Good Afternoon!

Everyone, please drive carefully this afternoon and tonight!

K/PREK1: After reading, ‘Hop On Pop’ written by Dr. Seuss, which allowed us to play on rhyming words, we looked at the shapes on the chalkboard paper. As a group, we talked about each shape. First, we identified each shape and then figured out how many sides each shape has. Lucy commented, “One similarity between the circle and oval is that both don’t have any sides!”.

As friends were called to roll up their mats, I asked them to come to the board and identify a specific shape. When Lucy and Max came to the board, I extended this exercise by asking them to identify a shape AND tell me a similarity between the rectangle and square, to which they both said, “They both have four sides!”

K.4.1: Identify and describe geometric objects: circle, triangle, square, rectangle, diamond, trapezoid, hexagon, octagon, parallelogram, sphere, and cube. (2006 standard)

In PREK2, children participated in a round of shape bingo! They used shape pieces to cover up basic geometric shapes while talking about simple characteristics of each.

We took the toys from the housekeeping loft and cleaned them using shaving cream. Once we were done, we took this lovely sensory experience to practice our letters and our names!

Breakfast– Kashi Blueberry Clusters with fresh pears/banana.

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat flatbread, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh carrots.

PM snack– String cheese and whole wheat bagels with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots.

Have a fantastic night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 1/22

Good Afternoon.

“The unknown energy that can help humanity is that which lies hidden in the child.” ~Maria Montessori

Please Note: Due to the freezing rain, the roads are very bad. Please drive safe.

The sensory bin and playdoh activities were in full gear today! We worked on strengthening our fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination skills all while talking with our friends making wonderful conversation.

Last week, Miss Annastecia read the Going on a Bear Hunt story with us and we haven’t forgotten how much fun this story is not only to listen too, but to act out!

Our friendly stuffed bear was perfect in aiding us to look for a bear! We snuggled him, searched for him, and even ran away from him. “Ahhhh it’s a bear!!!” (As the story tells us, while the child is running away)

Breakfast: Kids choice… Whole grain Cheerios and Kix with apples.

Lunch: Whole wheat/grain flatbread with hummus, carrots, and banana. 

Snack: Whole grain cinnamon raisin bagels with cream cheese, and oranges.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots.

Have a nice night! Stay warm.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljatEp1wAk0Md0-maoA

Happy Monday!  We had a great warm day in the classroom.

We all were very interested in looking out the window to see what all we could see.  We first noticed squirrels climbing together in the tree and then we lost sight of them and wondered where they went?  We then noticed an icicle that was hanging from our gutter and watched to see what was happening?  Even though it was very cold outside, we noticed it dripping water from the sunshine. Our minds were full of curiosity today.

Even though it was  too cold outside to play, we brought some snow inside to use with our watercolors.  We were given a white piece of paper, sprinkled fresh snow on top, then used our paint brush to paint watercolors onto the snow.  As the snow melted on our papers, we saw we had created a beautiful watercolor painting.

Breakfast:  Whole grain Cinnamon Raisin bagel with butter and fresh oranges.

Lunch:  Whole grain pasta with black beans, fresh banana/apples and peas.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Hope you all stayed warm on this cold winter day.

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljasUt6jxNdgqbtXozg

Happy Monday!

**Reminder: The ‘conference scheduling’ form is due by Wednesday, January 23rd. Thanks!

**We’re really trying to encourage friends to leave toys, books, etc. at home. Our cubby space is limited and lately, we’ve been quite productive at the art table so we’d like to keep our cubby space for gloves, hats, and art work. Thanks for your understanding!

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It was all about shapes this morning as we identified them, talked about different characteristics, and used them in our art. As we completed our shape collages, we counted the different shapes we used and discussed the number of sides each shape had.

K.4.1: Identify and describe geometric objects: circle, triangle, square, rectangle, diamond, trapezoid, hexagon, octagon, parallelogram, sphere, and cube. (2006 standard)

Breakfast– Whole wheat bagel with butter and banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with black beans and butter, fresh oranges, and fresh broccoli.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with fresh apples.

Wee Sprout– Fresh broccoli.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 1/21

Happy Friday!

**Reminder: Keep an eye out Monday morning for a text from Tami if we have to delay or close for weather. Local schools are already closed on Monday. Thank you!

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K/PREK1: After reading ‘Alphabet Adventure’, we worked together to find the missing lowercase letters on the chalkboard. In the story we read, little i lost it’s dot so thankfully, with a lot of teamwork, the lowercase letter’s were able to find i’s dot! This theme carried on into our activity!

I had six lowercase letters and each child was given one letter. They looked on the board and matched it to it’s correct uppercase letter.

After each friend rolled up their mat to get ready to journal, I asked them to come to the chalkboard and identify a certain letter, specifically one that they don’t use a lot (or isn’t in their name!).

K.RF.2.4: Identify and name all uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

PREK2: After reading a story, our PREK2 friends were given a different colored marker. Miss Kim had each child come to the board and find all of the letters in their name and circle each letter with their marker. There were several letters that had multiple circles which showed us that friends share the same letters in their name.

Our Friday was full of art creations, dancing like a prince and princess, and activities that drew out our imaginations!

