Dear Wee Friends Families,

I am very unhappy to report that AEP is estimating that it will be Thursday before our power is restored at Wee Friends.  I will keep everyone posted as I continue to call AEP each day to see if that changes any sooner.

I’m sure you have all heard in the news that Riverpark was very badly hit by the storm.  I am following the damage on our Riverpark Neighborhood Association Facebook page and the pictures are astounding. Just in our section of the 700-800 blocks (Jefferson to Wall), we had a line of winds that took down many large trees and the power lines with them.  So AEP is not just working on one issue, but I know of 3 separate power lines down within just a few block of us.  And there are more lines are down throughout the area.  There was a house on 23^rd completely destroyed by the storm.  The pics are all from our neighborhood.

As a reminder for those with YMCA swimmers, Tuesday swim starts at 10:00 for those who can transport their own children to the class.  The YMCA class will not reimburse you for a missed class.  The Blue Bus was canceled today and Jennifer, will however, tack the class onto the end of the session so that you are not paying for a missed class.

Once again, I am so sorry for the inconvenience of this situation.  Thankfully, this is the first time we’ve ever experienced an extended closing due to weather related issues and we are blessed with just losing power and clearing debris.

Tami

Thanks to everyone who has brought in labeled, insulated mittens to keep at school! Here’s a friendly reminder if you have yet to bring a pair in for your Wee Friend!

A fishing boat was created this morning. Here’s the order of events that followed this one block creation:

Friends explained the details of their fishing boat. Owen explained they were catching bass. Finn described, in detail, the three different types of bass fish. Teacher offers fishing poles.

Lea sees the sailors and decides to become a mermaid. She casts other friends as mermaids, too. Teacher offers large blue sheet to represent ocean and yellow plastic sheet for sail.

Teacher puts on stormy music.

Teacher offers TP rolls around legs to create a mermaid fin. We explore how our feet feel by lifting, swirling and tapping our legs.

TP keeps breaking, friends get frustrated.

We try squishing two legs in one pant leg for a fin.

Things go down stream as friends disperse and fishing poles become, first oars, then weapons.

Exploration phase out. On to cars, puzzles, snuggling with books and a costume change.

Creative play is transferred to literacy opportunities as a few friends sit at the island and write out the words they used throughout their play.

Happy Friday!

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Oatmeal and pear slices. Lunch: Peanut butter sandwiches, green beans and fresh fruit salad. Snack: Pear slices and cheese sticks.

Good Afternoon!

Here are a few pictures that were taken today.

For breakfast, children had Chex and banana. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of egg and cheese tortilla roll-ups, broccoli, and banana. PM snack was cheese and animal crackers.

Have a terrific evening!

For the last week, Aislinn has been singing “I’m a Little Teapot” at the top of her Wee lungs. Today, we made our own cuppa’ (and pot), sang Aislinn’s song and tipped ourselves over. And over and over.

A small group of friends sat around the art table creating a collage with magazine pictures. Later, the collection of pages will be bound into a book and will tell a story. The discussion about why friends chose the pictures they did, was on-going.

Jack Prelutsky (www.jackprelutsky.com), famed kid-poet, wrote a poem called “The Snopp on the Sidewalk”. Wee Friends gathered to talk about the snopp (and other dragon-like creatures). We learned that the snopp talks in a whispered, “inside” voice. Friends took turn either being the snopp, or being the person who asked the snopp a question.

Afterwards, several friends who have been writing a book about dragons, shared the book (in progress) with all the Wee Friends.

And then it was Wee business as usual. Writing, building, reading, puzzling, creating and learning together.

Have a great Thursday!

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Kashi and bananas. Lunch: Flatbread with farm fresh eggs and cheddar cheese, broccoli and fresh, mixed fruit salad. Snack: Cottage cheese and pineapple.

Happy Wednesday!

While our baby friends were working on their crawling form, our older friends enjoyed reading teachers books. They sang along with the different stories that were told.

 

For breakfast, children had malt-o-meal and pears. Lunch consisted of whole grain rice with mozzarella cheese, oranges, and corn. PM snack was rice cakes with cream cheese and raisins.

Have a great evening.

We began our day finishing our mysterious baking soda art projects. Today we added water color to the images created by the dried baking soda.

We invited friends to share and explore the question “Which side of the bed did you get up on? The grumpy side or happy side?” We followed with a discussion expressing, if you DO get up on the grumpy side of the bed, how do you make yourself feel better? Eating food, snuggling with mama and “giving myself a kiss” were a few of the answers.

Lisa played “Where Are You?” if you are brushing your teeth, or eating your breakfast to name a few.

