Good Afternoon!

Our friends are still getting used to the new gate. Teachers are still getting used to it too!

Bounce, bounce, bounce we went on the jungle gym. The gross motor activities that our friends partake in throughout the day allow children to let loose, work on their balance and stability, and engage with friends.

Peek-a-boo was a game that was played today. P.K. hid under the jungle gym and peaked through the floor boards at his friends.

There he is!

Zoey looked at friends through small spaces. She peaked her head up to find teachers and friends waving at her!

The school bus and fire truck got a work out this morning! Friends Eren and P.K. pushed them around the classroom while making interesting noises.

Eve took care of her baby all morning. Between feedings and naps, Eve enjoyed playing with her baby! The nurturing aspect of pretend play is a great skill that our friends are learning.

“Patience is a virtue.”

While a couple of friends entered the kitchen to begin painting, our other friends waited. We waited by the gate where we could watch our friends explore in the kitchen. We learned that we have to wait our turn and that soon we’ll get a chance.

We began our “after Christmas” project. Red paint was used to paint with on a long piece of white paper. We’re going to cut it into a red heart and the second stage of the project will occur tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Children moved around the paper so that multiple spots on the paper could be painted. Friends painted as much paper as possible!

Some of us also painted their hands and feet. It was sure a great sensory activity and a wonderful chance for friends to paint together. We sure did have a big canvas to paint .

P.K. saw his reflection in the mirror. He said, “Hi, P.K.”

When Daniel and P.K. were done with the art activity in the kitchen, they each grabbed a book and began reading.

Zoey has been enjoying standing on the bench and exploring the options that she has. She walked while holding the ledge. She bent down to get some toys. With the help of Miss Marty, she practiced walking around the classroom.

Music was turned on this afternoon and Eve spun and turned around to the different tunes we heard.

To end the day, P.K. explored his gross motor possibilities. He jumped on the jungle gym. He bent his knees and launched up into the air. He smiled when he was done and said, “I jumped!”

For breakfast, children had toast with soy butter and bananas. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of hummus on whole grain bread, bananas/oranges, and snap peas. PM snack was rice cakes with soy butter.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

• If you would like any of Miss Charlotte’s farm fresh eggs, please email Tami directly. $3 a dozen.
• WF would love your holiday cards if you are looking for a place to recycle them.
• ‘Tis the season of Winter Gear and our WF love their own Winter Gear! While we have an abundance of mittens, hats, snow pants and boots on site, many Wee Friends are very excited to wear their own special gear and become very upset if it is not available to them. Can you help us in this way: if your Wee Friend is particular about any of these items to make sure they come to school? Thank you so very much for your help in making the transition to outdoor play smooth for your child.

This is a great time of year in the preschool classroom. We’ve just come from the comfort of being with our families for two weeks. We’ve established healthy routines and made good friendships. We’ve settled into familiar processes and social interactions. We all know each a bit better and can now explore, in more detail, “Who am I, anyway?”!

So, we began our day with our message board sign in asking “What color are my eyes?”

A small group of friends gathered in housekeeping to sing “Green eyes, green eyes, if you have green eyes, please stand up!? We explored eye color, hair color, clothes colors and patterns and other body parts.

Lisa invited friends to the art table to create self portraits using markers, blue and yarn.

Melinda cut up celery stalks for Wee Sprouts and invited friends to the easel to explore how the bottom stump of the stalk could create shapes and patterns.

When friends finished with the art portion of their self portrait, they moved to the message board to write an original story about themselves.

Have you noticed the new bulletin boards Tami installed opposite the habitrail? This functional art will also absorb the sounds of Wee Friend Folly!

Marta and Elliott worked very hard on a block and Little People negotiation. One of the friends wanted to play with the Little People and the other was concerned that it would create too big a mess. With a little language side coaching, they resolved that the Little People could come out and they proceeded to hide them deep within in the layers of blocks they stacked. Like many of our friends, months of hard work and practice led them to this moment-a peaceful and accommodating exchange!

Today in post lunch small groups Lisa read “Never Talk to Strangers” by Irma Joyce and Laurie read “Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride!” by Kate DiCamillo. Our older preschool friends are beginning an in –depth alphabet letter study: identifying letters by sight and sound.

Breakfast: Kix and bananas. Lunch: Hummus on whole wheat bread, pea pods and orange slices. Snack: Rice cakes and peanut butter.

Welcome Back!

Hope that everyone had a safe and happy holiday!

