Our day was filled with dancing…
Fresh air and exercise…
Trying new looks…
And enjoying stories together!
Breakfast was farm fresh eggs with cheese and pears. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with chicken and cheese, peas, and oranges. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers and string cheese.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhd92FYXPyHrIEz6ZBQ
Good Afternoon!
As an early childhood educator, I throw out the word ‘play’ a lot in my daily blog. Not because what these children do is ‘play’ all day, I’m referring to ‘play’ in it’s most abstract form. Through different professional development opportunities that I’ve had along with other teachers here, the tremendous of importance of play concerning the early development of the child is found to be critical. We love to ‘play’ here. It’s vital. Please feel free to read this article that I retrieved from the NAEYC website on this topic, specifically pertaining to pretend play!
http://www.naeyc.org/content/research-news-pretend-play-is-important
Breakfast– Kashi’s Blueberry Clusters, boiled eggs, and pineapple.
Lunch– Brown rice with cheese and chicken, a vegetable salad containing tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, and pineapple.
PM snack– Triscuits and sunflower seeds.
Wee Sprouts– Our cucumber/tomato/pepper salad.
Have a terrific night.
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 6/16
Please note: Did anyone accidently take home a light blue zip up sweater? One of our friends is missing theirs.
Today we played with goo sensory bags! The goo is made with water, corn starch, and sugar mixed together and heated on the stove until it thickened. Then we added some blue liquid watercolor and glitter before putting a couple scoops into baggies.
Our friends all enjoyed squeezing, poking, shaking, and smooshing their bags. The goo has the same consistency as hair gel and you can feel it squishing between your fingers as you move it around in the bag. Our friends thought it was a very interesting feeling!
Breakfast was Kix and apples. Lunch consisted of homemade French toast casserole with blueberries, apples, and corn. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with sweet pea butter.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhd5HGhZUkFuKxkh0Xg
Good Afternoon!
Owen and Anna started off their morning with a little sibling snuggle time. Owen said, “Miss Mindy. With us, two fit in this chair.”
They went up to the island to join siblings, Sloane and Tate. Each child was completing their own puzzle! It’s lovely that our pairs of siblings can continue to build their relationship while at school.
Conversations occurred in the habitrail area about different building strategies. Every child has an end goal in mind; what they want their creation to look like. When we’re working with a group, it’s important to voice anything we’re thinking or feeling! We work great as a team this way!
Boy, was it a little humid this morning! Friends took it in stride though and had a great morning! Thankfully, we have a little shade that we took advantage of today!
Clara started up another gymnastics/yoga class. Sloane helped demonstrate different moves to do!
Their students were great listeners and pushed their limits! Owen said, “Wow, I’ve never done this before.”
Clara: “Ok, students. One. Two. Three. Star jump!”
In large group, we read two different stories that our friends Addi and Owen brought in! It’s absolutely wonderful the amount of literacy that this group strives for. Whether it’s working at the art table or reading/listening to stories in the reading area, our thirst for knowledge is always prevalent!
“One of the greatest gifts adults can give—to their offspring and to their society—is to read to children.”
—Carl Sagan
“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.”
—Jacqueline Kennedy
Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with PPC pineapple.
Lunch– Homemade organic blueberry french toast casserole, banana, and broccoli.
PM snack– Hard boiled eggs and blue corn chips.
Wee Sprouts– Cucumbers and cauliflower.
Hope everyone has a great night!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!93885&authkey=!AF31gFsRv_S_IW4&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Enjoy the pictures!
Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and apples. Lunch consisted of whole wheat flat bread with turkey and cheese, corn, and oranges. Afternoon snack was homemade whole wheat lemon blueberry muffins and string cheese.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!93758&authkey=!ACGKAUNBmvnJoZM&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Hello!
When children walk into the door at Wee Friends, they can expect a few things:
Breakfast to be on the table and a morning message board awaiting their John Hancock!
There was a rousing game of ‘category’ that was occurring at the round table this morning. A few of the older kids took the reigns which allowed for the game to run smoothly!
This morning, we gathered around the island where we made homemade lemon-blueberry muffins! Using blueberries and the zest of two lemons along with many other ingredients, we followed the directions of the recipe.
Everyone always enjoys getting to do a special part. After every ingredient was added, we passed the bowl around so that everyone got a chance to stir it.
In the recipe, it said that you could add granola to the top so as a group, we decided to do half of the muffins with granola and leave the rest plain!
The result was fabulous! They were delicious.
When we went outside, we used our gross motor skills to throw and kick the balls! A couple friends spaced themselves out and kicked the ball to one another while other friends just threw or kicked the ball to themselves.
One of our friends found rollie pollies and put them in a bug container. After he did this, he noticed small white bugs: rollie pollie babies! I found a video on my phone that showed the exact same thing we were seeing! The circle of life right in front of our eyes!