…one, two, three: break!

Breakfast– Rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh pears.

Lunch– Ham/turkey and shredded cheese on whole wheat flatbread, fresh pears/banana, and fresh carrots.

PM snack– Goldfish and cheddar block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/carrots.

Have a great weekend! Stay safe and warm!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 1/18

Happy Friday!

“It is the child that makes the man, and no man exists  who was not made by the child he once was.” ~Maria Montessori

Please Note: The South Bend and Mishawaka schools will be closed Monday, January 21st for Martin Luther King Jr. day, so there will be NO posted school closing on the news networks.

Please make sure to check your cell phones Monday morning for a WF blast text from Tami if WF will either be on a 10:00 am delay or closed for the day due to the inclement weather we are due to receive over the weekend. Be safe, stay warm and have a great wintry weekend.

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast: Whole Grain English muffins and oranges.

Lunch: Whole wheat flat bread with turkey and shredded cheese, peas, and pears.

Snack: Whole grain cheese crackers and block cheese cubes.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a great weekend!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljalKAiPvcwxErwPX3w

Good Afternoon!

**Word is, we could possibly get a decent amount of snow this weekend. Our policy is to follow South Bend Community School Corporation and School City of Mishawaka BUT since public schools are closed on Monday, we won’t have that to go off of. So, please keep an eye out for a text from Tami in case we delay or have to close. Thank you!

Please make sure you are signed up for our weather texting service. If you have yet to sign up, here’s how:

Text this message: @weefr

To this number: 81010 (works like a traditional 10 digit phone number)

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K/PREK1: At least once a week, we have a poetry group session where each child gets to pick one poem that gets read aloud from a variety of poetry books. Today’s poetry book was ‘A Light In The Attic’. Majority of our group time together is focused around fiction or non-fiction stories but integrating poetry into our sessions is vital because poetry teaches us about language and how words work together. I’ve attached a few articles that talk about poetry and why it’s important in the early education classroom along with ideas for using poetry at home!

https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/read-little-poem

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2013/multiple-texts-guide-childrens-learning

In PREK2, children read the book, ‘Ten Black Dots’ before using two green dice to add the white dots together. They used counting manipulatives to give them a visual.

Maxwell and Grady played a math game this morning where they tested their addition and subtraction skills. Maxwell rolled two dice and added them together. If the total number was available on his side of the board, he flipped that number up. If it wasn’t available, he subtracted the two numbers and looked to see if that total was available. The goal was to flip up all of the numbers in front of you ranging from 1-10

“Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.”

-Abraham Maslow

Breakfast– Corn chex and fresh banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded pork, fresh pineapple/oranges, and fresh carrots.

PM snack– Peanuts and whole wheat crackers.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 1/17

Good Afternoon.

“Respect all the reasonable forms of activity which the child engages and try to understand them.” ~Maria Montessori

We have a few friends that are either in full blown potty training mode or very interested in sitting on the potty!

Potty training can begin at all different ages and stages in a child’s life and it’s beneficial to allow the child to begin this process when they are ready and have shown the interest.

Some of the common signs that a child will show are, pulling at their wet or dirty diaper, hiding to pee or poop, interest in others use of the potty, or copying their behavior, having a dry diaper longer than usual, waking up dry from their nap, and even telling you that they need to go, or have just went in their diaper.

Potty training is a fun and exciting learning experience for children, especially the flushing part.  

 

Jack and Rose engage quite nicely together with the colorful rings.

We use these rings for different types of play. Jack is using them for balancing his body as he walks through them, and Rose is talking about the different colors of the rings she has while lying them onto the floor. We also use them often while enjoying music.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and apples.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded pork, peas, and pineapple.

Snack: Whole grain rice cakes with cream cheese and pears.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a wonderful night.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljah1pponn-j6fcVTtQ

Good Afternoon.

“Let us leave the   life free to develop within the limits of the good, and let us observe this inner life developing.” ~Maria Montessori

This morning Miss Rebekah held a wonderful music activity. She offered our friends red music sticks with different textures on them.  Some of the sticks have ridges, and some have a smooth texture.

While experimenting with the different sounds the sticks make, we also listened to a song by Hap Palmer called Tap Your Sticks, that gave us examples of what else we could do with the sticks. We tapped them onto the floor,  put them behind our heads and backs, we tapped them together, and we also tapped them on our various body parts.

It was a great musical activity that we enjoyed so very much!

Jack got very creative and made himself a “cave.” He placed two soft stars together that he could sit in all by himself. He added in our soft white “snowballs”, some regular balls and the stepping circles for more enjoyment. What an imagination!!!  

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal and bananas.

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, sweet potatoes, whole wheat/grain English muffins with butter, and bananas.

Snack: Whole wheat Ritz crackers with hummus.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a fantastic evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljadqEWL9CgkbRwWc6w

Good Afternoon!

The conditions were PERFECT for some outside time this morning which we were so grateful for! Enjoy a few pictures from our time outside.

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and fresh raspberries.

Lunch– Scrambled eggs with whole wheat tortillas, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh carrots/green beans.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with butter and fresh apples.

Wee Sprout– Fresh green beans/peppers.

Have a fantastic night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 1/16