Happy Sunny and Warm Friday!

This morning we were busy building with the BounceBlocks.  We made stacks of them for us to stand on while holding onto the bars of the habi-trail.

We then headed into the kitchen to engage with wooden color sorting stacking rings and rainbow colored peg people loose parts on our tray.

Then we headed outside to enjoy another beautiful today.  Cece even enjoyed some time outside with us this morning, playing with her toys on her blanket.  Several friends were riding bikes down the hill, Eleanor was playing with a ball and Charlotte scooped the sand in the sandbox into a container and played peek-a-boo with another friend.

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese and bananas.

Lunch:  Black forest ham lunch meat, whole grain wheat flatbread, fresh mango and cucumbers.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain wheat Ritz crackers and Mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprout:  Red bell peppers.

Have a great weekend!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-03-14

Happy Friday!

PREK1 friends ended the week by exploring numbers and number words. Each group member found their name on the sign in board and followed the prompt, asking them to find a specific number on the board. In the direction, we identified their number word along with the corresponding number that they circled!

K.NS.2: Write whole numbers from 0 to 20 and recognize number words from 0 to 10.

This morning we set up a sensory loaded imaginative play world based on some requests from our kids to play with the animals we have been using to sort this week.  The kids created pond and forest habitats with water and natural materials.  They were able to use the silk plants and animals they had used in sorting activities to explore imaginative play and building ideas.  As their play evolved, some kids began using the flat rocks and sticks to make bridges that connected the ponds.  This kind of exploratory play lays the foundation for larger ideas down the line filled with a strong sense of creativity, innovation and the confidence to try things.  We can only hope that our kids retain this sense of playfulness with ideas and bring it into the work they do in their adult lives.

Outside there was a lot of interest in the garden.  A few friends asked if they could do some garden clean up, so we got to work.  Slowly, almost everyone in our outdoor area joined in the garden work.  We got out some tools like a hoe, spade and shovel to assist us.  A couple of kids chose to start a “deep weed removal project” working to dig deep rooted weeds out of the garden beds.  I can only wish that I was as passionate about weed removal as these kids are!

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh cantaloupe.

Lunch: Peanut butter on whole wheat bread, fresh mango/banana/cantaloupe, and fresh carrots/cucumbers/snap peas.

PM Snack: Pretzels and mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh peppers, snap peas, cucumber, and carrots.

Enjoy the weekend!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-03-14

Good afternoon!

Our friends were busy with books this morning. We read books independently on the reading steps, or sat in BounceBlocks and plastic blocks to listen to Miss Bekah read teacher books.

We then made our way into the kitchen to engage with pegs and peg boards. Our friends identified the shape of their boards and the colors of the pegs they were using. When friends were done with their board, they would request a new one by telling Miss Tina what shape of the board they would like next.

We then headed outside for another morning full of sunshine. We scooped pea gravel in the rock area, rode bikes down the hill, walked on the balance beam course, engaged in the sandbox and kicked a ball.

Breakfast: Oatmeal squares cereal with fresh mango.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded roast beef, cucumber and clementine oranges.

Afternoon Snack: Sunflower seeds and Wheat Thins crackers.

Wee Sprout: Red bell pepper.

Have aa beautiful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-03-13

Good Afternoon!

We practiced sorting based on similarities this morning during PREK1 sign in. Each group member came to the sign in board where they sorted cards onto three mats: land, air, and sea. They had to decipher which mat each card belonged. There were a few that were up for debate: did the butterfly belong on the ‘air’ mat or on the ‘land’ mat? We came to the conclusion that it could be both depending on where the butterfly was: was it flying or could the butterfly have landed on a bush? Love the organic conversations that take place during our activities!

K.RV.2.2: Identify and sort pictures of objects into categories (e.g. colors, shapes, opposites).

