Good afternoon on this snowy day!

Our friends started their morning by engaging in dress up. They all picked out a few accessories like hats, purses and dress shoes. Our friends use their imaginative play skills to pretend that they are heading to the store, school, or wherever they imagine by saying “bye” and then walking around the classroom with their dress up on.

We then made our way to the kitchen to play with Oobleck, a non-Newtonian fluid made by mixing cornstarch and water. We added pink watercolor to dye our mixture, along with red glitter and sequins to create a Valentine’s Day theme. The mixture sparked our friends’ curiosity as they watched it become a liquid when they picked it up and let it run down their arms.

Breakfast: Whole grain Oatmeal Squares cereal with fresh pear.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with red beans, cooked peas and fresh clementine oranges.

Afternoon Snack: Sunflower seeds and Wheat Thins crackers.

Wee Sprout: Green bell pepper/Cucumber.

Have a beautiful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-02-13

Good Afternoon!

**Tomorrow is pajama day/valentines attire day if your child wishes to participate!

Yesterday in PREK1 group, we read, ‘The Sandwich Swap’ which is a story about two friends who have different lunches. Their differences eventually lead to an argument and food fight but at the end of the story, they’re able to trade lunch and try something new!

For sign in today, they were asked about the specific sandwiches that the two main characters Lily and Salma ate. They were quick to remember the specifics from the story.

Hannah was interested in the story again since she hadn’t read it in a long time. We took the book in the reading area and kids quickly gathered to listen to it.

K.RL.2.3: Identify important elements of the text (e.g. characters, settings, or events).

We hope you enjoy some pictures from our day!

PREK2: During group today we read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”.  We made a class list of our favorite fruit that we eat at Wee Friends.  There seems to be a heavy lean toward pears in our class!

Breakfast: Puffins cereal with fresh blueberries.

Lunch: Brown rice with chicken, fresh pears/clementines/bananas, and fresh broccoli/carrots.

PM Snack: Whole wheat crackers with peanut butter and sunflower/pumpkin seeds.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh carrots/peppers.

Have a great afternoon!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures:2025-02-13

Good Afternoon!

This morning we decorated our bag for our Valentine’s cards with ink stamps.

Enjoy the pictures from the rest of our day!

Breakfast:  Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and bananas.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded mozzarella cheese, fresh cantaloupe and green bell peppers and whole grain wheat bread.

Afternoon Snack:  White corn tortilla chips, refried beans with shredded mozzarella cheese and green pear slices.

Wee Sprout:  Cucumber.

Have a wonderful evening and stay safe.

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-02-12

Good Afternoon!

This morning we had a lot of interest in writing books!  Three friends each dictated a story to be written on the pages of their book.  Next, each young author illustrated the book they had created.  Lastly, each friend designed a cover for their book.  They each included a title that had something to do with what they had written the story about.  The kids also added the authors name on the cover.  Before lunch, we gathered as a class to listen to everyone’s story.

One story told about a monster that was “thrown into the trash”.  It got an uproar of laughter and the author was very pleased with the enthusiasm around her book!

Another story read, “This is the fairies house.  It has a ladder and slide that goes down to a pool.  A monster came and pushed the fairies into the pool!  The monster felt bad and decided to help the fairy out of the pool.  The fairy and the monster held hands and hugged”.  What a beautiful story… though I couldn’t help but wonder what happed to the other fairies in the pool incident.  The ending subtlety left me hanging 🙂 .

We hope you enjoy some more pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh blueberries.

Lunch– Homemade egg casserole with whole wheat flatbread, fresh pears/banana, and fresh carrots/cucumber.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with butter and raisins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrots.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-02-12

Good Afternoon!

In PREK1 sign in this morning, we used a book from our MACK collection titled, ‘The Invisible Boy’ which we read quite often in group. Since we read it quite often, children were able to share what they’ve comprehended about the book such as the setting. Children were asked to sign under the setting of the story which is the school. As always, most kids even went above and beyond by sharing a few specific events they recalled from the story. The illustrator of the story uses a great technique with the main character, Brian. The illustrator shades Brian’s character depending on how he’s feeling at certain points in the story. For example, at the beginning when Brian is feeling alone and left out at school, the character is ‘invisible’ or black and white. Throughout the story as peers and classmates start giving Brian attention, the illustrator adds color to Brian’s character, letting the readers know that Brian’s feelings have changed.

