for your child to put on and take off themselves. We have extra mittens and snow pants but often find that children prefer their own well-fitting winter items.

To stay at WF: 

• Mittens—labeled with name
• Snow pants—labeled with name

To bring every day:

• Hat
• Warm coat
• Boots (especially when it begins to snow)

Thank you! Let us know if you have any questions.

Today has been a great day full of laughing over comics, building with the plastic blocks and watching the city workers work on the sidewalks:

Today, we also baked pumpkin pies! First, we wrote down the recipe and gathered the ingredients.

Next, we worked REALLY hard to open the cans. Once we opened up the canned pumpkin a friend remarked, “Those look like refried beans!”

Add some evaporated milk and eggs:

Give the batter a stir, pour it in the crust, and voila! Pie!

Happy Thursday! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and bananas. Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with black beans, fresh cauliflower and grapes. Snack: Homemade pumpkin pie and almonds.

Our friends spent their rainy morning inside painting!

Miss Marty picked out fall colored paint for them to use to go with the season.

And now we have beautiful new art in our classroom!

Breakfast was whole grain oatmeal and bananas. Lunch consisted of farm fresh eggs, whole wheat bread, pears, and mixed vegetables. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with hummus.

Have a good night!

Amanda

*Announcement: Attached to each child’s cubby is a field trip fee slip for our trips to the farm and apple orchard this fall. Field trip fees are due on Friday, October 30th. Thanks! 

Hello! Today we conquered a favorite fall activity: pumpkin carving!

First, we surveyed the designs created by the Wee Frienders. Each design was assigned a number and then we voted on the one we wanted to put on our pumpkin. Design number 1 won with 5 votes.

Once we figured out our design, we were all ready to carve.

After a teacher opened up the top, brave friends reached in and pulled out the pumpkin guts and seeds.

It was quite the sensory experience!

After we pulled all the seeds out, friends helped separate the seeds from the pulpy flesh.

Next, friends drew the design. Although they couldn’t actually carve the pumpkin because of the sharp knife, having a say in the design and placement of the shapes help friends feel ownership over the jack o’lantern!

The finished product and original design:

Meow! T-minus 3 days until Halloween! Have a great day. –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Hot wheat cereal and fresh pears. Lunch: Farm fresh eggs with cheddar cheese on whole wheat flatbread, beans/carrots and oranges. Snack: Homemade popcorn with butter and grapes.

Our friends got together in housekeeping today and cooked up a bunch of delicious food! Rosemary and Anna were nice enough to share with Miss Marty and Miss Amanda.

Franklin and David played with a mirror together. Franklin thought David was being very silly and was full of giggles.

Breakfast was Corn Chex and oranges. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with refried beans and cheddar cheese, cucumbers, and bananas. Snack was brown rice cakes with cream cheese.

Have a great night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

We started off the morning at the message board where friends were asked what they’re planning on dressing up as for Halloween. After each child shouted out their answer, we moved to the circle table where a conversation was had about pumpkins. Specifically, OUR pumpkin. Tomorrow, we’re going to carve our pumpkin!

After reading a couple stories about pumpkins, friends were asked to draw the pumpkin the way THEY would like to carve it. To give us a few ideas, children got out paper and markers and drew their perfect pumpkin.

Throughout the day, our friends’ interests guide what they become involved with. Whether a friend suddenly shouts, “Hey, I want to work with the red yarn. I’ve been practicing!”; or “I’d like to get down the red counters! I want to fill it all up.”; or “I use the markers and dotters!”

Our day was full of choices!

Wee Sprout– Cucumbers.

Breakfast– Oat Bran and PPC grapes.

Lunch– Refried bean and shredded cheese tortillas, cucumbers/cherry tomatoes, and banana.

PM Snack– Daniels birthday treat (homemade apple bunt cake) and string cheese.

Have a terrific night!

Hello! I hope everyone had a good weekend and Monday. Here are some photos from Friday and today.

 

Breakfast was whole wheat toast with butter and grapes. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with mozzarella, oranges, and broccoli. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt and pears.

Have a great night!

Amanda

This Week at a Glance:

Tuesday—swim lessons at the Y

Friday—our Halloween Parade is at 4:00 pm. Parents and costumes are welcome!