This morning we offered a “habitat drawing” activity.  Friends were invited to choose a few animals from the center of the table, then draw habitats for them to live in.  First, they thought about where the animals they picked may live.  The kids drew forests, oceans and ice habitats for their animals, then played with the animals withing the habitat they drew.

We hope you enjoy a few other pictures from our day!

PREK2: During group we read the book “An Earth Worm’s Life”.  Several kids have been finding worms outside this week.  Today there was an active earth worm hunt in the garden, so I decided to read a book about how they live.  This lead to some great questions and a group discussion about them.  Kids asked “Why can’t I see the earth worm’s head?”, “Why do I see worms when it’s raining?” and “Why does an earthworm make an egg case on the outside of it’s body?” (in response to the book).  After the story, we classified animals that live on land and those that live in the water on our board.

Breakfast– Whole grain cheerios with fresh watermelon.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded pork, fresh watermelon/cantaloupe, and fresh cucumbers/carrots/snap peas.

PM snack– Whole wheat crackers with peanut butter and pumpkin/sunflower seeds.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumbers/carrots/snap peas.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-03-13

Good Afternoon!

This morning Miss Tina brought out her big rain stick for us to explore.  We all worked on tilting it back and forth for the beads to run from each end to make the sound of the rain.

We then headed into the kitchen to engage with some new sensory balls in the light table.  We enjoyed observing the light through the light and dark blue colors of the balls.  We also felt the spikey texture of them in our hands, moved them to sort them in a light or dark blue pile, and counted them.

We then headed outside to enjoy some fresh air.  We engaged in the rock area carrying our bucket of rocks, using the mulch to scoop up and cook with in the play kitchen, engaged in the sandbox scooping and pouring the sand in a container with a friend and with the dinosaurs and going down the slide and riding on the teeter totter with a friend.

Breakfast:  Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh blueberries.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded mozzarella cheese, multi-grain wheat bread, watermelon slices and cooked green beans.

Afternoon Snack:  Peanut butter on whole grain wheat tortilla and bananas.

Wee Sprout:  Cucumber.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-03-12

Good Afternoon!

PREK1 kiddos came to the sign in board where we worked with punctuation marks. We’ve been reading books this week during group that highlight the use all of three punctuation marks. Each group member chose a sentence strip. We read it and looked at the ending punctuation mark. They identified the mark and sorted it into the correct punctuation group! We loved pointing out the punctuation marks we noticed in the book at group today.

K.W.6.2b: Punctuation—Recognizing and naming end punctuation.

This morning we tried sorting plants and animals into categories at our welcome activity.  One side of the table was set up for sorting and the other offered trays for imaginative play.  The kids did well sorting into categories.  The only item they got hung up on was a sea shell.  This one seemed difficult to categorize.  We spent some time looking at pictures of snails and mussels which live inside shells so we could understand what the animal looks like beyond the shell.

There were several projects going on this morning as kids followed their own learning paths.  Hannah worked on making bracelets in the art center.  As she worked, she practiced the things she has been learning about.  She practiced pattern making,  pointing out that she had made a pattern with blue and white beads.  She also worked on early spelling as she searched for letter beads to add names on her bracelets.

Arthur and Ryan started their own project using recycled materials to build a track for cars.  They used tape to put the pieces together creating a track with tunnels and inclines.  The two worked together to carry the large project to the building rug to test it with toy cars.  They were quite pleased with the outcome!  As the partners worked, they practiced collaboration, creative problem solving and critical thinking.  They brought an idea to reality and then tested its functionality.  What an amazing learning experience!

PREK2: During group today, we read a book called “A Slugs Life” and a book called “Snails” from the science area.  During the activity sorting plants and animals this morning, there were some questions about where the sea shell belonged.  After the story, we each drew two cards and categorized them as a plant or an animal.

Breakfast– Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh blueberries.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat tortilla, fresh pears/watermelon, and fresh cucumber/carrots.

 PM snack– Air popped popcorn with butter and raisins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper/carrots.

