WF 5/5/2016

Good Afternoon!

When each child comes in every morning, they usually have a routine that they follow. Predictability in the morning can be a good thing! Some friends do the sign in board with their mom or dad while some others sit and read a story. Almost every child heads to the table to serve themselves breakfast.

There is an activity that is made available on the table most every morning as a way for children to come into their day!

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This morning was full of art table creations, puzzles with peers, and finally…

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SUNSHINE! We were beyond ecstatic about the weather. Friends made sure to take advantage of their outside time by interacting with their peers and running to exert some energy whenever they felt the need!

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“This is what happens when you play with wet sand and dirt..”—Yes..yes it is Smile.

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In Kindergarten today..

Friends enjoyed poetry day! After we read a few poetry excerpts from ‘It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles’, we came up with our own poem. We’re working on coming up with a title and maintaining the theme throughout. Each child came up with a line to put in our poem.

One of the poems we read was about food that we DON’T like. Children raised their hands to give their ‘I DO NOT EAT’ food examples. A few that friends shared were vegetables, brussels sprouts, and broccoli/cauliflower (multiple times)!

…so basically just vegetables even though the Wee Sprouts we offer each day are gone by 10:30! Smile

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Breakfast– Corn squares and banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded beef, PPC watermelon/oranges, and corn on the cob.

PM snack– Pumpkin seeds, fresh PPC peaches, and crackers.

Wee Sprouts– Green beans and carrots.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/5

WF, 5/4/2016

Good Afternoon!

Working in pairs was definitely the theme this morning. Day after day, relationships with peers are strengthened. One of the many benefits of multi-age classrooms is for children to build relationships with peers their own age as well as younger AND older friends!

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We saw many examples of amazing friendship qualities today Smile.

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It was quite a dreary day today. Still, friends required movement! We put on music so children could move their bodies. Maracas and streamers were brought out as well! Lulu’s absolute favorite song as of late is ‘Let It Go’. When it came on, we all realized she knew ALL of the words Smile. She said, “This is MY song!”

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We have had a group of children who have requested sequins every day this week! Today, the patriotic stars were made available. Using small dots of glue, we put different sequins on the paper, which allows us to work on our fine motor skills!

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It was a raincoat, run to keep yourself warm, type of day!

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We didn’t complain though Smile.

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Today in Kindergarten:

We’re still learning about different jobs and the tools/skills needed for those jobs. After reading, “What Do You Do?” which referenced different jobs in the community, we had conversations about what we would do if those specific jobs didn’t exist! For example, doctors. Friends started raising their hands and commenting on what would happen if we didn’t have doctors! “What would we do if we got sick?!”, one child said with a scared face. We also talked about tools that different professions need. “A dentist needs tools to look in my mouth!”

(It was quite an active, discussion lead large group today! Smile)

Plumbers were a topic that we talked about. The girls of the group started talking about how our hair clogs the drain in the shower which is where plumbers come into play! Elizabeth took this idea to her journal where she drew the drain and different items that get stuck! “See! We need a plumber at our house!”

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Breakfast: Malt-O-Meal with banana.

Lunch: Homemade english muffin pizzas, broccoli, and watermelon.

PM snack: Blue corn chips and hummus.

Wee Sprout: Tomatoes and cucumbers.

Have a terrific night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/4

WWF 5/4

Our friends painted colorful artwork for us to admire and to brighten up this rainy day. They used their hands and brushes to spread the paint over the whole paper and made many beautiful paintings!

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This afternoon a few of our friends played with the Montessori object permanence boxes together. While playing with these, they are developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and are practicing precise hand movements.

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Breakfast was Chex and bananas. Lunch consisted of English muffins with marinara sauce and cheese, strawberries, and carrots. Afternoon snack was crackers with hummus.

Have a great night!

Amanda

Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!88673&authkey=!AGGin5U7TsUX1yw&ithint=folder%2cJPG

WF, 5/3/2016

Good Afternoon!

Here are a few pictures from today!

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For breakfast, children had kix and apples. Lunch consisted of sunflower seed butter on whole wheat bread, banana, and green beans. PM snack was cottage cheese and oranges. Wee sprouts were carrots.

