Housekeeping is one of the favorite learning centers in our classroom.  What exactly IS the value of this detailed, expressive, social and imaginative play? Log on to this site to find out more! http://www.environments.com/media/blfa_files/EIST203.pdf

Today, in housekeeping Marta was selling fruit. We know she was re-enacting a real life experience she had in Africa. When Sloane cuddles her baby, we know SHE is re-enacting a real life experience. They are processing their lives through language, socialization and highly imaginative story telling.

Hope your environment today is stimulating and life-giving!-Laurie

 

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Whole wheat bagels with cream cheese and pear slices. Lunch:  Peanut butter on whole grain bread, corn and strawberry/bananas. Snack: Buttered wheat bread and strawberries.

Happy First Day of April!

We spent our morning reading stories and crawling/walking around the habitrail. All of the babies love to go to the ladder and look down upon their friends and teachers .

After all the babies went to sleep, Miss Mindy decided to take Eren and Saskia on a walk! It was lovely weather this morning. We bundled up and proceeded to take a walk. We listened with our ears and heard beautiful wind chimes. Our eyes were used as well! Eren spotted birds, squirrels, and many cars! A couple special things we saw were the mail truck and a police car!

By the end of our walk, Eren and Saskia looked ahead as Erens hand was on Saskias back .

Friends continued their outside play in the backyard. We loved the slide today!

Tate came out and joined us for a little while. He is loving the sand box! A whole new sensorial world exists outside.

Lucy showed us a BIG smile as she tried walking to Miss Marty.

For breakfast, children had english muffins with butter and cinnamon along with pears. Lunch consisted of hummus on tortillas, broccoli, and applesauce mixed with pears. PM snack was pretzels and cottage cheese.

Have a great evening!

In the van, on the way from swimming, Tami heard over and over “I can’t wait to tell my mom and dad about……!” Make sure you ask your Wee swimmer what his/her favorite moment was!

 

I’ve had two parents ask me specifics about environmental print. I’ve attached a great article explaining this idea and how we utilize it, in early childhood, for early literacy.

http://www.readingrockets.org/content/edextras/environmental-print_en.pdf

A small group of emerging readers gathered today to continue what we began in large group yesterday: creating alphabet letter book marks. Today, Marta created a space for herself, right in front of our alphabet board so she could reference letters as she created hers.

Later, she joined Elizabeth in sequencing the letters (Literacy FAB K.1.19), continuing to reference the letter board as she worked.

Wee Friends worked together to build ships, work with puzzles and Magna Tiles, create art and act out The Two Little Pigs.

We huffed and puffed as we dressed for this blustery day and huffed and puffed some more as the wind blew us into play! We have loved being outside.

Hope you are enjoying your day. –Laurie

Wee Sprouts: Sweet peppers. Breakfast: Whole wheat toast and bananas. Lunch: Hummus on whole wheat tortillas, Purple Porch organic spinach with Raspberry Vinaigrette and apple sauce. Snack: Cottage cheese and apple slices.

I know it is April 1st, but this is no joke!  I wanted to share with everyone that yesterday Wee Friends received our first delivery from Purple Porch Coop of high quality organic produce that is locally grown whenever possible.  Every week we will now get a delivery from PPC!  I am so excited to be able to offer this to our program.

I have revised our Nutrition Philosophy to reflect the changes that we’ve made since I created that page on the blog.  Check it out!  https://weefriendskids.com/nutrition-philosophy/

 

 

Tami

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a terrific weekend!

Our Monday started off with a bang. Everyone gathered in the music area this morning. A few friends used xylophones to make music while others chose the drums and piano.

Taters loved his reflection! Maya joined the party later this afternoon. They giggled together as they stood side by side.

FINALLY! We were able to go outside. Yippee!!!!

Friends and teachers loved the weather today that allowed us to see our Wee Friends!

Leo came over to say hi to his brother Henri!

Maya and Henri loved the swing this afternoon with Miss Marty.

