If your ever in a jam, here I am
If your ever in a mess, SOS, If you ever lose your teeth and your out to dine, borrow mine

It’s friendship, friendship
Just a perfect blendship
When other friendships have been forgot, ours will still be hot
Lah-dle, ah-dle, ah-dle, dig, dig, dig

-The Late Great Cole Porter

The Face of Friendship in an early childhood classroom is a thing of beauty. It’s the pursuit of meaningful friendships that make up our Wee days. We started thinking about it today when Leo shared with Mel where each of his friend’s cubbies were. Leo is two and doesn’t read yet.

Lea started a word book, choosing friend’s names to trace. Soon, a table full of friends were surprising each other by choosing to write their friend’s names.

A large group of friends made music together as Mel guided them in a rhythm stick exploration.

This gross motor/music work morphed into a yoga session, with Max offering to lead his friends in stretching their bodies.

Friends gathered and with one voice sang out to wish our dear Mindy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Friendship. The Great Spice of life. And some times, it gets pretty spicy in an early childhood classroom as we guide our young friends through the countless social situations they find themselves in each day. But…….

It’s friendship, friendship!
Just a perfect blendship.
When other friendships have been forgot, ours will still be hot!
Lah-dle, ah-dle, ah-dle, dig, dig, dig!

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Cheerios and bananas. Lunch: Hummus filled whole grain flatbread, green beans and pear slices. Snack: Tami’s pumpkin bread and cottage cheese.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Thursday!

As we headed outside with our friends, we walked along the logs to try and keep our balance. Emma got done and cheered along her friends!

 

The rain headed into our area and raindrops started falling. We tried to bare it but eventually had to come in. Children sat at the table where they worked with crayons.

For breakfast, children had cheesy eggs and apples. Lunch consisted of egg casserole with hash browns, pears, fresh bread, and corn. PM snack was homemade pumpkin bread and string cheese.

Have a great evening.

Today Lea is four! Happy Birthday, Lea! We love you! And her first stop…..the workbench!

Cassie has been beginning her day with floor puzzles.

Magna-Tiles draw people into the classroom and are always out first thing in the morning!

Our older friends often start their days with word books. They draw their inspiration for writing from lots of sources.

Lisa helped friends make cotton ball ghosts and then invited them to the music rug for “Pass the Ghost”.

“Pass the Ghost” morphed into “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” which morphed into a ghost and spider musical improvisation. Literacy FAB “Identify and use the terms: inside, outside, between, above, and below” were incorporated into the language and movement.

We created a masking tape spider’s web and after we followed the leader, we invited friends to fill the spaces with Magna-Tiles.

“It’s Fall again, leaves are falling on you…and if you get to catch one….you’ll feel it too!” is the song we sang as we added orangey fall leaves to our tree.

Happy Oct. 17th.

Wee Sprouts: Tomatoes. Breakfast: Corn Flakes and bananas. Lunch: Farm fresh egg casserole, mixed veggies, pear slices and homemade wheat bread. Snack: Lea’s special birthday treats!

Hello!

**If parents could bring in a pair of gloves and a hat for their child that’d be great! We have spares but it’s not guaranteed that we have enough for everyone or that we have a pair that will fit your child. It’s been cool in the morning and we want to guarantee that our friends are bundled and warm . Thanks!

Our friend Eren started off our day talking about our new fish along with making his famous fishy face!

Our baby friends enjoyed a whole lot of floor time today. They’re finding it way better now since they’re starting to become mobile .

It was chilly outside this morning! Friends bundled up in their jackets and hoods and spent time outside. Once we became active, we warmed up!

For breakfast, children had malt-o-meal and banana. We LOVED the malt-o-meal!! For lunch, we had ham, cheese, tortillas, pears, and corn. PM snack was soy butter on graham crackers and raisins.

Have a great night!

INDOOR CLASSROOM: Literacy FAB K.4.3 – Identify and use the terms: inside, outside, between, above and below.

Leap Frog was the game friends used to explore the above FAB.

This FAB was also integrated into conversations while friends created with Magna-Tiles and Little People.

After singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, friends created their own spider web.

OUTDOOR CLASSROOM: Persimmons, Pears and People Piles. It was a quick but fruitful farm trip! We began by snacking on pears plucked right off the tree. We helped Farmer Charlotte pick up persimmons and tasted this delicious and unique fruit. Then we set out to the prairie to find Max’s brother’s water bottle. We never found it but we sure had fun piling up in the soft and wet prairie grass.

And the philosophical pondering of our Wee day: When WILL the chicken cross the road?

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Pancakes and bananas. Lunch: whole grain tortillas, ham and cheese, bananas and corn. Snack: Homemade (hot from the oven!) wheat bread.

Good Afternoon!

Friends headed to the kitchen where they painted this morning. For our friends Eve and Eren, painting is a regular activity that they’re familiar with. However, for Lu-Lu and Saskia, it was all about the experience today. Feeling the paint on their hands was a big event! They become more and more accepting of this material that was ooey and slimy on their hands .

