About a year ago, Wee Friends initiated a new life skills program called Building the Basics. Our goal is to spend time talking about and cultivating life skills and this year it has been The Potty. We started with a 6 step potty procedure that the kids morphed into a 2 step procedure. It inspired the WF favorite tune “Flush and Wash”. Because the potty is so much a part of the early childhood daily experience, we continued today with a science lesson: The Bladder Exploration. First, we studied the human figure and located the bladder in a drawing and on a model. We discussed the shape, the location (in front) and how it feels when it is full (and what to do next!). We layed down and guessed where our bladder might be on our own bodies.

Using balloons and a tub of water, we filled imaginary bladders and let the water run out, singing Flush and Wash as we proceeded. F.2.8 Use words/concepts learned through singing

Further conversation ensued exploring opposites: liquid/solid and empty/full. We even identified what letter bladder begins with. F.1.8 Engage in a scientific experiment with a peer or with small groups of children using sharing/turn taking skills. F.2.7 Talk about the fact that everything has a shape. F.4.2 Show a growing independence in hygiene, nutrition, and personal care when eating, dressing, washing hands, brushing teeth, and toileting. F.3.1 Name body parts and point to the location of each. F.3.2 Investigate and talk about the characteristics of matter (e.g., liquids and solids, smooth and rough, bend-not bend). F.1.3 Observe and describe properties of objects.

Acting on the liquid/solid conversation, we filled a tub with snow and asked “Is snow liquid or solid?” We talked about what happens to snow when it sits in a warm house. Friends first filled glass vases with the snow and then, using eye droppers and watercolor, filled their snow vases with color. They compared the colors to flavors. We identified the first letters of each color mentioned. Some friends mixed colors, some friends stayed with one color. One friend chose only to fill her vase with snow. F.1.3 Observe and describe properties of objects. F.3.1 Participate in activities using materials with a variety of properties (e.g., color, shape, size, name, type of material). F.4.1 Use vocabulary that indicates understanding of scientific principles (e.g., sink, float, melt, solid, liquid). F.2.9 Use different colors, surface textures, and shapes to create form and meaning. F.2.10 Use objects as symbols for other things. (e.g., a scarf to represent bird wings or a box to represent a car)

The gymnastic bus came and friends worked on the cheese mat and resi-rocker. They did forward and backward rolls and straddle rolls as well. At the end of the class, they did the rocket ship. They hopped off the bus and burst through the WF doors showing their stamp of the week: a smiley face.

We spent lots of time reading and singing nursery rhymes. As I write, we are in the planning stages of The WF Spring Concert. Details to follow! F.1.4 Hold book right side up, looking at pages and pictures. F.1.19 Imitate simple rhymes. F.1.6 Dance/sway/tap toes/jump/hop to music alone or with others.

For breakfast Mel served peanut butter on whole wheat muffins and pears. Lunch was whole wheat elbow pasta with marinara, broccoli and banana/avocado salad. For snack, we will serve pretzels and cheese.

Hope your day is a happy one.

Laurie

Happy Friday!!

For breakfast we served Raisin Bran and Craisins. Lunch was whole wheat tortillas with ham and cheese, fruit salad and corn. For snack, we will have pumpkin bread! Enjoy your weekend!

REMEMBER! The gymnastics bus will be here Monday-here are the two groups and their times:

9:00-Annie, Jane, Ada, Macy, Kai, Simon, Arleigh and Vivian

9:30-Umi, Alexandra, Steven, Finn, Nate and Elliott

With our new classroom arrangement, we now have a new central kitchen island space available that we have been using for our water station. Four friends can sit around the island and enjoy water and conversation in a relaxed fashion. We are building on this idea of independent water breaks and are adding a new aspect: Tami’s “experiment” on vegetable consumption.

This week we have had fresh cut vegetables available for the children for the duration of morning and afternoon until pick up times. We continue to do our normal breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack times, so this is ADDITIONAL snacking.

As the week has progressed, a few things have become clear:

• In absence of other foods, the children eat ALOT of fresh veggies without any dips or enticement.
• We feel like this is the type of thing that the children should be snacking on and don’t care about the volume of veggies they eat or when they eat them.
• The cost of keeping them in veggies all day long may prove to be the only hindrance to the longevity of this idea.

Since they really can’t “overeat” fresh vegetables, I would like to cultivate this heathy habit by not policing them. Simply put, we have bowl of veggies and they can eat their fill throughout the morning and afternoon. Right now it is novel, so interest is really high but it will taper some as they get used to it. Then, they will eat the vegetables when they are hungry and need the nutrition.

