This Thursday, Tami is planning on taking Group A to the farm: Ada, Finn, Elliott, Lea, Sophia, Max and Caleb.

The swimmers came back with a report of “Awesome!” for the day!

The classroom was quiet, with independent works that included creating a railroad with popsicle sticks, window gazing (”One day I’ll get on the Weehicle!” ), singing along to Mel at the piano and feeding the caterpillars WHO ATE ALL THE LEAVES OVERNIGHT!

Have a great day.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Cheerios and bananas. Lunch: Chicken salad on whole wheat bread, orange slices and corn. Snack: Granola and yogurt.

 

Happy Monday!

This past Saturday, we attended a professional development session where the topic was the Reggio Emilia approach to education. We visited Stanley Clark and talked with a preschool teacher. Not only was the session very informational but we were able to tour the school as well. It’s an interesting approach to education. I have attached an article below that further describes the approach. One thing that stuck out during our session along within the article is the following:

“In Reggio Emilia they have a coined expression: “A child has a hundred languages”. They try to unite and develop all these languages; innovation, construction, fantasy, art, music, dance, building, writing, talking, signing, science, body and soul… The multiple languages are used to help children build knowledge and understand the world around them. The natural environment is incorporated as much as possible.”

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Reggio_Emilia/

As for our day, it was spent cuddling and spending some time outside. Most of our kids were tired today! Busy weekends perhaps? We all took excellent naps but we sure did love those cuddles and snuggles in the morning! We were sure refreshed this afternoon!

For breakfast, children had cheerios and banana. Lunch consisted of whole grain noodles with chicken, cucumbers, and mixed fruit. PM snack was rice cakes with cream cheese and craisins.

Have a lovely evening!

-Mindy

 

Today we welcome Caleb to our Wee Friends summer classroom! Caleb’s little sister Eve is a Wee Wee. Welcome, Caleb! We’re so happy you’re here!

Saturday morning the WF/WWF staff met at The Stanley Clark School for a morning of Professional Development. Sarah Lotter, 3/4’s Teacher, presented to us the Reggio Emilia approach to teaching early childhood education. We marveled at how similar our teaching philosophies/practices are and enjoyed the solidarity that accompanies positive, honest dialogue! Thanks to Sarah and The Stanley Clark School for having us!

There’s a lot of excitement surrounding our Eastern Tent Caterpillars. Ada found a baby caterpillar this morning. Melinda pulled three caterpillar books off our science center shelf and friends got busy researching this particular caterpillar.

In another part of the classroom, Caleb became very interested in The Snail’s Pace.

Marta and Elliott built a highway “with a hole right here for the monsters” shared Elliott.

After we read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, we added linking chains and counted. We matched chains to the illustration of the caterpillar.

Friends practiced the art of negotiation because everyone wanted to sit and spin at the same time.

Elizabeth asked for her princess music (Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty). We began to play it and friends created a story based on the colors, tones and textures they heard in the music. Marta started the exploration by asking “where’s the witch?” when the music was dark and sharp and edgy. We added props, capes and words and created Sleeping Beauty. We even had a Peaceful Fairy (Jane) who showered kisses onto the sleeping princess.

Have a peaceful day.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Peanut butter on wheat toast with bananas. Lunch: Penne pasta with chicken, cucumber slices and apple/banana/pineapple fruit salad. Snack: Cottage cheese and oranges.

 

Happy Friday!

We spent our day saying our goodbyes to P.K.! P.K. is going to another early childhood center to be with his brothers. He’s grown into such an amazing boy during his time here at Wee Wee Friends. Good luck Peter Kevin! We’ll miss you!

 

For breakfast, children had cheesy eggs and oranges. Lunch consisted of flatbread with hummus, mixed fruit, and cauliflower. PM snack was cheddar cheese slices and raisins.

Have a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

Elliott’s sister Lucinda (Lucy!) visited us today! Wee Friends were so happy to meet her.

We painted gourds that will, later, be turned into bird houses.

We found paper flames throughout our classroom and used our water hoses to extinguish the fire.

Melinda read a new book about bodies (Thank you, Finn, Jen and Lindsay!) and listened to the accompanying CD.

We hope you have a wonderful, restful weekend.

Wee Sprouts: Celery sticks. Breakfast: Applesauce Cream of Wheat and oranges. Lunch: Whole grain tortillas with hummus, orange slices and cauliflower. Snack: Graham crackers and peanut butter.

Good Afternoon!

Not only was the weather GORGEOUS for our farm trip today but teachers, parents, and wee wee friends had a terrific time! We want to thank Tami for allowing us to go and to the parents that came!

..And we’re off!

Our first stop was looking at the chickens and turkeys! The chickens had laid two eggs so Miss Charlotte went and retrieved them for us! Friends loved holding and feeling the eggs.

Miss Charlotte bought us out a group of small chicks! We used gentle touches and were able to hold/pet them!

Open air. Endless possibilities. Picking dandelions. Running free.

Goats are friendly. We found this out by just going up to one and petting it. P.K. enjoyed touching the goats tail .

There were a few horses outside today. We gazed on as they were starting to get warmed out. Our friends loved the long tail as well as the size of the horses!

We had an amazing day! We may have gotten a tad dirty and exhausted but memories were formed and fun had .

For breakfast, children had cheerios and oranges. Lunch consisted of egg casserole with hash browns, banana, and peas. PM snack was

Have a lovely evening.

