WF, 10/20/16

Happy Thursday!

Today was a day filled with many fun and exciting activities for a rainy day inside. Here are some pictures from our day.

DSCN2175DSCN2203

DSCN2214DSCN2213

DSCN2208DSCN2177

Breakfast: Corn Chex and bananas

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with broccoli and cheese, pears/bananas and cherry tomatoes

PM Snack: Pumpkin seeds and dill pickles

Wee Sprouts: Sugar Snap Peas

Have a great evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhtgXkk2H_g2_7SWg3Q

WWF 10/19

A very popular activity with our friends this week has been writing in their personal journals.

 DSCN4648DSCN4649

They sit around the table together, flip through their notebooks for a page they want to draw on, pick out markers and crayons on their own that they want to use, and start scribbling away!

DSCN4654DSCN4656DSCN4655

The act of scribbling can serve several useful purposes for young children, such as:

  • Small muscle coordination and control improve with practice
  • Cognitive abilities are exercised
  • Opportunities for social interaction arise
  • The physical movements provide emotional release

Breakfast was Kix and bananas. Wee sprout was corn. Lunch consisted of turkey and cream cheese on flatbread, bananas, and corn. Afternoon snack was graham crackers and cream cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhtc6gfpTKAZEumtqyA

Have a great night!

Amanda

WF, 10/19/2016

Happy Wednesday!

Here are a few pictures from throughout the day.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. Who wouldn’t want to spend the first day of their 29th year with this crew?!

DSCN2096DSCN2101

DSCN2124DSCN2149

DSCN2157DSCN2171

DSCN2129DSCN2143

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with kiwi and pears.

Lunch– Refried bean and cheese tortillas, grapes, and cucumbers.

PM snack– A special birthday treat (1/2 of a mini Whole Food’s cupcake) and cheese.

Wee Sprouts– Peppers.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/19

WF, 10/18/2016

Hello!

The foam puzzles have been utilized quite a lot this week as children are testing their boundaries as far as their comfort zone. Our friends are always wanting to try new things and because of our classroom relationships, there’s always a friend to help out if needed! Not only do puzzles allow for our fine motor skills to develop but the spatial relationships that children attain are fostered at this age.

DSCN1999DSCN2004

We also see patterns in various puzzles that we have available in our classroom. The colorful pattern puzzles were put at the circle table where children looked at the relationship between the puzzle card and what the actual puzzle looked like.

DSCN2001DSCN2013DSCN2015

As Rosemary walked outside this morning, she commented, “Wow! It’s Fall isn’t it?!”—yes, it is! Smile

DSCN2031DSCN2035

Our swimmers came back and joined us outside. It was an exciting morning for the Britton boys as Jackson swam the entire length of the pool without a bubble and Max jumped off the diving block for the first time! We only have one more swim session this season. Our skills have grown so much these last several weeks!

DSCN2059DSCN2072

In large group, we read ‘Tacky and the Emperor’. The question, “What’s an emperor?” came up. I suggested waiting to see if the story would answer that question. Within the first couple of pages, we found out that emperor meant ruler. Reading a variety of stories allows for our vocabulary to grow as well as the cognitive understanding of words as well as phrases.

Our friends in large group are continuing to work on the comprehension of what they’re reading. After we’re done reading a story, we talk about the important events that happened within the story. We recall various events and put them into order. Not only do we concern ourselves with the text we’re reading but also the pictures that are made available. The pictures tell the story as well so it’s important that we realize that the pictures are often just as important as the written words.

“It’s showing us what’s happening in the story!”—Smile.

DSCN2076DSCN2077

Journaling time is different for every child. Some of us choose to have a quiet time, where we can think to ourselves and jot down our thoughts or feelings. Others of us choose to collaborate more, sharing what they’re journaling about and have an open conversation about the specific topic. A couple of our friends are still expressing their interest in volcanoes and often share their ‘map’ of the way to the volcano that they drew.

Differentiated instruction: allowing children to learn and express themselves in different ways. Some children may need a quiet time to journal while others need to vocally express themselves. It’s our job to allow both ways to be the right way and to foster BOTH ways to the best of our ability.

DSCN2084DSCN2087

Breakfast– Whole grain cheerios with banana.

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat flatbread, PPC strawberries, and corn on the cob.

PM snack– String cheese and pretzels.

Wee Sprouts– Snap peas.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/18

WWF 10/17

We started today with writing in our personal journals…

DSCN4274DSCN4275

DSCN4277DSCN4272

Moved outside to play in a pile of leaves our older friends were kind enough to make for us…

DSCN4343DSCN4347DSCN4350

After nap we read a few stories…

DSCN4420DSCN4415DSCN4392DSCN4383

And then we moved around the room, enjoying the afternoon together!

DSCN4434DSCN4428DSCN4426DSCN4430

Breakfast was whole wheat bagels with butter and pears. Wee sprouts was corn. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with black beans, apples, and green beans. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt and grapes.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhtNUH4YTVezc-xxE0w

Have a great night!

Amanda

WF, 10/17/2016

Good Afternoon!

Our FAB’s for the upcoming week are:

K.W.5: With support, build understanding of a topic using various sources. (Identify relevant pictures, charts, grade- appropriate texts, personal experiences, or people as sources).

K.CA.5: Create, extend, and give an appropriate rule for simple repeating and growing patterns with numbers and shapes.

Our welcome activity as well as the sign in message focused on recognizing patterns as well as creating patterns.

The welcome activity allowed children to use several cards and ‘copy’ the given pattern. We looked at what the given rule would be while focusing on the colors of the blocks. (K.CA.5)

DSCN1875DSCN1876

Miss Tami got us new Melissa and Doug wooden toys over the weekend. We introduced our new toys as well as figuring out what toys we should switch them out for. Children take ownership when they’re involved in the decision making process when it comes to classroom decisions.

DSCN1886DSCN1885

To make it fair, we pulled names out of a jar to see who would get to experiment with the toys first. Throughout the morning, children took turns playing with the new toys in the habitrail area.

DSCN1899DSCN1905DSCN1906

In kindergarten this morning, we got out the light table and continued with patterns. There were various patterns that we made including focusing on shapes as well as colors. At first, Jackson and Addi completed patterns that I had made and towards the end, we were making our own pattern. (K.CA.5)

DSCN1911DSCN1914

Once Jackson and Addi were done with their kindergarten lesson, they got to work raking up the leaves in the backyard. SO many fell over the weekend.

DSCN1930DSCN1933

An audience gathered to watch the leaves being raked up before…

DSCN1946DSCN1948

We ran through the pile AND tossed the leaves up in the air!

DSCN1974DSCN1960

In large group, we read ‘The Pumpkin Man and the Crafty Creeper’. Throughout the story, we looked at the pictures to tell us information. On each page, we talked about what the picture was telling us.

DSCN1985DSCN1986

Breakfast– Cinnamon Raisin bagel with no nut butter and pears.

Lunch– Whole wheat noodles with butter and red beans, cauliflower, and apples from Anna and her family!

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with raisins/granola.

Wee Sprout– Broccoli.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/17

WF, 10/14/2016

Happy Friday!

Here are some pictures from throughout our day.

DSCN1816DSCN1826

DSCN1833DSCN1836

DSCN1842DSCN1862DSCN1865

Breakfast– Rice cakes with sweat pea butter and raspberries.

Lunch– Whole wheat tortillas with hummus, cantaloupe, and broccoli.

PM snack– Pretzels with block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Broccoli.

Have a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/14