Paint-1  Eve and Eren-0 (we were a little messy) . However, that means that we dove into the paint today and fully divulged ourselves in the process!

For breakfast, children had kix and apples. AM snack was peas. Lunch consisted of homemade ham and bean soup (veg. were carrots and celery), grapes, and bread. PM snack was cheddar cheese and crackers.

Have a great night!

FARM WEDNESDAY: Finn, Max, Ellie, Elizabeth, Sophie, Elliott, Aislinn and Owen.

Today Lisa reported that, at the Y, friends in both groups worked their swimming arms, swimming kicks and got comfortable with their heads going all the way under the water, after a dive.

Back in the classroom, there seems to be Puzzle Mania brewing! Our puzzle library is extensive and is divided into four levels, arranged by difficulty. We both honor our Wee Friends developmental levels as well as challenge them to work through the puzzles.

The blocks under the habitrail (large and small) are life-sized puzzle pieces that are being constantly arranged and re-arranged through the whole space.

When the swimmers left, Melinda organized a sensory experience with two bins: one filled with bird seed and the other rice/macaroni. They measured, poured, sifted, squished and worked side by side.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating: When one friend masters writing another friend’s name.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Cereal and grapes. Lunch: Homemade ham soup with buttered wheat bread and grapes. Snack: Peanut butter yogurt and apple slices.

Happy Monday!

We got tons of smiles from our friends to start off our week! We witnessed some scooting today from the babies  .

Our two’s went into the kitchen where they indulged themselves in bird seed! We talked about the different colors that we saw along with how it felt on our hands. Emma held it in her hand and said, “Here birdie birdie!”

Our friend Carrie sat with us and talked with us about what we were doing. She is doing a few hours of observation with us here at Wee Wee friends!

While the bird seed expedition took place, Lu Lu and Saskia worked on their fine motor skills. They took pegs and put them into the different holes that were provided. They sure did get the hang of it at the end!

For breakfast, children had cheerios and apples. Lunch consisted of whole grain pasta with marinara sauce, fresh mixed fruit, and corn. Afternoon snack was rice cakes with soy butter and craisins.

Have a great night.

This week’s literacy FAB: K.7.2 – “Share information and ideas, speaking in complete, coherent sentences.”

Keeping it simple and clear. Not overloading concepts in teachable moments. Speaking in complete and coherent sentences. (How do you like those complete sentences?! ) These are communication guidelines we use in the early childhood classroom. Today, at the lunch table, a friend expressed “Can I have more salad? I don’t like the lettuce, I just want the salad.”  “That’s an oxymoron.” replied the teacher. “Well I don’t like this oxymoron.” replied the friend as he held up one leaf of lettuce. Simple and clear.

Math FABS: K.4.1 “Identify and describe common geometric shapes.” K.4.3 “Identify and use the terms: inside, outside, between, above and below.” We were swimming in shapes and their possibilities this morning!

We watch as friends work together to create. We are particularly interested in how our friends are relating to one another through sentences and body language. We guide our friends, as needed, to develop social skills that enable them to feel empowered and productive.

“We are taping this down so that you can pop the bubbles.” That was the sentence we used to invite friends into this sensory exploration. They tried, fingers, toes and the soles of their tennies. It was the weight of the bicycle wheel that provided the most sensorial pleasure!

Simple, open ended sentences often lead to the most interesting and creative works. It was this kind of day: this awfully pretty day.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Cheerios and pear slices. Lunch: Penne pasta with marinara, orange/banana fruit salad and bowls of oxymoron with Ranch . Snack: Cheese sticks and pretzels.

Happy Friday!

There was a request today from Emmie’s daddy to do her beautiful hair. So Marty did. Our friends love having their hair done. Emma requested piggies. She loved the end result .

We ended our week with a painting session. Children used different fall colors to paint. We later incorporated the colors into our day as we walked outside this morning. We looked around for these colors in the backyard and we found them in the leaves!

We made sure to use all of the colors to see what they look like on the paper. Emma let us know that ‘yellow’ is her favorite color .

After we looked at the leaf colors outside, Eve and Emma ducked and hid behind the bench. Peek-a-boo was in order.

This quickly moved to the log house where they peeked their eyes out in between the logs.

The last stop of our game was hiding on the side of the play house. Peek-a-boo!

We celebrated our Friday by getting the trampoline out for a little bit.

We are jumping higher and higher every time we use the trampoline!

We ended our Friday by having a dance party. Really, there’s no better way to end the week.

As Emma, Eren, and Eve danced, Emma grabbed Saskia’s hand to help her join in on the fun. Friendship; it’s a beautiful thing.

For breakfast, children had chex and apples. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of hummus tortilla roll-ups, mixed vegetables, and oranges. PM snack was yogurt and graham crackers.

Have a terrific weekend!