Good Afternoon!

Our morning started with two important aspects of our day: reading and music! Lately, friends have been enjoying our ‘teacher books’ which include a story as well as a CD to go along with it. When children put words/music to pictures, understanding happens; friends remember what they read and how it made them feel. We love singing along with the storybooks!

For breakfast, children had whole wheat toast with cinnamon and bananas. Lunch consisted of turkey and cheese tortillas, banana/oranges, and mixed vegetables. PM snack was yogurt with graham crackers.

I will be out of town tomorrow so there will be no blog. Hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

We didn’t make it to the farm today, but we did find other works that helped us stick together for a day of new adventures.

First, Lisa brought friends magnetic fishing poles.

We added stickers and superhero newspaper clippings to our custom made newspapers.

What started as a “Puff the Magic Dragon” on pointe shoes, morphed into a study of static electricity…

…..created with balloons. 

We introduced and explained the word “atom” and the part atoms play in creating static electricity or simply put….party hair. We played “My Hair Had a Party Last Night” and friends either made crazy static party hair, or chose to comb their hair out.

When we gathered our balloons into a bouquet, we realized we had created what might look like an atom! Our conversation continued. The balloon atom returned to its bouquet and petals were placed upon it.

The rest of the morning was spent exploring dinosaur bones and species, sharing birthday cake, finding peace in the swinging hammock and reading good books. Just sticking together.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Malt-O-Meal and bananas. Lunch: Turkey and cheddar on whole grain flatbread, corn and clementines. Snack: Goldfish and cheese sticks.

Have a great day.

Good Afternoon!

There are times when we ask the children what they would like for snack or the fruit for breakfast. Giving choices throughout the day including play allow children to feel in control of their environment and their learning. I came across an interesting article today that depicts children in this age category (1-3). While this article is of good length, there are some interesting facts and suggestions given.

“The child is seeking independence, and the frequently heard, “I want to do it myself!” is evidence of the child’s growing need to define himself as a separate and unique person.”

The rest of the article is found at: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=691

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Mother nature is taking one step forward and then three steps back! Our friends love to venture outside and play with their Wee friends while exploring the outdoors. Thankfully, the rain held off this afternoon and we were able to get some valuable time outside. Between searching for worms and packing the wet sand into sand buckets to make castles, our outside time was used to the max!

While inside this morning, a few children practiced with baby dolls while others played with magnatiles in the kitchen. As we looked outside, we saw snowflakes coming down from the sky! As P.K. would say, “Are you serious?!”

For breakfast, children had chex and banana. AM snack was peas. Lunch consisted of egg salad, bread, cheese slices, banana, and cucumbers. PM snack was rice cakes with soy butter and raisins.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

Two days ago we read The Paperboy by Day Pilkey. It tells the story of a young boy who has a paper route in the wee hours of the morning, before dawn.  Interested friends created their own papers and chose a name for it. They studied shapes in the paper and different information the paper offers readers.

It was a mellow morning with lots of observation and independent play. Dinosaur fossils were unearthed and measured.

Princesses were born and meals were prepared. Books were read.

Collaborations were exercised, reaping great creativity!

Gears were shifted.

And shifted again.

And again as we studied Skippyjon’s Spanish accent. We counted to ten in Spanish and introduced several new Spanish words.

Tenga un bueno dia y adios!

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Cheerios and bananas. Lunch: Egg salad, romaine salad, cheddar cheese, and bananas. Snack: Rice cakes and cream cheese.

Good Afternoon!

Music was turned up and scarves were flying! Children spun in circles as they sang to the music. Throughout the day, the music will be turned on during play. Not only do we like listening to different types of music but friends start dancing to anything that’s turned on! Friends enjoy hearing different beats and paces of the music.

Eve practiced being a big sister today! She fed the baby using a spoon and burped the baby afterwards. She was proud to say, “My baby sister Maya.”

While it rained this afternoon, we were able to get a good amount of time outside this morning. We all loved going up the log between the slides that Miss Tami put there for us. P.K. and Clara climbed the log house with one another and sat up there trying to spot birds!

For breakfast, children had eggs with cheese and oranges. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of ham and cheese tortillas, mixed vegetables, and fresh watermelon. PM snack was cheddar cheese slices with animal crackers.

Have a terrific evening.

-Mindy

So Arleigh is 5 today.  Another Wee Friender who has completed the cycle.  Today I nostalgically remember the tiny sweet baby Arleigh.  Who has now grown into a big kid.  Who will be starting Kennedy Primary Academy this fall <insert sentimental sniff sniff>.  Happy Birthday Arleigh!