-Mindy

Ben and Leo’s Family: Please check the Wee Wee blog today for pictures of your boys at the farm!

It just takes a flicker of an idea to get a Wee Idea going. When Lisa held up an oblong shaped stencil, Finn shouted “It’s a flame! A flicker of a flame!” He then went on to name the colors he saw in a flame and an art project lit up: cutting out paper flames.

Sloaners created an elaborate housekeeping experience taking care of babies, collecting food and organizing a shelf.

Ada brought in a new game “Snail’s Pace Race” and Jane shared “Ada- this is the best game ever! I’ve played it over and over!”

We gathered together to review what our firefighters taught us yesterday. We also came up with a fire drill. We assured our friends that there is very little chance a fire would start at Wee Friends, but we reviewed what to do in the event it did occur. First we practiced STOP, DROP, COVER YOUR FACE and ROLL. Next we walked through our fire drill, gathering first in the reading area and then walking out together, through the back yard to the alley gate.

We tried a habitrail game where firepersons are sleeping, they hear a bell and then slide down the pole. It wasn’t that fun and friends kept stepping over each other to get to the pole. We quickly redirected our friends and Lisa started a game of Fireperson Telephone.

 

Another small group sat on the music rug improvising with two rhythm sticks. We started by tapping out 1-2-3-4 to our firefighter song. It morphed into an exploration of turning the sticks into different things: noses, lips, babies, guitars, ears…you name it. Two sticks and a eight great imaginations.

Tami gave us an old garden hose. When we got outside, we cut it into five sections and fire people filled the playground fighting fires, playing tug of war and digging  sand.

We followed friends and their flickers and together, created lots of learning opportunities. Tune in tomorrow to see what we do with today’s flames.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Cheerios and bananas. Lunch: Farm fresh egg casserole, bananas and peas. Snack: Peanuts and apple slices.

Enjoy your day.

Good Afternoon!

**Tomorrow we will be heading to the farm! The weather looks fabulous so therefore make sure friends dressed appropriately. We’ll apply sunscreen on everyone when we get there. Our friends are extremely excited to see the farm (especially the animals)! We will be leaving at 9:30 a.m. so please to ready to go in farm attire by that time . Make sure our friends are in clothes that you don’t mind getting a little dirty. Thanks!!

Our Wednesday morning started off with learning about fire trucks and firemen! Our Wee Friends were kind enough to invite us out with them to enjoy the red fire truck. Children got to hear the engine’s horn as well as look at the gear of a real fire fighter. Thanks Wee Friends for sharing your exciting morning with us!

For breakfast, children had whole grain toast with soy butter and banana. Lunch consisted of pasta salad made with whole grain noodles and veggies, mixed vegetables, and oranges. PM snack was hard boiled eggs and pretzels.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

This morning, at 10am, Firemen Pete, Doug and Dave, from the South Bend Fire Department came to Wee Friends. Before we went outside to check out the truck, they talked to us a bit about fire safety. Here are some of the questions they asked Wee Friends:

1. Do you know who to call if there is a fire in your house?
2. Have you ever heard “Stop, Drop and Roll?”
3. Does your family have a meeting place in your house, to gather all together if a fire starts?
4. Do you know your neighbors?
5. Do you play with matches?
6. If you see a pack of matches, what do you do with them?
7. Remember, if there’s a fire in your house, just find a way out-only worry about getting yourself out! The firefighters will go back in if your pet is still in the house. That is their job.
8. If your favorite toy is still in the house when there’s a fire, the firefighters will go back in and get it.
9. Remember-get yourself out and the firefighters will worry about pets, toys and even mom and dad.
10. And now, not only do we Stop, Drop and Roll, we STOP, DROP, COVER YOUR FACE and ROLL.

We presented our new friends with the fire truck we’ve been working on.

Then the firefighters took us outside to see and sit in the fire truck!

We also got to see one of the firefighters in full fire fighting dress.

We held the water hose and learned about the different parts of his firefighting suit.

Then Kevin came along, delivering our mail! Community Helper #2 passing right by our firefighters.

Lastly, we took pictures in the back of the truck…and held a fire tool….an ax.

When the fire truck drove away, it sounded the alarm and flashed the lights.

Since our neighbor Les was on his porch, we decided to cross the street and get to know this terrific neighbor a bit better.

We learned that Les has been in his house on 29th St. for 48 years. He said when he moved in, there were lots of families, and once again, he’s starting to see young families moving back in.  He also has an 8 year old dog named Rusty.

We sang our Thumbelina songs and then made our way back to our own house.

As the summer progresses, we will be learning more about River Park’s Community Helpers.

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and apple slices. Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with tuna and mixed veggies, orange and cucumber slices. Snack: Yogurt and animal crackers.

Have a great day.

Hello!

This morning friends got a chance to color using markers. While this isn’t as messy as say painting, it allows children to explore their creative side. Most of our friends are getting to that stage where drawing or coloring means something. Whether they’re drawing a picture of mommy or of a lion, they relate it to themselves which makes it more meaningful.

This is an example that Daniel drew that showed us he’s past the scribble stage and making meaningful marks. He has clear intention throughout the process. Our older friends are doing a great job at this as well as the fine motor aspect of coloring: control and good grip while holding the marker. Some of us even held two markers at a time!

 

For breakfast, children had Chex and oranges. Lunch consisted of pita bread with soy butter, banana, and broccoli. PM snack was cottage cheese and goldfish.

Have a terrific night!

-Mindy