Hello! Today we would like to wish our friend Daniel a very happy birthday! Although his actual birthday was yesterday, we had a marvelous time celebrating with him at school today. It’s a joy to witness Daniel’s sweet smile and creative spirit every day! Happy Birthday, Daniel.

Friends spent the morning deeply engrossed in a number of different projects, including decorating Daniel’s “5” birthday card:

The music area was also in full use this morning. After warming up with some Halloween songs, including the WF favorite “Dancing Bones”, friends got out the guitars and played the piano. So many rockin’ rhythms!

Later, friends gathered in the reading area to hear Dr. Pompo’s Nose. We specifically wanted to share this book with friends because the illustrations are made up of photographs of carved pumpkins.  Inspiration for our own pumpkin carving we will be doing later this week!

Outside, we took advantage of the beautiful, crisp weather through imaginative play, drawing at the outside art table and bike riding!

Have a marvelous Monday. –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Toasted whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and fresh apples. Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with cream cheese and marinara sauce, fresh broccoli and apples. Snack: Organic whole milk yogurt and granola.

Happy Friday!

This morning started out with an invitation to continue work on our math FAB for the week: K.CA.5: Create, extend and give an appropriate rule for simple repeating and growing patterns with numbers and shapes. For most of the Wee Frienders this FAB looks like the opportunity to see patterns and notice different colors and shapes. Many friends enjoyed working with the unifix cubes and pattern books!

Next, friends gathered at the art table to work with the corn cobs and husks we brought back from the farm last week. We put out a plethora of materials: corn cobs, husks, yarn, fabric scraps, crepe paper, glue, scissors, ribbon, etc. Rather than dictating a “correct” way to create something, we let the friends use the materials in any way they pleased. Both the process and end results highlighted the Wee Frienders’ creativity!

Today we also examined the leaves we collected on our leaf hunt yesterday! Before we went outside, friends gathered on the music rug  to classify the leaves.

Ms. Melinda held up different leaves and friends identified whether they were maple, oak, cottonwood or a mystery. We used our eyes to see the similarities and differences between each leaf. We noticed how some leaves were pointy and others round and how some were red, green, yellow or brown.

At the end, we had a beautiful leaf chart!

Kindergarten: Today the kindergarteners (and Daniel) worked on our math FAB for the week, but rather than using colors or shapes, we challenged them to figure out patterns using coins. While friends didn’t always know the names of the coins, they were often able to match the coins based on size and color. It didn’t matter if friends hadn’t learned the names of the American coins yet, as working with patterns was the objective of this lesson!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh pears. Lunch: Homemade French toast casserole made with whole wheat bread and farm fresh eggs, fresh green beans and apples. Snack: Fresh pears and cheese crackers.

David did activities in the kitchen this morning. He would place a few puff balls on the cup tray and then flip it over!

Anna kept a close eye on the trucks parked outside today. She often told us that the “big trucks” were being “loud!”

Breakfast was eggs with cheese and pears. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with turkey, pears, and peas. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with sweet pea butter.

Have a good night!

Amanda

Today we went on a leaf hunt! Ms. Melinda set the stage by reading several stories about leaves this morning.

We also looked at a leaf identification chart and picked three leaves to look for: maple, oak and cottonwood.

And then we were off on our leaf hunt!

Our kindergarteners were in charge of collecting everyone’s leaves and documenting how many leaves there were. Elizabeth took friends’ leaves and helped identify the tree type. Elliott recorded the number of each type of leaf by making check marks on his clipboard.

When we got back to the house we had a huge variety of leaves! We used some of them to make leaf rubbings and plan to make leaf collages tomorrow.

Kindergarten: Today’s kindergarten work included being in charge of the collection and count of leaves during our leaf hunt in the morning. However, we could not forget about our stocking project! This activity peaked the interest of other friends and teachers provided them with a stocking activity appropriate for their developmental level.

This ranged from threading a needle to sew—to drawing and cutting out a felt stocking—to cutting a paper stocking.  We always try to teach Wee Frienders within what psychologist Vygotsky calls the “zone of proximal development,” the area in which children can learn with guidance from a teacher. These differentiated materials help reach friends within their zone of proximal development, appropriately challenging them without overwhelming them with something too difficult.

Enjoy your Thursday! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Bell peppers. Breakfast: Corn chex and fresh pears. Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with turkey, fresh broccoli/peppers, and bananas. Snack: Homemade apple crisp and pistachios.