Have a lovely night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures:2025-03-12

Good Afternoon!

Our friends engaged in various activities this morning. We danced with silk scarves to the song, Shake Your Sillies Out, walked on a stepping stone path to feel the textures under our feet, and practiced our gross motor skills by climbing the Habi-trail ladder.

We then made our way into the kitchen to paint. We used different stamps and sponge shapes to make beautiful patterns on our papers. Our friends watched as the colors mixed on their papers to make new colors. We worked on identifying the colors and the shapes of the object we were painting with.

We then headed outside to enjoy the fresh air and warmer weather. Cece got to join us this morning and multiple friends came near to watch her play. We played in the sandbox with shovels and scoops, and rode the bikes down the hill.

Breakfast:  Whole grain Cheerios cereal and fresh blueberries.

Lunch: Refried beans with shredded Mozzarella cheese, whole grain wheat tortilla, fresh cucumber and red pear.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and fresh apple slices.

Wee Sprout:  Red bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-03-11

Good Afternoon!

We celebrated Katherine’s 5th birthday with her today! We hope you had the best birthday, Katherine!

PREK1 friends came to the board where they chose a shape! Once they identified the shape, they sorted the shape based on size. They taped it in either the ‘small’ group or the ‘large’ group.

K.RV.2.2: Identify and sort pictures of objects into categories (e.g. colors, shapes, opposites).

‘The chain making project’ continued and evolved.  We decided to measure our chains today.  We talked about how many inches long our chain was as we lined it up with the numbers on the tape measure.  We also looked at how many feet it was closest to.  Our longest chain was 150 inches long and closest to 12 feet!

PREK2: We read the story ‘The Rabbit Listened’ during group today, a lovely social emotional learning book. We talked about what we remembered from the book afterwards.  Some of us remembered an animal we saw and some remembered what that animal did in the story.  We compiled a class list of what we recalled.

Breakfast– Corn Chex with fresh blueberries.

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat tortilla, fresh apples/clementines, and fresh cucumber/carrot.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and Katherine’s birthday treat: fresh strawberries!

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrot.

Have a lovely night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-03-11

Happy Sunny and Warm Monday!

A friend came in to school talking about an alphabet book they had at home.  So today we got out our letters to stamp or stand in our playdough sensory activity.

Then we headed out to play with baby dolls.  We worked on taking off the outfit our doll was wearing and putting on a new one.  We also carried our dolls around and fed them bottles.

We enjoyed watching all the trucks and workers on our street.  We watched the trash truck come and pick up the trash bins, watched them worked on the roof across the street and watch the lawn man spread fertilizer on the front hills.  What an exciting day on our street.

We then headed outside to enjoy the sunshine and play.

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

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat penne pasta with shredded roast beef, fresh red pepper and apple slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and fresh blueberries.

Wee Sprout:  Cucumber.

Have a marvelous evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-03-10

Good Afternoon!

This morning there was interest around finding creative ways to use a few long strips of paper that were in the scrap paper basket.  We added long strips of colorful printed paper to the art center in response.  One friend had linked two strips of paper together to make a chain.  I said, “I wonder how long you could make that if you kept adding more links?”.  Several friends were eager to find out!  Friends enjoyed counting how many links they had as well as finding out if they could make a chain as tall as themselves.

We spent LOTS of time outdoors today exercising and taking in the fresh warm spring air!

PREK2: During group we read the story “Cows Can’t Fly”.  We talked about which parts of the story were fictional and which parts were non-fictional.  Older friend have been talking about opposites this week so we explored the idea in our group as well.  We each came up to the board, found our name and what color square was next to it.  Then we looked for its opposite to add to the board.

Breakfast:Whole wheat toast with butter and fresh orange slices.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with black beans, fresh clementines/ red apples/ green apples, and

fresh carrots/cucumbers.

PM Snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh peppers/cucumbers

Enjoy the rest of your day!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-03-10