The babies had a great first day of exploration outside! There are so many new and interesting things to do and see! Our minds were non-stop.

For breakfast, children had cheerios and strawberries. Lunch consisted of whole grain noodles with marinara sauce and cheese, mixed vegetables, and oranges. PM snack was crackers and raisins.

Have a great evening!

HAPPY SPRING!

What a gift to be outside today! While the Blue Bus rotated friends, we jumped into Literacy FAB K.1.19: Learn and apply knowledge of alphabetical order. First, a small group of preschoolers created alphabet bookmarks, placed them inside books and put the books in order.

Mel played a game in which she invited friends to pick an alphabet card and hunt around the classroom for an object whose name started with the letter they had.

 

They also studied which uppercase and lowercase letters look the same.

 

When our friends shared that they were in a ship, we added ship music. And then the requests came in: “Sleeping Beauty!”, “Shake!” and of course “Let It Go!”. We ended our music and movement by belting out “Let it go!” at the top of our lungs. It felt good.

Hope you’re able to let it go and get outside today! –Laurie

 

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Cereal and bananas. Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with marinara and Mozzarella, orange slices and cucumbers. Snack: Pear slices and string cheese.

 

Happy Friday!

Here are a few pictures taken throughout the day! We had a wonderful end to the week. Friends loved crawling in and out of the tunnel which was requested by Lulu! Shaving cream up a hit especially when we added a little tempera paint into the mix. Not only was it fun to play with but the designs we made were beautiful!

Tate and Maya both became members of the chair climbing club today . Both were pretty pleased with themselves!

For breakfast, children had oatmeal with raisins. Lunch consisted of rice with chicken, cooked carrots, and mixed fruit. PM snack was raisins and cheddar cheese slices.

Hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

We didn’t have to dig to deep to find joy today! Friends spent the morning singing, dancing, laughing and sharing their amazing gifts! What a great way to end our week.

And what better way to celebrate my 29th bday, being a part of it all? Not to mention the taste of home that greeted me in the way of AUTHENTIC TEXAS TACOS!!!! Thank you Langenkamp/Jackson Family, my fabulous Wee Family and all the Wee peeps who sure know how to teach me about learning to laugh!

Yee—-HAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!! –Laurie

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Oatmeal and raisins. Lunch: Chicken and brown rice, honey glazed carrots and fresh fruit. Snack: Ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and Craisins), apple straws and veggie chips.

Good Afternoon!

It was a birdseed and rice kind of morning! Eren, Lulu, and Saskia sat in the kitchen with their own bins. After adding toys into the mixture, we got that sensorial feeling! We loved the mixture on our hands. Friends worked through it along with scooping and pouring the mixture back into the bin.

Lulu loved filling her cup up and dumping it out. It made a pretty sound!

Habitrail play, books, and music filled our day.

For breakfast, children had toast with butter and cinnamon along with strawberries. Lunch consisted of fresh egg casserole, mixed vegetables, and oranges. PM snack was pretzels and string cheese.

With smiles, we say “Have a good night!”

 

Wee Friends alumna, Annie Cummings, is spending the day with us! She shared with Wee Friends what her kindergarten class is like. She also led a large group exploration as friends explored more “w” words to add to our wishing well.

 

Melinda gathered friends around the piano and, as we watched the rain fall outside, she played different vocalizes that reminded friends of rain falling down (descending notes) and the sun coming up (ascending notes). Then she jumped into familiar Wee repertoire and friends danced joyfully!

We got outside this morning and got wet, muddy and surprisingly cold! We came inside to a warm delicious lunch. It was a treat to have Annie here today. Our Wee Friends look up to her and so enjoy hearing stories of what’s ahead of them. Of particular interest was “What do you eat at school?”. We love you Annie!

Wee Sprouts: Broccoli. Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins. Lunch: Egg casserole with whole grain flat bread, corn/green beans and banana/oranges. Snack: Peanut butter and rice cakes