Have a great night!

Link to pictures: WF 5/3

WWF 5/2

Maggie, Ruby, and Franklin spent some time at the kitchen table doing activities together this afternoon. They started with animal puzzles and then moved on to puff balls. Franklin was very generous and handed puff balls from his own basket to Ruby. Ruby would then throw the balls or place them in her own basket. And then they would dump the baskets on their heads!

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After snack we had music time! Our friends used the classroom instruments and played some lively tunes. Music inspires movement and a few of our friends showed off their dance moves!

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Breakfast was whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon and apples. Wee sprouts was peas. Lunch consisted of tortilla with refried beans and cheese, apples, and peas. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt and crackers. PM Wee sprouts was peas.

Enjoy the rest of the photos!

Amanda

Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!88420&authkey=!AC13D0sJFZ61zu4&ithint=folder%2cJPG

WF, 5/2/2016

Happy Monday!

Our Kindergarten FAB for the week is: K.4.2 Identify and describe different kinds of jobs that people do and the tools they use.

We started to ‘brainstorm’ (a word we’ve been discussing lately in large group) a list of different occupations that help out our community. Emerson suggested ‘soup kitchen’ which brought a few blank stares to our faces. Emerson let us know what a soup kitchen was and how it helps out the community.

We plan on discussing various aspects of our community and how different people contribute through their jobs.

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Miss Melinda started a planting project this morning. She explained what ‘Peat Pellets’ are and how we use them. Every child at the table was given the opportunity to become involved. Each child took four pellets out of the box and placed them on the tray.

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After we had all of the pellets out, we wet them and throughout the day, watched them expand! They should be ready for the next step hopefully by tomorrow!

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Many friends requested puzzles this morning. Most children have their favorite, go-to puzzle that they do first!

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Our outside time this morning centered around ‘loose parts’. Loose parts are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. The outside environment allows friends to use loose parts in their play. For example, balls, wood, twigs, stones, logs, and stones.

We had two specific examples of how loose parts played a role in our morning. A group of peers gathered our logs and created a fire pit. They conversed with one another about how best to create the image they had in their mind. Later in the afternoon, they created a log house out of the logs.

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Emerson and Addi used various items in the backyard including a twig, grass, and a few rocks to create a bug habitat for a rollie pollie that they found. They searched the backyard trying to find different items to “make the bug happy” as one friend put it! Smile

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We have numerous ‘open-ended’ materials in our environment that let children take their play in any direction that they wish!

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For breakfast, children had whole wheat toast with hummus and apples. Lunch consisted of whole grain noodles with black beans, oranges, and cauliflower. PM snack was whole milk yogurt with apples. Wee sprouts for the day were carrots.

Hope everyone has a terrific evening!

Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/2

WWF 4/29

Happy Friday!

We spent a lot of our time today in the gross motor area of the classroom. We started the morning by getting out the ball baskets and throwing all the balls around! Franklin did an awesome job tossing them back into the baskets.

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There were friendly chases through the habitrail and down the slide. They love to giggle at each other through the bars!

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Sophia impressed us all with her climbing skills. She practiced hard and her persistence paid off when she made it up to the third rung of the ladder! She was one proud little girl!

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Breakfast was oatmeal pancakes and pear. Wee sprouts was peas. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with shredded turkey, peas, and clementine’s. Afternoon snack was string cheese and graham crackers.

Have a great night!

Amanda

Link to photos:  https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!88229&authkey=!AEZOa9hNS5Zb4a4&ithint=folder%2cJPG

WF, 4/29/2016

Happy Friday!

Our day was full of:

Cartwheels.

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Sequins.

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Piano.

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Bug catching.

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Ice cream shop (production line and all).

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Dinosaurs.

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Breakfast- Oatmeal pancakes (YUM!) and banana.

Lunch- Hummus on tortillas, apples/pears, and carrots/green beans.

PM Snack- Cheddar block cheese with pretzel crisps.

Wee Sprout- Carrots, green beans.

Have a terrific weekend!

Link to pictures: WF 4/29