**We ventured outside for about five minutes this morning (chilly and snow covered backyard). While we were all dressed warm, if you could please make sure to send your child with a warm coat, snow pants, gloves, hat, and boots everyday. We found out this morning that our friends don’t like their hands getting wet . The cloth gloves don’t work that well because they get wet fairly easily. Our friends love to play with the snow and it makes it difficult to do so with cloth gloves. If you have the water resistant type gloves to bring in that would be terrific! Thanks so much!

We all got back in the swing of things today. Our friends observed and tested out our new structural addition to the WWF establishment: a new gate from the play area to the kitchen!

Miss Tami also put in a new mirror by the cube where the felt board used to be. We loved looking at our reflection in the mirror.

Friends gathered in the cube where they played with wooden shapes. They built a tower by placing one block on top of another.

A few of our friends enjoyed working with trains this morning. Daniel put different cars and trains in a row one after another. P.K. took the wooden trains around the room.

Daniel also put out different farm animals on the floor. We went through the different animals and the noises that they make.

Children got into reading books for a while this morning. It was a great transitional activity for the start of the day.

Emma enjoyed worked with the abacus.

The kitchen was the hot place to be this afternoon.

Daniel and P.K. enjoyed some quiet time on the jungle gym.

For breakfast, children had cheerios and apples. Lunch consisted of whole wheat noodles with chicken, broccoli, and banana. PM snack was pretzels and string cheese.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

Reminders:

• If you are planning on enrolling your Wee Friend in gymnastics this spring, pick up the form that’s taped to your child’s cubby and return it, with the fee BY FRIDAY JANUARY 11th.
• Same with swimming: pick up the form taped to your child’s cubby and return to Tami by FRIDAY JANUARY 11th.

Friends jumped right into Wee Friends 2013, creating a mellow and engaged morning, working with favorite materials and activities.

Our new numbered cake stackers were a huge hit!

Mel invited friends to play charades, acting out different characters and actions.

She invited some gamers to the art table to play a seek and find board game.

We pulled out the alphabet sock puppets and studied letters. Friends were excited when they found “their letters”!

Nate started singing our “Jack and the Beanstalk” song using only B sounds. We all joined him exploring the way ‘B’ felt in our mouth when we sang! Friends recognized not only their own letters, but friend’s letters as well. Other friends decided to wear their sock puppets and we played “Happy Feet” and danced around!

 

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and bananas. Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with chicken, broccoli and bananas. Snack: Pretzels and cheddar cheese.

Have a great day!

Wee Friends is closed Monday, December 24-Friday, January 4. We will re-open Monday, January 7.

On behalf of Tami and the Wee Friends teachers, we wish you a happy, restful and safe holiday! See you  in 2013!

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Cheerios and apple slices. Lunch: Pizza, corn and apple slices. Snack: Pretzels and cheese sticks.

Good Afternoon!

Here are a few reminders:

• Wee Wee Friends is closed Monday, 12/24-Friday, 1/4. We will re-open Monday, 1/7.
• Here is the Wee Friends Inclement Weather policy, as stated in the handbook (found on-line):

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. You will be notified by email by 9:00 if we choose to close for the entire day.

Thanks!!!

Friends read with each other this morning. We read our favorite big books. We’re really working on colors, animals, and objects that we see out in the world.

P.K. stretched from the table to the chair. He tried his hardest to touch both items at the same time!

We rolled around inside the jungle gym. Children lay with one another while laughing and giggling.

“Hello!”

LuLu enjoyed talking to herself and playing with different toys on the baby jungle gym. She is making different noises through the day and loves to play with her older friends!

A few friends gathered this afternoon to play with baby dolls. Between burping them and feeding them, our babies were very much taken care of!

Zoey had a great time this afternoon with P.K. while playing hide-n-seek! She knew that he was back there but was so surprised when he came out from behind the pillow .

For breakfast, children had cheerios and apples. Lunch consisted of fresh egg casserole with hash browns and cheese, applesauce, and green peas. PM snack was pretzels and string cheese.

Have a terrific evening and stay safe!

-Mindy

Reminders:

• Wee Friends is closed Monday, 12/24-Friday, 1/4. We will re-open Monday, 1/7.
• Please pick up the artwork in your child’s cubby and any other materials/bags of clothes, that may have accumulated over these months.
• Please feel free to drop tuition checks off in the Wee Friends check box. As always, tuition is due each Friday and checks will only be deposited on the day they are due.   However, late payments will receive the $10.00 late fee (if paid Monday) and $5.00 additional per day after that. 
• Here is the Wee Friends Inclement Weather policy, as stated in the handbook (found on-line):

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.  You will be notified by email by 9:00 if we choose to close for the entire day.

