Light rain and drizzle did not keep us from enjoying yet another indoor, pretend picnic. We also sang our picnic song. Feel free to check out the words on our board and sing it at home. It will be music to your ears!

Miss Paulina played the guitar for our music time today. We used our shakers and learned a new song in Spanish. We learned some new movements to this song. A special thank you to Jason, one of our parent´s for sharing his wonderful guitar and vocal talents during this time as well. It was a nice treat for all of us.

We enjoyed some outdoor time. We played run and stop with Miss Lisa to burn off some energy. We are enjoying riding our bikes, helping to push our friends on our bikes and swing when they need help. We have some real experienced climbers on our log cabin.

Lunch today was chicken and rice, corn, and bananas. We are working at using our table manners while eating. All of our friends enjoyed helping themselves on seconds. We are doing a great job using our sign language to signify ¨more,¨ and ¨please.¨

Miss Amy will be joining us tomorrow as Marty will have the next two days off. We will miss Marty, but always look forward to Miss Amy, and the talents she brings to us.

Enjoy the day.

Regards,

Lisa, Paulina, and Marty

 

Hello!
Our Farm trip was simply fantastic!

The weather was perfect and the children got a good pick to what Charlotte’s farm is. First we saw, touched and held chickens and fresh eggs. After that we came inside the barn to see the horses from very close and feed, pet and brush the goats. We also saw and held beautiful soft baby goats! Some children took turns riding on the pony as we walked to the woods.

In the woods we were able get off the path and walk into an area where older children have built houses using old tree branches, we saw beautiful native plants and flowers and listened to the bird’s songs.

We came back at around 11:15 just in time for our lunch and nap. Today’s lunch menu included ricotta ravioli and tomato sauce, corn and cantaloupe.

It was a wonderful adventure and we would like to thank to all the parents who came with us for the extra hands and enthusiasm.

Have a wonderful day!

Paulina, Marty and Tami.

P.S: Check out Flickr  http://www.flickr.com/photos/weefriends/sets/72157626735209666/ (or the photos section on the blog) to view the pictures from today.

 

 

 

oops!! we realized today that our post was left “unpublished” in the blog. Nevertheless, here it is!!

Happy Tuesday. We started the day with a pretend picnic. The children filled their baskets with all kinds of food and drinks for Miss Lisa. They are really using their imaginations. It is so great to see them blossom.

We had a great morning outside. Our new playhouse continues to be exciting, and some of our friends were playing house by preparing meals and eating. We also did the ¨Hokey Pokey¨ and some dancing around the big circle. We are really motoring along on the tricycles. Some of our wee ones enjoyed going down the slide hand-in-hand today Our non-walkers are enjoying outside time as much as our older ones, and seem to be pushing the shopping carts around quite well. The highlight of the morning was our new basketball hoop that is just our size. We are pretty good at picking the balls and shooting for the basket. We filled buckets with water and used big paint brushes to paint the entire yard. We were soaked, but had a great time while doing so. It was a fun-filled, learning morning.

After lunch, we are doing a great job with carrying our plates to the trash to empty them off, and handing them to a teacher. We are really good at washing our hands by ourselves before and after meal and snack times.

We read more books on picnics prior to our nap time. We are so good about getting out our individual rugs, listening intently, and rolling them up when we are done.

Lisa, Marty and Paulina

Happy Monday!! The beginning of the week seems to always require a rather calm start; children seem more sensitive, therefore needing more emotional comforting than usual while they work at re-adjusting back into being away from home. Today children began their morning asking their teachers to read lots of books. Later they moved into pretend play and became interested on trying different hats on in front of the mirror.

Outside time was spent on the bikes and playing with the new balls. We tried rolling, throwing, kicking and bouncing. Children run after the balls and seemed to have had fun.

For lunch they had noodles with beef and grapes and broccoli. Read aloud today included “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle and “My World” by Margaret Wise Brown, two “must haves” in every child’s library.

