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

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

Good Afternoon!

K/PREK1: Our story for group, titled ‘Ten Black Dots’, centered around the numbers 1 through 10. Friends helped me count the black dots that we saw on each page which lead into our activity. I had six cards with each child’s first and last name on it. They had to find their name and flip the card over where they counted the items that were drawn. After each child finished counting their items, they found the corresponding number on the chalkboard and taped it underneath the number. Each card had a different configuration: rectangular, circle, line, and scattered.

K.NS.5: Count up to 20 objects arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle. Count up to 10 objects in a scattered configuration.

 

In PREK2, children worked together to retell the story, ‘The Mitten’. Afterwards, children had to find the match. Each child had a number and had to find the mitten that had that specific number of items! Children used paperclips to connect the two matching mittens which was a challenging fine motor activity!

The welcome activity focused around dominos. On the lazy susan, several dominos were made available. Children used the dominos to find it’s match taped to the table. Maxwell took the dominos and was able to quickly find it’s match. Mack also tried to do this and Max was quick to jump in and help!

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.”

-Albert Einstein

Breakfast– Kashi Blueberry Clusters and banana.

Lunch– Black beans and shredded cheese on whole wheat tortillas, fresh oranges/banana, and fresh green beans.

PM snack– Whole grain bagel with cream cheese and fresh raspberries.

Wee Sprout– Fresh green beans/peppers.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 1/15

Good Afternoon.

“The child making use of all that he finds around him, shapes himself for the future.” ~Maria Montessori

Our friends absolutely love their new dramatic play center. Today, Evie and Daniel were cooking up a storm, making all kinds of yummy creations. Pizza, hot tea, coffee, toast, and veggies were all apart of their menu. 

Meanwhile in other parts of the classroom, Jack and Zoe were utilizing their gross motor skills in the gross motor area. Climbing on the large, colorful big blocks and soft star climbers was their agenda. They both worked nicely together, took turns and socialized all while having a blast! 

Breakfast: Whole grain Chex and Cheerios with Apples. (Kids choice)

Lunch: Whole wheat tortillas with refried beans and shredded cheese, peas, and oranges.

Snack: Whole wheat/grain raisin cinnamon bagels with cream cheese, and Apples.

Wee Sprout: Sweet Potatoes.

Have a wonderful evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljaZ0b779UifvTDnC4A

Good Afternoon!

**Our winter packet will be sent home this week that will include:

-2018 Tax Receipts.

-Parent-Teacher Conference Information for our conference day on Friday, February 15th (will include both a meeting time preference form & a form to communicate what you’d like to discuss at conferences).

-Re-enrollment forms for fall 2019 which will be due with the re-enrollment fee no later than Friday, February 22nd.

Thanks!

-Tami

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K/PREK1: While reading ‘Kitten’s First Full Moon’, I asked the group, “How many fireflies do you see?”. The fireflies were on the page in a sporadic fashion so children counted each firefly they saw and said the answer aloud. A few of our older friends were able to look at a picture of three fireflies and know that there was three without having to count them.

When we had finished the story, the word ‘syllable’ was brought up. I took six word cards out and each child was able to pick one word. These words looked familiar to us because they were in the book that we just finished reading. We read the word aloud to the group and using either the clapping method or the ‘hand under the chin’ method, each friend said how many syllables were in their word. They grabbed a piece of tape and taped their word under the correct category.

The ‘2 syllable’ group had the most words until the final word was put into the ‘1 syllable’ group which elicited children to shout, “It’s equal now!”. We talked about how the two groups had the same number of words while the ‘3 syllable’ group had none!

K.RF.3.2: Orally segment words into syllables.

K.NS.5: Count up to 20 objects arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle. Count up to 10 objects in a scattered configuration.

PREK2: Each child was given a mitten with a number on it. Using teddy bear manipulatives, they counted out the number that they were given. At this age, children usually use their index finger to count one at a time, also known as one-to-one correspondence.

At the circle table, a STEM activity was offered. Using paper cups, teddy bears, and large popsicle sticks, children built a variety of bridges. Friends took the bears and placed them on the bridges that they built. A few of our older friends challenged themselves to see how many bears they could put onto their creation.

Miss Melinda gifted us a few new books and a new CD so we decided to listen to the new CD this morning! It had some great songs; it made us just want to grab a friend and dance! THANK YOU, MISS MELINDA!

Breakfast– Whole wheat cinnamon raisin bagel with butter and fresh fruit (grapes, cantaloupe, oranges).

Lunch– Whole wheat noodles with marinara sauce and shredded cheese, fresh fruit (pineapple, grapes, cantaloupe), and fresh veggies (broccoli, carrots, snap peas).

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with banana.

Wee Sprout– Fresh veggies (Snap peas, peppers, broccoli).

Have a terrific evening.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 1/14

Good Afternoon, I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Thank you to all of you that came to wish Miss Melinda well wishes and a very happy retirement.

“What the hand does, the mind remembers.” Maria Montessori 

Please Note: Our winter packet will be sent home next week and will include:

-2018 Tax Receipts

-Parent- Teacher conference information for our conference day on February 15th, 2019 (this will include both a meeting time preference form and a form to communicate what you would like to discuss at the conferences).

-Re-enrollment forms for Fall 2019, which will be due with the re-enrollment fee due no later than Friday, February 22nd, 2019.

Friends engaged themselves in a fun sensory project this morning. Miss Rebekah offered shaving cream with sparkles mixed in to make fluffy snow on paper.

Not only is this activity a sensory activity, but it also helps us strengthen our hand-eye coordination and the use of our fine motor skills as well as our color recognition.

Breakfast: Whole wheat bagels with peanut butter and banana.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with shredded cheese and marinara sauce, broccoli, and apples.

Snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a night night!

Marty

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

Happy Friday!

We are looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday at 2:00 (until 5:00) for Melinda’s Retirement Open House! If you haven’t RSVP’d yet, please don’t let that stop you from coming on Sunday. We can’t wait to celebrate Melinda and all that she’s given to Wee Friends over the past several years!

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Have you ever sat down at the dinner table and asked your child, “So, what’d you do today?” and they answer with a resounding, “Nothing.”?

Trust me. You’re not the only one .

After a day full of peer interactions, conversations with teachers, and stimulation, it can be hard for children to form thoughts about their day. One way to start conversation is to look over the blog (or EP!) to see if there are any pictures of your child! When a child sees a picture of themselves, it unlocks all of their feelings and thoughts from the day and suddenly, a five minute story spills out.

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/self-directed-play-moment

Breakfast– Rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh grapes.

Lunch– Turkey/ham on whole wheat flatbread, fresh pineapple/grapes, and fresh broccoli/carrots.

PM snack– Our homemade applesauce from yesterday (YUM!) and goldfish.

Wee Sprout– Fresh broccoli/cauliflower and carrots.

Have a fantastic weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 1/11