Good Afternoon!

“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.” ~Jim Rohn

Please Note: We unfortunately had a child go home early today with a fever. A doctor appointment was made and the diagnosis is as follows… It is a different kind of virus than the current one, most likely respiratory. The  doctor stated that the big virus running through currently is called, HRV (Human Rhinovirus) We will keep you posted on any changes.

Today was a great day for dancing while listening to fun upbeat music. Friends utilized their gross motor skills to clap, jump, and shake their bodies to the beat of the song being played. Music is also a great way to improve on a child’s coordination skills, as well as self-confidence and self-esteem. We LOVE to dance and listen to music  

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with fresh PPC pears.

Lunch: Whole wheat/grain flatbread with hummus, garden fresh tomatoes, and fresh Farmer’s Market peaches. (Thank you Ben and Jack!)

Snack: Whole grain cinnamon raisin bagels with butter, and fresh peaches.

Wee Sprouts: Corn.

Have a nice night!

Marty

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

Good Afternoon. I hope you had a great weekend.

“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” ~ O. Fred Donaldson

Today was upside down silly day. Evie decided it would be fun to slide down the slide on her back and she ended up… upside down! Friends thought that was so silly, so they decided to follow suit. Hence, upside down silly day!  

Breakfast: Whole wheat butter toast with cinnamon and PPC banana.

Lunch: Whole wheat/grain pasta with shredded turkey, peas, and PPC banana.

Snack: Whole grain cheese crackers with Colby cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a fantastic evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljOUGw_JN80NkdOg7Qw

Happy Monday!

**Our 3’s/young 4’s trip is currently being scheduled. Please check the blog tomorrow for a date as well as a rain date . Thanks!

Our weekly FAB’s include understanding the difference between an author and an illustrator as well as their specific roles when creating a book. Today, we read two books: one book had a different author and illustrator while the other book had a man who wrote the words and drew the pictures!

K.RL.3.2: Define the author and illustrator of a story in telling the story.

Our morning was full of creating, specifically at the art easel and with different manipulatives. Children took the chains and made belts and necklaces at different lengths.

Our pre-k/k group headed to the farm today. First, we went into the barn where we checked on the baby bunnies. They had grown so much just in the last week! Miss Tami was able to get a chicken for us. A few of us were hesitant about the chickens but most commented that the chickens feathers were very soft.

There was a lot of commotion going on outside and when we looked over, it quickly drew our attention. We headed outside where we saw a moving ladder transporting hay into the upper part of the barn! As we stood and watched, the word ‘machine’ was talked about and what goes into a machine functioning properly. We stood quite a ways away to keep our bodies safe but we enjoyed watching as the hay went up and then suddenly disappeared.

We decided to take a short walk into the words where we found a toad! Children made the decision to pet the toad but we found out it was rather jumpy! . We looked at Maxwell’s shirt as a guide to see what kind of frog or toad we found.

“Nature is a tool to get children to experience not just the wider world, but themselves.”

-Stephen Moss

Breakfast– Kix and PPC pears/banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat noodles with shredded pork, PPC banana/mango, and fresh carrots.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with PPC pears.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures (WF AND FARM): WF 9/17

Happy Friday,

Our Friday morning was quite eventful. Today we got out some toothpicks and playdough. Our friends made various designs with them. At first, most of them made 2D structures, but eventually some of our friends made 3D structures such as castles and tents.

Ms. Melinda got out our lamps and paperweights. Our older friends explored what happened when the lamp light shined through it.

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with peanut butter & PPC pears

Lunch: Whole wheat tortillas with cheese, PPC cucumbers, applesauce/PPC bananas

PM snack: Pretzels & string cheese

Wee Sprout: PPC cucumbers

Hope you have a great weekend!

Ms. Kim

LINK TO PICTURES:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljOMgjvlRG99NgJlT2w

Happy Friday! I hope you have all a great week.  

“Children are not a distraction from work. They are the most important work.” ~C.S. Lewis

Today we had a special visitor visit our classroom. Betsy comes about every six months for our Paths to Quality check to see how things are progressing in the classroom. We all did very well with a stranger entering our play area. Some of our friends were a little shy at first but others warmed right up to her.

Our friend Evie was nicely engaged in the dramatic play center today cooking up all kinds of yummy foods for her friends and teachers to eat!

While playing in the dramatic play center (Housekeeping) our friends can utilize their imaginations to their fullest extent, they can work on using their social skills with their friends, and also start to understand what is real and what is just pretend.

We then took our dramatic play fun to the outdoor world. Friends also engaged themselves in the outside housekeeping area. Daniel was making cookies, and Rose was helping him. Meanwhile, Zoe was taking her baby for a cart ride.

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon and PPC banana.

Lunch: Whole grain tortilla with c=shredded cheese, carrots, and fresh PPC pears and banana.

Snack: Graham crackers and Mozzarella cheese sticks.

Wee Sprouts: Corn.

Have a fantastic weekend and we’ll see you on Monday! 

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljOJ3qgc-4EkKwfJMFQ

Good Afternoon!