Hannah, who is a three year old, showed interest in the book during sign in as she shared, “Miss Mindy, I haven’t read that book yet!”. When we found time later on in the morning, a group of children gathered around in the reading area to read the story with Hannah. We love listening to new stories!

K.RL.2.3: Identify important elements of the text (e.g. characters, settings, or events).

We have seen a lot of growth in the area of writing and drawing!  Given the constant availability of materials at the art center and daily journaling, there is great opportunity for the development of complex thought and fine motor to express it.  The fruits of these daily opportunities are apparent!  The authentic expression of ability to write letters, sound out words and write numbers surfaces naturally.  For example, Katherine drew a ski lift and numbered all of the lift benches.  Because this memory matters to her, the numbers she writes also matter and are most likely going to stay with her.

This morning we offered a welcome activity where friends were encouraged to sort.  Several bowl sizes were available for sorting by size.  Other friends chose to sort by their favorite color.

Today we explored our new giant magnetic tiles! Friends took turns working in pairs to explore what they could make.  The kids quickly discovered that the blocks were large enough to fit themselves inside of.  After that, everyone wanted a turn to have a “rocket ship” or a “tunnel” built around them.  The kids were great about taking turns being the one building and the one inside the structure.

Breakfast– Kix with fresh blueberries.

Lunch– Homemade chicken avocado salad on whole wheat bread, fresh grapes/banana/cantaloupe/pineapple, and fresh cucumber/green beans.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/green beans/pepper.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-02-11

Good afternoon!

We started off our morning by making music with rhythm sticks in a variety of ways. We tapped them together or used them like drumsticks on a stack of BounceBlocks to hear the difference in sound.

We then headed ino the kitchen to engage with playdough. We used tools like heart-shaped cookie cutters, plastic egg halves and golf tees to manipulate the dough.

We explored our Baby Animal touch & feel cards at the table. Our friends took turns feeling the texture of each animal’s fur or lifting the flap on the card to see what sound the animal makes.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios cereal with fresh apple slices.

Lunch: Chicken avocado salad with whole wheat tortilla, fresh cantaloupe slices and cucumber. 

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat bagel with peanut butter and fresh pineapple slices.

Wee Sprout: Red bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-02-11

Good Afternoon!

Through out our morning, we were busy dancing.  We went on a Bear Hunt with our stuffed bears, we danced to the Hokey Pokey and See The Bunnies Sleeping?!

We then headed into the kitchen to engage with loose parts-dominoes and pom-poms.  We worked on our scooping skills to scoop the pom-poms on our spoon and some of us working on squeezing tongs to pick up the pom-poms.  A few of us then stacked them into our cup or bowl.

We then headed out of the kitchen to build with our waffle blocks and explore our plastic bugs.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat bread toast with butter and cinnamon sugar mixture and fresh oranges.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat penne pasta with red beans, fresh red grapes and cooked peas.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and bananas.

Wee Sprout:  Cucumber.

Enjoy your evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-02-10

Happy Monday!

**Reminder: Re-enrollment forms are due Friday, February 14th if you want to take advantage of the $25 discount. If not, the en-rollment form is due March 1st. Thanks!

Our PREK1 group sign in has been quite popular over the last several months. As PREK1 group members are completely their sign in, several younger peers stand around watching, often asking questions like, “Who’s next to sign in?” or “What is sign in about today?”. We love the interest in sign in as younger peers are clearly taking away information that they’re retaining simply by watching.

Today’s sign in focused on a book from our MACK collection titled, ‘I’m The Best’. We’ve read this book before in group. Children were asked about one of the main characters, specifically the main character who thought ‘they were the best’. Everyone signed in under the character ‘dog’ and several friends were quick to share more events that they had retained!