Since this is in addition to the promised WF meals, I would like to ask WF families to support this new idea (which needs a cool name?). Do we have any families that are so on board with the idea that they would be willing to provide a weekly commitment of fresh vegetables? Examples: 2lb bag of carrots, 6 cucumbers, red/yellow peppers, big bag of green beans, big bag of pea pods, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.

Please let me know! If I can get parent support, I think this will be something very beneficial to the health of our children.

From this morning:

Nate brought in a movement game to share…

Miss Laurie led the children on an alphabet hunt. This was followed by an art activity of using our sandpaper letters to make letter rubbings in a large letter collage.

While driving us teachers batty with is tranportabilityness (yes, a made up word!) the moon sand is a huge hit with everyone!

Some children chose to use foam letters and glue sticks to make letter collages. Miss Tami had a opportunity to discuss the different letter shapes with several of our younger children. (And why glue sticks make your fingers so sticky!)

Miss Melinda led the children on an imagination art exploration. She filled a plate with objects and the children were to decide if anything looked like anything other than it was. It was a creative conversation!

The children read and danced to chicka chicka boom. They then climbed on the coconut tree (the jungle gym). This was followed by a letter search.

For breakfast we had whole wheat english muffins with fresh pears. For lunch we had toasted whole grain flat bread filled with cream cheese/cheddar cheese, mixed vegetables and pears/mandarin oranges. For snack we will have some homemade pumpkin bread and raisins.

Have a great day!

Tami

This morning we had the great pleasure of hearing Marta’s dad, Fabrezio, read Strega Nona, Her Story by the great Tomie dePaola. Oh what music to our (mostly) American ears! Hearing dePaola read in a native Italian voice was an exciting multicultural experience for our Wee Friends (and teachers!). Fabrezio was kind enough to translate the Italian words “convento” and “strega”. We all thank you, Fabrezio!

Afterwards, a large group gathered to play alphabet bingo on our alphabet mat. Using the sand letter boards, friends matched corresponding letters. Laurie Berkner’s “When I Walk Along the River” serenaded friends on their hunt.

Using alphabet letter people, Elliott and Marta studied where the little people should go on the mat.

Many friends created art with pink and white paint on black paper. A few experimented with holding the paint brush in their fist and pounding down on the paper to create snowflakes.

Tami filled the sensory table with moon sand! Like snow (and sand :), moon sand is loose and silty, but can be packed to create interesting structures.

After reading “Jack Be Nimble”, we used a makeshift candle and sang “Ada! Be Nimble, Ada, be quick…” .

Umi read Dora aloud to Finn.

For breakfast we served grits and tangerines. Lunch was Tami’s delicious ham and bean soup, homemade biscuits and fruit salad. For lunch, we will serve pretzels and cheese.

Have a happy, Super Lava Girl kinda day.

Laurie

My Thoughts on Attention Span…

“I sometimes worry about my short attention span, but not for long”(Ha!)

Our world has become fast paced, constantly moving, and scattered. Children are surrounded by media, movement and the manic busy-ness of our adult lives. So, in all this, how can children learn to develop an attention span that will serve them later in life?

One of my main goals of education from the beginning was to create ways in early childhood to sustain children’s attention span. At Wee Friends, we’ve figured out alot of things that generate long attention spans in children. A few that top our WF list of best practices are:

• Not interrupting children with unnecessary transitions.
• Allowing children to finish work at their pace without telling them to “give your friend a turn”.
• No media other than music recordings.
• Conversations with an adult to sustain play that otherwise would be over.
• Following the interests of the children.

This blog on attention span was inspired today as I watched the extended work time of two of our young 5 year old children. Kai has been deeply involved in researching, planning, building and equipping his own USS Arizona Battleship. It is unbelievable in detail and accuracy. It has been a great exercise in developing attention span as well as investigating & following through on a project. Today, Vivian joined Kai in his continued work on his battleship. With very little assistance from teachers, the two worked together for just over 2 HOURS looking at the diagrams, discussing what items to add, discussing what materials and how they would affix them, choosing colors and mediums, and then doing it. This act of attention span was more than most children can sustain at any age and more than many adults can perform.

Here are 7 ways to foster a long attention span at home (Adapted from Janet Lansbury’s blog):

1) Minimal entertainment and stimulation. Children are creatures of habit and can become accustomed to expect entertainment rather than doing what comes naturally — occupying themselves with their surroundings. Constant stimulation leads to an exhausted parent and an easily bored, over-stimulated child.

2) No TV or videos. TV and videos are the most drastic way to undermine your child’s developing attention span because they engage and overwhelm a child’s attention rather than encouraging the child to actively flex his focus muscle. Imagine the powerful pull of the TV screen in a restaurant. You can be sitting with the most fascinating people in the world, and still you find your eyes drawn to the TV.

