Please note: The mosquitos have become pretty bad outside. Please feel free to bring in bug spray for your child.

Our friends were very excited that we went outside early to beat the rain. Ruby, Franklin, and Sophia ran laps around the track to burn off some energy!

It didn’t rain as early as we thought it would, but no one complained about the extra time outdoors! We all enjoyed playing together in the fresh air!

Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and apples. Lunch consisted of whole wheat bread with hummus, strawberries, and peas. Afternoon snack was pretzels with string cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhqEduFYAHSls2mQaFQ

Have a great night!

Amanda

Today we went down slides…

Spent time in the sandbox together…

Read many of the books on our shelves…

And accessorized!

Breakfast was whole wheat bagels with butter and strawberries. Wee sprout was mixed veggies. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, strawberries, and mixed veggies. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with cream cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhp9E8ZQ5YbrJ8R8SYA

Have a great night!

Amanda

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a terrific weekend!

Our newest friend joined us today from Wee Wee! David started at Wee Friends this morning and fit right into our classroom. We’re so excited to add our final piece to our Wee Friends puzzle!

Over the weekend, Tami built us a new sensory table. She took down the one person loft and replaced it with our sensory bin! It’s mobile and allows us to switch out the sensory items whenever we wish! Let’s just say, we took advantage of it today!

We also received a new fine motor activity in the habitrail area as well as a new wood working bench tabletop. Friends loved testing out the new materials today!

A rousing game of ‘ring around the rosie’ took place outside this morning. We all enjoyed the nice weather and warm sun on our faces.

We will focus on the following FAB’s this week:

K.RF.2.4: Identify and name all uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

K.RF.3.2 Orally segment words into syllables.

K.NS.4: Perform one to one correspondence tasks.

K.NS.5: Count up to 20 objects arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle. Count up to 10 objects in a scattered configuration.

In Kindergarten today, Jackson and Addi used different building materials to form structures. I asked them to compile a group of 10, 15, etc. blocks and build whatever they wish. Using their one to one correspondence skills, they counted the blocks one by one until they got to 10, 15, etc.

Once they built their structure, they used their clipboard, paper, and marker to put their work on paper.

“I have another way to count too! I can count my fingers.”

So, the three of us counted our fingers and our toes! One of us came up with 19 fingers and toes combined! As a group, we questioned that total so we decided to count again, making sure to hit every finger and toe.

We transferred this idea to large group where we read a book called, “If You Hold A Seed”. Throughout the story, we learned that a tree starts with one single seed! Addi said, “We should make an apple tree!” So as a group, we made a tree and added apples to it. We counted the roots and the apples on the tree aloud. Once the apples were counted, another child said, “How many are going to be red apples? Those are my favorite.”

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with no nut butter and raisins.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and shredded cheese, oranges, and peppers.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with pumpkin flax seed granola.

Wee Sprouts– Cauliflower.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 8/29

Today was David’s last day at Wee Wee before moving over to the big house. We’re going to miss having him here very much, but we know he’s going to love being next door and will do great!

Enjoy your weekend!

Breakfast was Chex and pears. Wee sprout was carrots and peas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with roasted red pepper hummus, apples, and mixed veggies. Afternoon snack was graham crackers and string cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhp06Z0lm46DVWFL9XQ

Have a great night!

Amanda

Happy Friday!

It was all about team work today!

Jackson made a creation at the wood working bench this morning. Addi stood next to him to assist him. They took the creation and headed to the art table where they requested paint! Together, they picked three colors to paint with!

Meanwhile, Lucy and Grady worked together to put puzzle pieces together to make words! Lucy made the word ‘cake’ while Grady constructed the word ‘shoe’! Lucy ran to a teacher and said, “We can’t do this one! We have the ‘c’ and the ‘a’ but not the ‘r’. We can’t build ‘car’!”

There were periods throughout our morning where friends wanted to listen to different stories. When a teacher starts reading, children usually flock to the reading area to listen.

As we wrapped up our FAB for the week discussing community helpers as well as classroom rules, each group was asked, “What do YOU want to be?” We had some great answer and aspirations!

…”I just want to help.”

Breakfast– Kashi’s Blueberry Clusters and grapes.

Lunch– Organic roasted red pepper hummus on tortillas, grapes, and cauliflower/green beans.

PM snack– Pears and pretzels.

Wee Sprouts– Green beans.

Have a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 8/26

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast was toast with butter and cinnamon and pears. Wee sprout was peas. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with chicken and cheese, bananas, and peas. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with sweet pea butter.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhpwIJc31WDkds3P4Bw

Have a great night!

Amanda

Hello!

*We want to send a HUGE thank you to all of our families. We received all of the surveys with one day to spare! Awesome job!

In large group, we talked about how farmers contribute to our community. Every Monday, we get our weekly Purple Porch Co-op (http://www.purpleporch.coop/) delivery. We receive fresh vegetables and fruits for our program. We linked this to our story about harvesting. In the story, we read about different tools used to harvest along with learning about farmers!

We made a web and ideas started shooting out left and right. A pretty detailed list of food was made and friends talked about how farmers help US!

