WF, 7/26/2016

Good Afternoon!

Everyday, children who are involved in large group are given the opportunity to complete a journal. This journal time usually ranges from 10-15 minutes. During this time, children have free reign to write or draw whatever comes to them. Usually, the journals that are completed come from prior knowledge or something that is taking place in their life at that time.

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From balloons (just had a birthday) to airplanes (he’s quite a traveler), we are expressing our thoughts down on paper.

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Elizabeth drew a picture of herself and Clara. She even got the details of Clara’s stripped dress down to a T!

The importance of having a set time where friends can come to the table to express themselves is needed in the classroom. Since there are different ages within the group, some may need teacher assistance to spell any words that they want to express while others are on their way to spelling by themselves!

We always want to hear what our friends are thinking and feeling!

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Here are some pictures from our outside time today!

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Breakfast– Kashi Blueberry Clusters and blueberries.

Lunch– Turkey and cream cheese tortillas, pears, and cucumbers.

PM snack– Homemade blueberry and peach muffins with Colby-Jack cheese.

Wee Sprout– Cucumbers

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/26

WWF 7/25

We had a great morning outside!

Franklin, David, and Ruby went straight to the trucks and had the clever idea to use the wrap around bench as a track. They did a great job sharing all the vehicles with each other.

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Sophia, Ruby, and Franklin happily splashed in a mud puddle for a while.

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Then our friends squeezed in some time at the art table to draw a few pictures before it was time to come in for lunch!

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Breakfast as whole wheat toast with butter and pears. Wee sprout was corn. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, pears, and corn. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt with apples.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhfpT2nCEm0UySryr0g

Have a great night!

Amanda

WF, 7/25/2016

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a terrific weekend!

Wee Friends was an active place today. Here’s a glimpse into our day..—>

The habitrail area was transitioned into a zoo! We only had one animal that was available to see though: a monkey!

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Bug hunting! Children grab a plastic container when they want to search for different kinds of bugs. We often form bug hunting groups. The more numbers we have, the better!

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There was success today for a few friends! Elliott caught a white and black butterfly that he showed to many friends. Some of his peers grabbed him flowers off the ground and grass to use as a habitat.

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Our creation station was packed this morning as children used their imagination to make different drawings.

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It was quite a Monday!

Breakfast– English muffins with cream cheese and plums.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta noodles with marinara sauce, oranges/grapes, and cucumbers.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with homemade granola.

Wee Sprouts– A cucumber from our garden.

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Have a great evening.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/25

WF, 7/22/2016

Happy Friday!

We celebrated Eren turning 5 today! We hope you had a wonderful day!

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After breakfast, we transitioned to the outside space where the bikes were made available along with the art table! We actually stayed out all morning because it was quite bearable and everyone was engaged in various activities.

Teachers AND children love the flexibility of our outside time. If we want to stay outside all morning, we have the option to. There are so many benefits to having a high quality outdoor space. There’s an informative article found here that I enjoyed:

http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201411/YC1114_Quality_Outdoor_Play_Spaces_Wright.pdf

“Children need opportunities to do things that are exciting and adventurous. We can create a sense of risk and challenge in a safe environment. Open-ended components, such as a long, balance beam, stump, or flagstone path, challenge children’s physical, social, and cognitive abilities by encouraging them to create their own challenge or obstacle course and engage in increasingly more difficult and complex activities.” (Spencer, Wright 2014)

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Of course with the heightened temperature, we decided to stay inside where the play dough was made available to friends! Our imaginations ran wild! The art table became a pizza oven where many different pizzas were created.

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Breakfast– Corn cakes with no nut butter and plums.

Lunch– Turkey and melted cheese quesadillas, grapes and cantaloupe, and our very own garden cucumbers!

PM snack– Eren’s birthday treat: homemade banana muffins along with strawberries and cottage cheese.

Wee Sprouts– Cucumbers.

Hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/22

WWF 7/21

We went outside early this morning to beat this crazy heat! We were glad to get some fresh air and time with our older friends.

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The rest of the day was spent playing with sensory tubes…

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Creating music…

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Making meals…

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And finding every toy we have that, according to our friends, say “vroom vroom”, “beep beep”, and “nee nar!”

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Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and bananas. Lunch consisted of whole grain English muffins with shredded cheese, bananas, and corn. Afternoon snack was graham crackers and plums.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhfdjM6LknapgfVDZNA

Have a great night!

Amanda

WF, 7/21/2016

Hello!

We want to wish Addi a BIG happy birthday! Today, she turned five years old! We hope you had the best 5th birthday ever!

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We changed up the routine today (which is always a nice change of pace). Instead of waiting to go outside until 10:30, we headed out right after breakfast a little after 9. With the given temperature the next couple of days, our outside time will most likely be limited.

Friends lined up by the front gate to help Miss Melinda water our flowers outside. Each child grabbed a bucket to fill water with so that our flowers could get a nice drink.

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Once we started to accumulate a little perspiration, we decided to head back inside where different activities were started up!

A group of four or five friends started building with magnatiles before they went to the trains where they built a complex working train..together! They talked with one another about how the train track should be set up.

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An art activity was made available at the art table while Miss Rebekah read a couple stories to a group of children in the reading area.

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We even enjoyed our thunder and lightning show this afternoon during afternoon snack! Smile

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Breakfast– Oatmeal pancakes with banana.

Lunch– Organic brown rice with chicken, banana, and carrots.

PM snack– Addi’s birthday snack which was different flavored fruit popsicles (YUM!) and pumpkin seeds.

Wee Sprouts– Carrots.

Hope everyone has a great night.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/21

WF, 7/20/2016

Good Afternoon!

We took full advantage of the beautiful morning and walked a couple blocks to Nuner Primary. When we arrived there, we noticed that there were two playgrounds! So, we had the five and six year olds go to the big playground while the small group stayed on the smaller playground.

We brought water, cups, and cucumbers to keep us hydrated and full until lunch time.

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The slide was a popular attraction at the small playground. After the big kids left us, we started a game of hide and seek! With the playground being fenced in, there were some good hiding spots!

We also got in an animal lesson thanks to the playground equipment. Lions, tigers, and elephants were displayed along with what they ate and how much they weigh.

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Our older friends were explorers on the playground. We were AMAZED at how many slides the playground had. Most of our friends partook in the monkey bars for most of their time there!

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We had a rootin’ tootin’ good time!–(talk about a gross motor type of morning!)

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Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal and raspberries.

Lunch– Hummus on tortillas, apples, and snap peas.

PM snack– Wee Wee Friends was kind enough to share David’s leftover birthday snack! It was homemade zucchini bread with dates and string cheese.

Wee Sprouts– Cucumbers.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/20

WWF 7/19

You can almost always find someone in our reading area, our friends never get bored of books! They all have their favorites that they read everyday.

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Mack enjoyed his outside time this morning! He hung out with his big brother Grady for a while and then played in the sandbox. He grabbed handfuls of the sand and let it fall through his fingers.

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We had a dance party today and Franklin had no shortage of dance partners! We love seeing how much our friends enjoy music, dancing on their own or with their friends.

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Breakfast was Kix and bananas. Wee sprout was peas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with cheese and refried beans, cantaloupe, and peas. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with cream cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhfVWtsDku5Hlp9PKmA

Have a great night!

Amanda