A few friends played “Give and Take” with the rain stick. Each friend took one end of the rain stick and together, the two friends took turns giving and taking the shifting rocks inside. Each friend was an equal participant, with no one designated the leader. Each friend did/his her part, to get the job of shifting the rocks over, done. The teacher side coached, encouraging this equality by expressing “Listen! Watch your friend! Your turn to ‘take’, hold your body still as your friend ‘gives’!”

We took it a step further and had two friends stand side by side, and with the same ‘give and take’ dynamic, talk to one another. Listening, watching and taking turns. Then we asked each friend which they preferred giving or taking.

Have a great day.

Wee Sprouts: Celery sticks. Breakfast: Whole wheat buttered toast and bananas. Lunch: Whole grain rice with mozzarella cheese, orange slices and corn. Snack: Cranberry bread and cheese.

Good Morning!

Wee Friends recognizes that delays and closings are horribly inconvenient.  However, we balance that with the safety of getting our staff to work and being able to get the street, sidewalks and stairs safe for our clients.  Hence, the 10:00 delay for nearly all public school snow days rather than the close.

Please note that parents are responsible for checking the news for school closings on snowy/icy mornings.  If the schools are closed for odd reasons (cold), please check to blog as that is going to be our means of communicating any delay or closing information.

I have tweaked our weather policy slightly so I wanted to share it:

Inclement Weather/ Emergency Closing Policy

Wee Friends will delay opening until 10:00 on any day that Mishawaka OR South Bend Schools are closed or delayed for weather.  If we feel it is necessary to CLOSE FOR THE DAY, we will post the closing on the blog by 8:00 a.m.

VACATION DAYS

We are closed:

Thursday and Friday, November 28-29 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Monday, December 23rd through Friday January 3rd for our 2 week Winter Break.  We will re-open on Monday, January 6th.

This information, as well as a handout outlining other WF policies as a yearly refresher, will be in your children’s cubbies tonight.

Thanks you for being part of Wee Friends!

Tami

 

 

Good Afternoon!

Our morning was filled with shaving cream! Our three two year olds dove right in.

Friends put toys into the shaving cream so they could play hide and seek with them!

It’s so amazing to watch children wonder about the snow. Eren yelled, “Look, the snow!” while Emma let us know, “It’s white!”

Emma requested shakers this afternoon. We turned on the music while friends used their shakers to make music.

For breakfast, children had cheesy eggs and bananas. Lunch consisted of cheese tortillas, corn, and oranges. PM snack was string cheese and crackers.

Have a great evening!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Winter is upon us. Here is a reminder/request, per Tami: please bring in a pair of labeled, insulated mittens for your Wee Friend. Mittens that can stay here at school and not need to go home at the end of the day. If your child can, independently, put gloves on, please feel free to bring gloves. We’ll keep these mittens on the clothes line, hung near the piano. THANK YOU SO MUCH for working with us on this!

FYI-During the winter months, our goal is to make sure our friends get outside as much as possible. We generally dress them in winter gear (snow pants, mittens and hats) if the temperature drops below 30 (wet or dry!)

Who? What? Where? Literacy FAB K.3.5. Mel has been reading aloud and having kids identify these three W’s.

We had an island filled with friends and word books. (Oh! If your child has is working with a word book, please leave it in the cubby for continued work!). Friends work with words that interest them: Rino-dozer, The Magic Tree House, Princess, Ballerina and Tuesday.

At the art table, we invited friends to explore (and smell!) squishy lotion. We added watercolor to it. Then we switched to shaving cream and shredded bar soap.

The big finale of the sensory exploration was the animal prints. We stamped them, identified them and wrote out the name of the animal to whom they belong.

And outside, all bundled up, we found more tracks!

Hope you are enjoying this day.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Whole wheat bagels with cream cheese and bananas. Lunch: Hummus on whole grain flatbread, pear slices and raw carrots/broccoli. Snack: Yogurt and cranberries.

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Our sensorial gear was high this morning as friends got a chance to work with flaxseed. While a few friends chose to work with our hands, others taste tested it! The concoction is flaxseed with water which is completely edible!

You can tell by some of the faces that at first touch, it felt a little foreign. Friends warmed up to the idea and had a blast feeling it and moving it around their tub.

Friends followed one another on the logs.

We even hummed a tune as we walked!

Some of us fell but we got right back up! Perseverance at its finest!

Eren, Eve, and Emma worked at the table this afternoon with the pegs. Concentration was needed when children built their pegs too high! When they fell, they rebuilt them! Eve decided to focus on certain colors .

For breakfast, children had corn flakes and oranges. Lunch consisted of whole grain noodles with kidney beans, green beans, and banana. PM snack was cottage cheese and graham crackers.

Have a great night!