“We always go to the farmer’s market and get food that’s good for us.”

“Farmers grow cucumbers which you can make into pickles.”

“My mom said that cows drink milk and make milk!”

Here are a few pictures from the rest of our day!

Breakfast– Homemade oatmeal pancakes and cantaloupe.

Lunch– Organic brown rice with chicken and shredded cheese, bananas, and fresh broccoli.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagels with butter.

Wee Sprouts– Fresh broccoli.

Have a lovely night.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 8/25

We had a great morning outside!

Sonya loves to run her fingers through the sand and find hidden pebbles. She often brings us what she finds and puts the pebbles in our palm. Franklin and Emma wanted to share what treasure they unburied today, too!

The slides were a popular spot for the Wee and Wee Wee friends today. Our friends love these slides and they all do a great job of climbing back up to the top using the rocks and steps.

The log house is another place where our friends can climb. They love to climb into the window. Soon they’ll be big enough to climb up the sides like the older kids!

Breakfast was Kix with bananas. Lunch consisted of English muffins with marinara sauce and cheese, carrots, peas, and cantaloupe. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with string cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhpp5G-6KU5QU9Wk01A

Have a great night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

**We want to thank all of the families who have turned in their surveys thus far. Just a reminder, if you haven’t completed the accreditation survey that you received Monday, please do so by Friday! Thanks .

Today is Daniel’s last day here at Wee Friends. For the past several years, we had the privilege of watching Daniel grow in every aspect of his life. We are so excited to hear how his kindergarten year goes. Thankfully, we’ll just replenish our ‘Jorza’ quota with his younger brother, David, next week! Good luck Daniel! We’ll miss you!

  

Miss Melinda played several songs on the piano this morning. As she played, friends sang along. Children had to really use their listening ears to see when the singing part started! We sang the ABC’s, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Mary Had A Little Lamb.

Play dough was requested this morning so Jackson and Addi cleared the table and got out the tools, play dough, and trays for their peers to use. The newest thing is to take the rolling pins and roll the play dough as thin as possible.  

We’ve been using the chalk a lot this week! When we have the chalk out, we’ve been reminding our friends where we CAN draw in the backyard: on the cement and on the chalkboard!

Lucy said, “I’m making a pink mommy and a purple mommy. Pink and purple are my mom’s favorite colors.”

Addi used many colors to draw a flower with her chalk. To shade in the flower, she took the tips of her fingers and rubbed the chalk in.

The rain came in so we headed inside. We were very good about finding quiet activities to partake in since lunch was just a short time away. The reading area was utilized as well as the habitrail area to build with many different materials.

In large group, we switched our focus from firefighters to police officers! We saw that not all police officers ride in cars! “I’ve seen a police officer on a bike before!”

We compared the police officers to the firefighters are talked about yesterday. “We still need to pull to the side of the road when we see a police officer!”

There was a conversation that was started by a friend about how police officers help our community. “They help when there’s an accident!” When talking about community helpers and how they help us, we’re taking prior knowledge and building on that!

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and grapes.

Lunch– Homemade English muffin pizzas, PPC cantaloupe, and green beans.

PM snack– Blue corn chips and refried beans.

Wee Sprout– Cucumbers.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures:
WF 8/24

Good Afternoon!

Our welcome activity this morning was of the fine motor variety! This open ended activity calls for ice cube trays and colored gems.

For our younger friends, it focuses on basic fine motor skills, placing or transferring gems into each given slot in the ice cube tray.

Our older friends took it one step further by sorting the gems by size or by shape. Addi and Rosemary were having a conversation about the different colored gems. Rosemary said, “This one is smooth.” I asked if there were any pointy edges. She responded, “No!” which is where Addi chimed in and took a gem in her hand and showed Rosemary, “See? Right here. This pointy part of the gem. That’s no smooth.” Interactions like this between peers allows for deeper understanding and makes learning more meaningful!

The art area was buzzing this morning as children occupied the art table as well as the art easel. Daniel displayed his plane drawing skills while Calix worked on cutting paper using scissors. Elijah continued with the fine motor trend as he made his first official piece of art at the easel.

The top of the climbing house was a popular spot this morning. Elijah made it to the top all by himself on just his second day! He kept saying, “I’m not going to fall!”

In large group today, we continued to concentrate on our FAB for the week that talks about community helpers. Our focus today was firefighters! As a group, we had a lot of background knowledge including the following:

“They get cats out of trees!”

“They stop fires.”

“When we see a firetruck, we have to stop and go to that side.” (as he’s pointing to his side )

We built on this knowledge by reading two different stories that taught us more about what firefighters do on a daily basis. Here are a couple of things that we added to our previous knowledge:

-Firefighters live at the fire station sometimes!

-They HAVE to wear specific firefighter gear when they go to fight a fire.

-They’re heroes. (Real life heroes though, not pretend like Spiderman and superman.)

Breakfast– English muffins with no nut butter and grapes.

Lunch– Turkey and cream cheese on flatbread, PPC pineapple, and cherry tomatoes/cucumber.

PM snack– Triscuits and cheddar cheese.

Wee Sprout– Peppers.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 8/23