• An FYI: We’ve had several children (from both sites) and a few teachers out with the flu that is making its way around.

Wee Sprouts: (Thanks, Matt D.!)

Breakfast: Cinnamon Swirl whole wheat toast and raisins. Lunch: Egg casserole, whole wheat buttered toast and applesauce. Snack: Goldfish and apple slices.

Have a great day!

Hello!

Our morning started with a painting project. With this age, not only is it an art project but also a sensory activity too. We found out that some children like the feel of paint on their fingers. However, we also found out that some do not care for it at all! Our friends took their fingers and moved the paint around, feeling the texture of the paint.

Clara loved using the sponge. As our friends are getting more mature in their painting skills, they use the sponge as a sponge instead of a paint brush. Clara moved the sponge up and down to make different marks on the paper.

P.K. made sponge marks on the paper but also used it as a paint brush to make streaks across the paper. He pushed his bowl forward when he was ready for a new color.

Eve enjoy mixing the colors together on her paper. She mixed the white and green paints together using her sponge. When paint got on her finger, she studied it for some time. She didn’t mind the paint on her fingers but didn’t care for it either.

Emma tried different techniques and ideas throughout her painting experience today. First, she tried painting her hair. The white streaks did look pretty cool . Second, she put the paint on her fingers and then used her fingers to paint with. She loved the feeling of paint on her fingers. She switched up the sponge from right hand to left hand and finally her just used both hands!

Eren sat up in his chair and went to work! He loved painting in all four corners of the paper. He tried putting it in his mouth which brought up a great conversation starter about things we shouldn’t do with paint. Eren sure did enjoy painting with the sponge today.

After our sensorial painting experience was complete, we headed to the living room where we worked with trains. Friends shared with one another and made sure to give a piece to someone who didn’t have anything.

Zoey sure is getting around easily these days. While she’s not walking yet, there’s nothing this child won’t try! She’s especially getting good at walking from thing to thing while holding onto a bookshelf or chair. This allows her to really interact with the older kids.

Smiles from the jungle gym!

P.K.’s action shot of the day!

Up, through, under, over. P.K. found many ways to maneuver through the jungle gym.

Eren worked his little heart out at trying to climb through the hole. There were times that he got stuck so a friend would give him a boost!

For breakfast, children had chex and raisins. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of couscous with chicken, mixed vegetables, and pears. PM snack was whole wheat crackers with hummus.

Have a terrific night! (We hear there might be a winter storm a-brewing? )

-Mindy

*Wee Friends will be closed Monday Dec. 24-Friday January 4. We will re-open Monday January 7.

Our friends have developed an on-going interest in puzzles.

We decided to create our own puzzles using the front picture of our recycled holiday cards.

Mel led a Mystery Box game in which friends had to put their hand in the box and guess what object they were touching.

Next, friends played Kids Onstage-a charades game for young children.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Cheerios and apple slices. Lunch: Whole grain cous cous with chicken, mixed veggies and orange slices. Snack: Yogurt and pear slices.

Happy Wednesday!

Good Afternoon!

I’ve gotten a couple inquiries about my wedding that was over the weekend so I figured I’d just share a photo. Thanks for all of the well wishes within the last week! It is greatly appreciated.

*Wee Wee Friends will be closed for Winter Break Monday, Dec. 24-Friday Jan. 4. We will re-open Monday, January 7th.

It felt so good to get back to work!

We started off our Tuesday with gross motor time. Friends jumped on the jungle gym and watched as cars drove by. We’re becoming very aware of our surroundings!

Fine motor work came next where we built tall towers with blocks. When the towers got too tall, they fell over!

Children headed outside after we bundled up!

P.K. heard a doggie bark and walked to the gate to see if he could see the pup.

We spent a long time on the phone with family today. Mommy, Pa Pa, and Daddy were called many times throughout the day.

Trains went speeding throughout the house today. “Choo-choo!”

Clara made some delicious pancakes with syrup and wonderful ‘foffee’ or coffee.

“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!”

P.K. let us know that the babies were sleeping so he told us to “shhhh”.

P.K.’s word of the day was yellow. Anything that he saw that was yellow, he let his friends and teachers know!

Breakfast was Chex and raisins. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of soy butter on whole grain bread, banana, and green peas. PM snack was string cheese and oranges.

Have a great night!

-Mindy