Today we danced.

We created with play dough.

And had a tea party!

Today we also gathered in the reading area to learn more about crinoids, or what Wee Frienders call “Indian beads.” These fossils are commonly found in our rock pile in the back; friends often search for and collect them. Thanks to Elizabeth’s mom, we received lots of information on crinoids, including pictures. We were excited to find out more about these fossils. Thank you Kristin!

We looked at the crinoid fossils from our own backyard as well as pictures of modern crinoids.

Who knew something so interesting was in our own backyard?!

Have a great day! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers and carrots. Breakfast: Toasted whole wheat bread with butter and orange slices. Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with black beans, fresh carrots and apple slices. Snack: Organic whole milk yogurt and grapes.

*Attention parents: We want to let you know that another friend was diagnosed with strep throat. We have taken care to sanitize Wee Friends and hope that it runs its course over the weekend! Hope all our friends feel better soon.

Today was a bittersweet day as we said farewell to two of our Wee Friends! This morning, we had a short graduation ceremony, complete with graduation caps and Pomp and Circumstance. Friends gathered in the reading area as our graduates walked down the aisle.

They were presented with their graduation certificates and a special photo album filled with goodbye messages and pictures from their many years at Wee Friends.

We continued this special day with some water play! The sprinkler and water table were a great way to cool off in all this humidity.

Balancing containers of water requires a lot of focus and concentration!

In addition this week we have been working on a special paper mache project: we made our very own three-legged unicorn piñata! Friends each took a turn whacking the unicorn. Cassie took the very last hit, breaking it open. Some goodies (pencils/stickers/little horns) were inside!

It’s been a wonderful day celebrating our graduates.

Best of luck in Kindergarten, Eleanor and Owen! We will miss you so much.

–Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and plums. Lunch: Whole grain French toast casserole with fresh cauliflower, plums and grapes. Snack: Mozzarella string cheese and pretzels.

Hot days mean water play!

Breakfast was bagels with crème cheese and pears. Lunch consisted of French toast egg casserole, grapes, and cauliflower. Afternoon snack was graham crackers and grapes.

Have a good night!

Amanda

Learning takes place in many different ways here at Wee Friends. Through a mix of direct teaching and child initiated play, our children are exposed to a wealth of  learning opportunities throughout the day.

For instance, today, some teacher-led activities looked like this: matching uppercase Scrabble letters to the correct lowercase letters and parking numbered cars in the right parking spot.

Child-led work looks like this: building an airplane out of plastic and wooden blocks and communicating/negotiating with each other about where each piece should go.

We provide a stimulating environment and engaging materials for friends to use. For instance, friends can build with pegs, explore how light works with a Lite-Brite or build a car out of sand toys, whatever they choose.

By giving children the opportunity to choose the activities they want, the peers with whom they will work and how they will use available materials, they take ownership of their learning!

And a love of learning is what it’s all about.

—Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Red bell pepper and cucumbers. Breakfast: Kix and fresh plums from our plum tree! Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with cheese, cucumbers and bananas. Snack: Peanut butter and apple slices.

This morning, our friends had fun pulling grass out of the grown. Rosemary was picking big handfuls at a time!

Rosemary and Anna hitched a ride with one of our older friends.

David went searching for his favorite sand toys.

Breakfast was Kix and fresh blueberries. Lunch consisted of whole grain cheesy brown rice, peaches, and green beans. Afternoon snack was grapes and kidney beans.

Have a good night!

Amanda

Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a great day.

Anna enjoyed acting silly with the scarves.

Annabelle had fun with rings.

Franklin and David showed off their adorable smiles.

Breakfast was whole grain oatmeal and fresh blueberries. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortillas with refried beans and cheese, pears, and corn. Afternoon snack was rice cakes with hummus.

Have a good evening!

Amanda

Hello!

Today has been a whirlwind of activity. Here is a sampling of some of the things we were up to today.

This morning we continued our special paper mache project, this time adding some paint! We’re getting ready to unveil it on Friday.

Friends spent lots of time in the music area, dancing to Hap Palmer and Frozen songs. Later, we got out the instruments and strummed along with the music. 1, 2, 3, 4!

Today also brought a new addition to our classroom, a Lite Brite! Friends were very eager to explore this toy, but first they watched patiently as the teachers made a small repair: taking the Lite Brite apart to fix a loose light bulb. After it was fixed they got right to business putting in design sheets and filling them with color.

Have a great afternoon! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Grape tomatoes. Breakfast: Whole grain oatmeal and bananas. Lunch: Whole wheat flat bread with refried beans and cheddar cheese, fresh broccoli/tomatoes and watermelon. Snack: Homemade popcorn with butter and fresh peaches/pears.

**We did have a friend go home sick today (fever, vomit). After going to the doctor, it was determined that this friend has strep throat .  Good vibes to our sick friend and just a heads up to parents.

We started our day by welcoming Finn back to our classroom. He’s going to be visiting for the next week.

Between building structures with blocks and experimenting with paper macha, friends were quite involved most of the morning in one thing or another. Our paper macha project will continue throughout the week. The final product will be featured on Friday .

Friends who are involved in large group worked on their journals today. It was a free ‘picture’ for all!

We kicked the day out of the park.

For breakfast, children had cornflakes and PPC green grapes. Lunch consisted of turkey and cream cheese on tortillas, plums(that we picked today!)/banana, and freshly picked tomatoes/peppers. PM snack was whole wheat bagels with peanut butter.

Hope everyone has a great night!

-Mindy

Anna was excited to play with the moon sand this morning!

Rosemary scooped up pebbles in the log house with a shovel and then put them in little piles.

 

David and Franklin played in the sand together.

 

For breakfast, children ate Whole Grain Cheerios and Purple Porch blueberries. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortillas with hummus, peaches, and cucumbers. Afternoon snack was toasted whole wheat bagels with cream cheese.

Have a great night!

Amanda

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy these photos from our day!

Rosemary burned off some energy by running laps around the track.

Anna went down the slide with big brother Owen, and David played in the sandbox with big brother Daniel. Ruby and Annabelle played in the sandbox while everyone else was napping and got excited when it started to sprinkle.

For breakfast, children had whole wheat toast with butter and bananas. Lunch consisted of whole pasta with chicken, apples, and peas. Afternoon snack was graham crackers and raisins.

Have a great night!

Amanda