Anticipating the better weather and the possibility of spending more time outside WWF’s will be exploring a picnic theme. We see this as an extension of the birthday theme and a way to tie into the garden theme. Using picnics as a focus, we hope to:

• Bring awareness of the landscape and seasonal events (blooming trees, flowers, garden animals, weather)
• Learn about fresh foods, especially fruits and veggies that can be easily eaten and transported to the outside places we will be visiting on our picnics
• Going through the process of preparing and planning to go on a picnic
• Read children’s books and sing songs about picnics and the related themes.
• Emphasize counting and color description. This will be a natural experience in this theme.

We are looking for some picnic baskets, small tablecloths, and picnic blankets if you happen to have extras and are “not especially attached to it” please bring them over!

Thank you and have a wonderful start of the week!

Paulina, Amy and Marty

 

 

We started our day today doing some texture painting with waffles. We dipped them on to paint and stamped it on paper. We felt the texture on the waffles, and observed the shapes and colors.  It was a fun project.

The small kitchen sink was filled with bubbles, and not only did we have some fun water play, but we washed our dishes from our Dramatic Play Area at the same time!

 

Finally, some time to enjoy the outdoors.

 

We were busy digging in the sand, running up and down the hill, going down the slide and

around.

 

 

Miss Paulina read us some wonderful stories before naptime today.  We read “I am a Baby”, a story about matching colors.  We also read “Blue Chameleon” by Emily Gravett, a story about colors and emotions…”Blue chameleon, I´m lonely”, Grey Chameleon, I´m frustrated”….

This afternoon we will play a memory game using our felt board.  By observing the objects we placed on the board and identifying which one is missing the second time we look at it.

Have a wonderful day!

Lisa

 

A small group of friends began the day counting how many swipes it would take to make the hanging eggs fall! They charted their findings. F.1.3 Manipulate objects by throwing, catching large balls with two hands, striking, swinging, and pulling at a basic level.

Several friends enjoyed creating art at the easel with bright colors. We measured, scooped and kneaded salt dough.

Melinda taught a piano lesson explaining finger formation and middle C.

Another small group of kids learned a rainy day song: “What if the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops? Oh what a rain it would be!”. Using instruments we sang along exploring the musical dynamics loud/soft and smooth/choppy. We introduced two musical terms: staccato and legato. We discussed how our voices are also instruments. F.3.1 Play classroom instruments. F.3.2 Moderate movements to tempo (fast/slow) and dynamics (loud/soft) of music heard. F.3.3 Moderate vocalizations to tempo and dynamics of music.

We gathered many of our spring themed books and read a few looking for one to act out. After reading The Happy Hedgehog, the kids decided it would be the one. Several friends acted out the characters, remembering the content and story line to the extent of repeating exact words from the book. F.1.42 Pretend to do something or be someone. F.1.43 Use new vocabulary.

Have a terrific day.

Today WWFs begun their morning painting together at the kitchen table, assisted by Ms. Lisa. They moved on to Yoga with Ms. Paulina practicing Butterfly poses and downward facing dog, ending with a relaxation.

We also practiced some Cha-Cha moves dancing to Sam Cooke’s song  “Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha”using the colored scarves.

Today WWF’s listened to “Daisy and the Eggs” by Jane Simmons and “The Very Lonely Firefly” by Eric Carle.

Yesterday afternoon WWF’s rolled our hard boiled eggs in  paint and then rolled them on paper.  They cracked some of the shells, peeled them, felt the yolk, and the texture of the eggs. Also, our firefighters  pretended to be driving the fire truck using different color circle wheels and sitting in little chairs lined up as a truck. The ability to pretend is very important to your child’s development.  Children who know how to make  believe develop a good vocabulary, which is important for reading. They learn to cooperate with others and to solve problems, and are able to think abstractly-all important skills for success in schools.  When children pretend, they have to recall experiences and re-create them.

Have a wonderful rest of the day!