Later on in PREK1 group, we read the same book we had worked with earlier in the morning for sign in. Once we were done, we talked about the three important things that make up a story: characters, setting, and events! Throughout the week, we’ll identify each as we read books from different genres.

K.RL.2.3: Identify important elements of the text (e.g. characters, settings, or events).

At the art center, our kids enjoyed using a variety of materials to make valentines for friends and family.  Those that could write their name, printed it inside their card.  Others that were able, used their kid spelling skills to write “Happy Valentines Day” inside their valentine.  Older friends did a great job teaching younger kids who wanted to wrote too.   Kids learn extremely well from other kids which is a benefit of a multiage classroom.  As kids get older, they get the chance to teach others, further solidifying the knowledge they have gained.  These kinds of projects create authentic situations where kids want to write and teach, more so than working on required practice worksheets.  This method has been proven to create conditions for deeper learning!

There are several in our class that enjoy experimenting with movement.  We added materials to the round table this morning to invite our kids to look for new ways of creating movement.  Asher found a solution to the balls rolling away at the bottom of his ramp using to some of the available blocks to make a “trap”.  This is one reason these activities are open ended.   Kids have the option to find solutions to problems as they encounter them because there are multiple ways to use the materials provided!  This leads to creative problem solving and deeper learning experiences. 

PREK2: During group time we read “My Heart is a Zoo”.  We all came up to sort our heart shapes according to pattern after the story was finished. 

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with red kidney beans, fresh pineapple/grapes, and fresh carrots/cucumber/green beans.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper/carrots.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-02-10

Happy Friday!

Reminder:  Re-enrollment forms are due next Friday, February 14th for the discounted re-enrollment fee.  Thank you.

We began our morning acting out our favorite songs.  We danced with dancing scarves to Shake Your Sillies Out,  went on a Bear Hunt with our stuffed bears and was a sleeping bunny for See The Bunnies Sleeping song.

We then headed into the kitchen to paint with purple, red and yellow tempera paint using a cotton ball and Q-tip.  The friends experimented with both of them.  Friends were seen blotting or spreading the paint with their cotton ball and making thin lines and dots with their Q-tips.

Cece is beginning to eat table food.  She loved her banana today!

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh pear slices.

Lunch:  Honey Ham lunch meat, whole grain wheat flatbread, fresh cucumber and pineapple slices.

Afternoon Snack: Goldfish crackers, Colby-Jack block cheese and cucumber slices.

Wee Sprout:  Yellow bell peppers.

Have a great weekend!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-02-07

Happy Friday!

We’ve been exploring the four main text genres this week: nonfiction, fiction, fairytales, and poetry. Today, PREK1 children came to the sign in board where they chose a “book” at the bottom of the board. We identified the title and they were able to turn around to the ledge and find the actual book! We looked at the title and cover and children were asked to determine which genre their book belonged to. Everyone was able to choose the right genre! They sorted their book into the correct genre before writing their name.

K.RL.3.1: Recognize familiar narrative text genres (e.g. fiction, nonfiction, fairytales, poems).

Today our big kids finished their calendar project.  They used their kid spelling to write the letters they heard in the word “calendar”.  They also worked on writing numbers as they wrote the year 2025.  The kids then added decorations that represented the year ahead.  We are excited to put them together so the kids can take them home to use!

This morning we enjoyed a sort and build activity at the round table.  We found all of the objects that matched the color of the tray near us.  Then we used it to create something.  Albert made a trap for all of the green cars.  Arthur made a rocket.  Another friend put all of his blue vehicles into a “blue ocean”. 

In the art center friends have been interested in making “wearable art”.  Ryan created an entire outfit complete with boots, arm bands, a crown and a cape!  It’s amazing what kids can do when given the openness of time to explore, using their hands to build what is in their minds!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh watermelon.

Lunch– Peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat tortilla, fresh grapes/clementines/banana, and fresh carrots/cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Goldfish and block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/cucumber/carrots.

Have a fantastic weekend!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-02-07