Our large group concentration today stemmed from a lunch conversation that occurred at one of the tables today. I had a small piece of cake that Cassie’s mom, Michelle, had made us yesterday. There were a few (or all) children that commented how much they wish they could have a piece. “I wish I could fast forward and be an adult so I could have a piece of cake like you!” The dilemma: to fast forward in time or go back in time…
Child 1: “I would have things falling from the sky!” (She wanted to go back in time 
)
Child 2: “Oh. Like what?”
Child 1: “Pandas!”
This conversation turned into, “If we could have one thing fall from the sky, it would be ______.” Insert, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” After reading the story, friends came up with their own titles. “Does it have to be food?”, a child asked. Well, no of course not! It’s your story!
Breakfast– Corn chex and pears.
Lunch– Turkey and shredded cheese on flatbread/tortillas, apples, and carrots.
PM snack– Our homemade lemon-blueberry muffins with block cheddar cheese.
Wee Sprout– Carrots.
Have a great night!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 6/14
Enjoy the pictures!
Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and apples. Lunch consisted of whole wheat flat bread with turkey and cheese, corn, and oranges. Afternoon snack was homemade whole wheat lemon blueberry muffins and string cheese.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!93758&authkey=!ACGKAUNBmvnJoZM&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Please note: We are almost out of plastic bags for diapers again. Please bring in any you have to spare!
Enjoy the photos!
Breakfast was whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon and apples. Wee sprouts was peas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with shredded chicken and mozzarella cheese, oranges, and peas. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt and crackers.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!93534&authkey=!AAF5ExIXhYp9gs4&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a terrific weekend.
Today, we welcomed back Ellie! She’s going to be joining us for the next two weeks!
Our imaginations were flowing this morning as many friends sat and created with magnatiles. There was an absolutely amazing tower that was built! Using their listening and communication skills, children worked together to build a tower that was as tall as Miss Rebekah! The group counted down from ten before they leveled the tower!
Owen and Elliott worked on a 2-dimensional creation that spanned the length of the carpet. They made sure that each side was a mirror of itself.
We were quite exploratory as we headed outside this morning. Many of us carried bug containers around, looking for different forms of life.
We took this ‘nature’ aspect of our morning and transferred it to large group. Elizabeth expressed interest in reading a story that she brought from home. So, we read it! After learning about different ways to help the Earth (in the Lorax’s words..), we brainstormed ways to help our Earth and make sure we keep it clean. A couple keys points that were made:
1. “Don’t smoke! It’s bad for your lungs and it stinks!”
2. “Honk at someone if they’re littering.”
3. “Throw your popsicle away.”
Breakfast: Toast with butter and pears.
Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with chicken and butter, pears/oranges, and cauliflower.
PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with homemade granola.
Wee Sprout– Cucumbers.
Have a lovely night!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 6/13
Happy Friday!
*Second Reminder: Wee Friends will be closed starting Thursday, June 30th and will reopen on Monday, July 11th for our summer vacation. Thanks!
Today was Miss Katelyn’s last day with us! We are so thankful for everything that she contributed to our class over the last four weeks. We’re definitely going to miss her but we wish her all of the best!
To start our morning, friends headed into different parts of the classroom. Often times in the morning, children go to their favorite spot of the house to get into their day!
It was pizza Friday! We started by separating all of the ingredients that children got to pick from. Something as easy as making homemade pizzas allows for a fabulous teachable moment.
There are many teachable moments here at Wee Friends when it comes to food. Everyday, we have Wee Sprouts which are offered after breakfast, all throughout the morning. A few of our favorite vegetables include but are not limited to cucumbers, peppers, and cherry tomatoes! You can never have too many vegetables so children are welcome to sit at the island and consume as many vegetables as they’d like.
Today, we made homemade pizzas. Children had the option to add sauce or have no sauce; cheese or no cheese; vegetables/fruit or no vegetables. We found that pineapple was quite a hit along with ham!
Healthy food habits are something that we try to display every single day.
“Food is not just fuel. Food is about family, food is about community, food is about identity. And we nourish all those things when we eat well.”
-Michael Pollan
Our before and after pictures of our pizza! I would’ve put an after picture of our plates but 95% of our plates were wiped clean; including our bananas and peppers! Wow! We have been a hungry bunch of children lately! 
We read a story out of the Angelina Ballerina storybook and discussed it afterwards. In the story, Angelina chooses to go against her mom and babysitter. She knows what she’s doing is wrong but goes ahead with it anyways. So, after the story was finished, friends raised their hands and relayed what they learned from the story. The overall consensus was that when you don’t tell the truth, there is a consequence (and ALWAYS listen to your parents! 
)
Breakfast– Rice cakes with no nut butter and plums.
Lunch– Our homemade pizzas, banana, and peppers.
PM snack– Whole grain crackers and cheddar block cheese.
Wee Sprout– Peppers
We hope everyone enjoys their weekend! We’ll see everyone Monday.
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 6/10