3) A safe, cozy “YES” place. In order to remain occupied for extended periods of time, a child must have a safe place. Children cannot play for long periods of time when they are distracted by the tension of parents worried about safety and the interruption of “NOs”.

4) Simple, open-ended toys and objects that build in complexity as they get older. Start with the simplest version of the toy or activity and build complexity as they go.

5) Observe. And don’t interrupt. Observing the way our children choose to spend their time makes us realize that they are actually doing something.

6) Give choice. Simple fact: children are more interested in the things they choose than the things we choose for them. Children who are given plenty of opportunities to focus for extended periods of time on activities they choose are better able to pay attention in situations later (like school) where activities are adult-prescribed.

7) Don’t encourage distraction. It is common practice for adults to step in and try to entertain their children. Children are interested in all aspects of their lives. They want to be included in each step of a task that involves them and be invited to participate as much as they are able and they don’t need the adult to make routine things exciting.

Some great activities to build attention span together are reading aloud, storytelling together (one starts a story and you weave it together verbally), playing board games, and drawing together.

All of this inspired by one really cool battleship! Thanks to Kai and Vivian for giving this successful moment to the Wee Friends teachers.

Tami

For breakfast we had Corn Bran and pears. For a mid morning fresh veggie snack at our water station we had pea pods. For lunch we had whole wheat PB sandwhiches, fresh broccoli and apples/pineapple. For snack we will have yogurt and granola.

A few shots from this morning:

The big news today is that Finn and Umi have returned! Our classroom is now full and complete and filled with lots of excitement!

Miss Jennifer brought the gymnastics bus this morning and friends were able to work on the vault and spring board. They learned approaches on the board with straddle jumps off. Then they added the vault and worked on a squat on, a straddle on and pike ups. Some friends did handstands over the vault. They practiced jump half turns off the springboard at the end of class.

As our friends (old and new) reunited, our classroom stayed lively!

Owen, Kai and Vivian continued their study on battleships (Kai) and fighter jets (Owen and Vivian). They’ve used photographs and diagrams to study the parts and recreate what they see at the workbench. Simon brought in another resource for study: The Ultimate Book of Cross-Sections.

The space surrounding the pillar (chimney) is proving to be a favorite spot for friends to gather and play. The pillar creates space for groups to ‘section off’, but is also open enough that groups can intermingle and collaborate as they create, build and play.

The sun shone so beautifully on our playground this morning, we were excited to get outdoors and take a bite! Literally!

For breakfast we served whole wheat English muffins and peanut butter with tangerines. Lunch was whole wheat pasta with chicken, corn and bananas. For snack, we will serve crackers and fruit.

Have a great day!

Happy Friday!

As a quick reminder, www.WNDU.com is an excellent resource to find out about area school closings. Here’s the WF/WWF Policy for anyone who has questions/confusions:

Inclement Weather/ Emergency Closing Policy

Wee Friends will delay opening until 10:00am on any day that Mishawaka OR South Bend Schools are closed or delayed for weather. You will be notified by email/text by 9:00am if we choose to close for the entire day.

We are open Monday, Jan. 16 (MLK Day).

Our delayed opening this morning created an easy going, play-filled morning! Among the many activities going on in our classroom were a battleship study, The Farm House and Alphabet Letter House puzzle work, farm animal and blocks imaginative play, Magna Tiles at the light table, book reading, painting, letter stamping and trapeze (low level!) walking.

We had a visit from a carpet professional (artist!) who will work with Tami on designing carpets in certain areas of the classroom.

For lunch we served melted cheddar cheese on whole wheat tortillas, mixed veggies and tangerines.

Enjoy your weekend!

In anticipation of the reported snowstorm, we want to remind you of the WF Inclement Weather/ Emergency Closing Policy. Under the “Handbook Policies” tab on our blog we state:

Wee Friends will delay opening until 10:00 on any day that Mishawaka OR South Bend Schools are closed or delayed for weather. You will be notified by email by 9:00 if we choose to close for the entire day.

Please continue to dress your child in winter wear that is appropriate to the weather but be assured that we do have snowsuits/boots/hats/gloves enough to accommodate all of Wee Friends.

Also, WWF has reported a case of strep throat and a case of Hand-foot-mouth.

Today Simon and Kai explored a new Alphabet Letter House puzzle. After they assembled the upper case letter house, they matched the corresponding lower case lettered people in each room.

Afterwards, Alexandra (with Arleigh!) explored the letter people further by first, finding ‘A’ and then lining them up next to one another.

Excited about our new letter t-shirts, friends requested to wear certain letters from the moment of arrival! After a large group of alphabet t-shirts was built, we gathered to act of Audrey Wood’s Alphabet Adventure.