FARM UPDATE:  I will be taking Group A to the farm on this Thursday 4/25/13, as long as the forecast remains true.  Ok, peeps,  please bear with me:

1. We will get the kids to the farm as much as possible now that the weather is more cooperative. 
2. I have to make a change to the way I group the children this spring because I have too many older kids to divide into big kids/little kids.  
3. Group A will go this week.  Next week is Group B (weather permitting).  Then we will rotate A/B/A/B and so on. 
4. I will get another day of the week lined up for the younger group C kids to have one spring trip and I will keep you posted on the date (and rain date).
5. Thursday is our “normal” day, but this may flex too.   I may give short notice based on weather.

Group A	Group B	Group C
Ada	Jane	Leo
Macy	Arleigh	Ben
Finn	Elizabeth	Clara
Elliott	Marta	Eve
Lea	Sloane	Daniel
Sophia	Marina	Zoi
Max	Eleanor	Keerthi (Emma, Eren, and Lulu would need a parent/grandparent to attend)

This morning was the new swim session for 9 WF’ers .  Despite some initial nerves from old swimmers and new swimmers, Miss Leslie and Mr. Aaron reported a fabulous start.  (And we saw the frowns turn into smiles from the sideline!)

Back at the ranch, the children worked on tin foil art and spent a good deal of time enjoying more outside time.

WeeSprouts: cukes

Bfast: PB whole wheat toast and oranges

Lunch:  Cheddar cheese whole wheat tortillas, Italian veggies, and watermelon. (And Arleigh’s birthday treat!)

Snack: Mozzarella cheese and raisins

Hello!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

We started our morning with excellent news! Eve is now a big sister. Rachel and Tzvi welcomed a baby girl Sunday morning! We’re excited to get to know Maya later in the summer and glad Mommy and baby are doing great! Congratulations Novick Family!

Our Monday got kicked off by having individual play this morning. Friends gathered as we played pretend and cooked in the kitchen. Friends were warned that some of the food was hot and we had to be careful when we tasted it.

Outside we headed as soon as snack was done. It was BEAUTIFUL day outside! The sun was shining and the temps were nice even in the morning. This allowed us to fully enjoy our outside time!

The sandbox was the place to be! It was crammed all morning long!

For breakfast, children had cheerios and oranges. AM snack was peas. Lunch consisted of whole grain macaroni and cheese, mixed fruit, and corn. PM snack was string cheese and raisins.

Hope everyone gets a chance to spend some time outside this evening. Have a great night!

-Mindy

baby boom n  (Sociology) a sharp increase in the birth rate of a population.

Well, this weekend was sure a Wee Friends baby boom!  We had 3 babies born on Saturday and Sunday! And we have another baby scheduled for tomorrow  For today, we send out congratulations to Amy and Bill for the birth of Lucienda (Elliott’s baby), to Pamina and Fabrizio for the birth of Chiara (Marta’s baby), and Rachel and Tvzi for the birth of Maya (Our wwfer, Eve’s baby).   

The excitement of the new baby additions translated into our curriculum this morning with baby message boards and new baby stories.

We spent most of our morning on the Blue Bus or enjoying the (finally) seasonable weather!  The highlight outdoors was watching the city pick up our rubble from the WF bathroom weemodel.  The bathroom moved to stage 2 and the drywall is nearly finished! Next step is installing our tiny toilets!

Also this weekend Charles and I spent a good deal of time with paintbrushes in our hands to transform the look of our WF and WWF exteriors.  We are getting there!  WF  is done and WWF is about 1/2 done. 

WeeSprouts were carrots and cherry tomatoes.  Breakfast was bran flakes and raisins.  Lunch was fresh strawberries/bananas. corn and Tami’s whole wheat pasta with homemade cheese sauce.  Snack will be whole wheat crackers with hummus.

Happy Friday!

Our day was full of play inside! The week was capped off on a great note! A few friends worked on their colors by looking around the room at different objects. Daniel and P.K. headed into the kitchen where they built structures using magnatiles. Eve, Emma, and Keerthi played with baby dolls while Eren was persistent as he climbed the habitrail ladder multiple times. Lu Lu spent some of her day using a teether because she’s getting a few teeth in! P.K. walked around letting people know, “Lu Lu teething!”

For breakfast, children had raisin bran and banana. AM snack was peas. Lunch consisted of cheese pizza, peas, and mixed fruit. PM snack was cheddar cheese slices and crasins.

Have a terrific weekend!

-Mindy