In pre-k/k group, we read one of our favorite stories: ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’. As we read, children shared their favorite crayon/marker to color with during the day. After we finished, each child got a card with a word on it. Together, we read each word. After all of the words were read, children worked to find their rhyming match! For examples, Penny had ‘spoon’ and Anna had the word ‘moon’ so they quickly were able to find their match.

Before rolling up our mats, each child came up to the board and ‘smacked’ a given shape. Lucy came up to the board and was told to find the hexagon. She looked for a little bit and found it! She lightly smacked it and we talked about the characteristics as she was rolling up her mat.

K.RF.3.1: Identify and produce rhyming words.

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

Our welcome activity involved using magnatiles to make dinosaurs. We used different sized triangles and squares to match the shapes that were on the paper. Children took turns and either worked by themselves or with a peer to complete the three dinosaurs.

“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences.”

-Loris Malaguzzi

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and PPC pears.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded pork, PPC banana, and PPC pepper.

PM snack– Pumpkin seeds with wheat thins.

Wee Sprout– PPC pepper.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 9/13

Good Afternoon!

“THERE ARE TWO GIFTS WE SHOULD GIVE OUR CHILDREN; ONE IS ROOTS, AND THE OTHER IS WINGS.” ~Maria Monetessori

Enjoy the pictures from our Thursday.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal, and fresh PPC peaches.

Lunch: Whole grain rice with shredded pork, peas, and fresh PPC peaches.

Snack: Pretzels, and Colby cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a wonderful night!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljOIXM4fhifWIcrg84A

Good Afternoon Everyone, I hope you’re having a great day!

“Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded.” ~ Jess Lair

This morning we spent the majority of our time in the kitchen utilizing our fine motor skills, hand- eye coordination, learning about the different placement spaces that our puzzle pieces would fit into, as well as working on our color recognition. Puzzles and pegs are also a fantastic way to get our minds working!

Rose and Miss Rebekah played some catch during our outside time today. Rose did very well holding her arms and hands out to catch the ball as Miss Rebekah threw it to her. Not only did Rose get some very valuable one on one time with a teacher, she was able to work on her hand-eye coordination, and work on learning how to catch a ball.  Way to go Rose!!!

Breakfast: Whole grain Chex cereal, and fresh PPC Blackberries.

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, whole wheat buttered toast, garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, and fresh PPC peaches.

Snack: Whole wheat Ritz crackers with cream cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Garden fresh Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening.

Marty

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

Good Afternoon!

“Are we going to talk about shapes today?!”

Before I started reading our book for the day, this is how pre-k/k group started! Lucy saw what was on the chalkboard and immediately became interested. After reading, ‘The Spotted Pig’, we talked about the shapes that were displayed.

To start, I asked questions such as, “What is the orange shape?”. Children answered, “circle!”, and after we talked about the characteristics of each shape (specifically how many sides it has). As I was taping the names of each shape up, I had my older friends help me find each word.

I asked them, “What letter does circle start with?”. They answered ‘c’ and I flipped through the shape names and when I got to ‘circle’, they shouted, “There’s circle!”. Not only did we work on expanding our knowledge of shapes but also letter identification and letter sounds.

As children got dismissed one by one to journal, each child was asked to come to the board and identify a shape by lightly pounding it. As Maxwell walked up to the board, I asked him to find the hexagon. He found it and lightly pounded it. As he rolled up his mat, we talked about how many sides it has as a group.

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

Children found areas in the house that they found interesting and dove into different activities. We’ve been very interesting in our play, felt money lately. Today, Maxwell informed us that a Lamborghini only cost $500! Some deal!

Outside time is so precious to us as we are able to run freely while also being able to explore the wonders of the outside. The sandbox was a popular space as it was mostly shaded which was PERFECT!

Breakfast– Kashi Blueberry Clusters and PPC peaches.

Lunch– Scrambled eggs with whole wheat tortillas, fresh honeydew melon/PPC banana, and garden cucumbers/fresh cherry tomatoes.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with PPC banana.

Wee Sprout– Garden cucumber/fresh cherry tomatoes.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 9/12

Good Afternoon!

In pre-k/k group, we read ‘How The Elephant Got It’s Trunk’. Throughout the story, we shared with one another our thoughts on what would happen next. We learned how the main elephant character got it’s trunk. At the end, the author asked us if we believe this version or not. The vote was split 50/50. After everyone voted, we talked about whether we thought this book was fiction or non-fiction!

As children were dismissed, each child had to come up with a shape and we talked about the characteristics of each shape, specifically how many sides it has. The shapes we discussed were heart, square, triangle, rectangle, hexagon, and circle.

Our day’s full of motor development. We exhibit fine motor skills when we work at the circle table with manipulatives or color at the art table. These lay the ground work for children to complete self help tasks and hand/eye coordination.

Gross motor skills are the big motions that you see: running, skipping, marching, riding a bike. We have two areas where we engage in gross motor work: in the habitrail area and outside!

Both are crucial to development and such an important part here at Wee Friends!

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/building_fine_motor_skills_and_why_it_matters

Breakfast– Kix and PPC banana.

Lunch– Homemade chicken avocado salad on whole wheat flatbread, PPC peaches, and PPC cucumbers/peppers.

PM snack– Homemade cinnamon muffins and block cheese.

Wee Sprout– PPC peppers/cucumber.

Have a wonderful night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 9/11