First, all the letters hid around the classroom. Ada, as Captain T, searched high and low looking for her team of letters. Slowly, each one emerged from their hiding spot. We gathered on the alphabet mat and Ada, in a big loud voice, called out a letter and each friend identified which letter they were wearing and hopped up to be seen. Like in the book Little i (Alexandra) lost her dot. Captain T and the whole gang of letters continued their search until the dot was found. Melinda side coached explaining “you are warmer now…oops…colder….ok…very hot!”

We formed a line and flew around on an imagined pencil. We also examined the shape of Little i’s dot and explored what other shapes we might balance on our head.

After we had told our alphabet story, we acted out animals whose names started with the letters on our t-shirts. And then we were tired.

So Nate and Elliott paired off and headed to the workbench while another small group of friends gathered at the art table and requested bead work.

Tami brought in a tray filled with wooden lower case letters. Friends matched the letters to a corresponding laminate sheet.

We painted big cardboard letters….

…..and enjoyed each other’s company.

Today for breakfast we served cinnamon toast and pears. For lunch, we had hummus sandwiches on whole wheat buns, bananas and cucumbers.

Have a great day!

One of the kid’s suggestions yesterday, on how to turn our classroom into an Alphabet Island, was “Put letters on the ground.” To support our friend’s continued interest in Audrey Wood’s Alphabet Adventure, we brought in an alphabet/number puzzle mat. Several friends spent a part of their morning assembling it. Afterwards, a teacher took all the letters out of the squares and then friends hunted for where each letter fit.

Comments such as “Where’s my letter?” or “This is where brother’s letter lives” or “Look! I found ‘N’!” were exchanged. Triangular, circular and oval shapes also came out of the letter squares. Stephen and Alexandra were particularly interested in finding the appropriate homes for the shapes.

Two puppies found their way to the mat for a good chase!

Later, a small group of friends gathered to work smaller foam puzzles.

A small group of friends gathered to work on a math exercise. Kai counted and discovered how many letters are in the alphabet! He wrote the corresponding number below each letter. Simon and Macy created color patterns under each letter. (Ex: blue, blue, green or orange, red, orange, red)

Friends enjoyed each other’s company as they waited patiently for an art project to begin. They not only talked about their marker art, but also moms, dads and families.

Another suggestion from yesterday’s Alphabet Island message board was to create letter costumes. Using T shirts and fabric paint, Tami led WF’s on an art exploration.

In an early childhood classroom, there are certain moments in the day that create a bit more stress 🙂 than others! Lunch time is one of them! Today, the teachers (and Wee Friends!) were able to celebrate the many hours that have gone into establishing a smooth, collaborative and peaceful lunch time routine! Each friend knows to drop coats/shoes in cubbies. Each friend heads straight to either the bathroom or kitchen sink to wash his/her hands. Each friend knows who their lunch serving buddy is. Today at lunch time, two tables full of WF ate peacefully, helping each other and enjoying great conversation. Yet another benefit of not only our Wee Friends’ hard work but also the open space and wide visibility of our new classroom!

For breakfast we served Cream of Wheat and apples. Lunch was whole grain rice with chicken, snap peas and fruit salad.

Enjoy this day!

Inspired by Nate’s request to read Alphabet Adventure by Audrey Wood, we began our morning by diving into an alphabet letter exploration! After reading the book and singing a few rounds of “A, B, C”, we played a musical merry-go-round game. Melinda placed our sand letter placards around the pillar and friends hopped, walked and swayed to Jane’s Phineas and Ferb CD. When the music stopped, Melinda called out a friend’s name and asked them to find a particular letter.

After each friend had a turn, the music continued to play and Wee Friends enjoyed a dance party. Annie brought special New Year’s celebration crowns to add to the fun!

After the dancing ended, we asked our friends via message board “How can WF become an alphabet island- like in the book?” The class came up with some terrific ideas that we will work on over the coming days.

After our conversation, we invited friends to participate in an alphabet hunt. We taped up all the letters of the alphabet around the art room and island. After finding a letter, friends would stick the letter next to their name on a message board. When the hunt was complete, we regathered and each friend identified which letters they found.

This was an excellent opportunity for the teachers to assess each child’s understanding of and recognition of letters.

After our large group lessons, friends branched off and enjoyed the classroom, independently and collaboratively.

Tami set out alphabet stamps and friends explored creating art with ink pads and watercolor. The question that arose was “which color (dry or wet) creates the clearest impression and sticks better to the paper?”

From our Moncure My First Steps to Reading Collection, Melinda read “Letter B”.

Breakfast today was Cheerios and raisins. For lunch we served scrambled egg casserole, peas and bananas. For snack we will serve yogurt.

Have a great day!

“Teaching is instruction, but the loving and caring presence of the teacher to her students is education.” -unknown