Good Afternoon!

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

Rose was fascinated by seeing herself in the mirror today!

According to Essentialbaby.com, “From as early as the age of three months infants will respond to their reflection differently to how they respond to another baby, so we know that quite early on they recognize that a reflection is not the same as another person. However, studies that look at when children can reliably be seen to recognize themselves in a mirror found that this happens on an average around the age of 18 months, with the vast majority of toddlers able to understand this concept by the age of two years.”

Even though our outside play time was VERY brief, we did enjoy the 15 minutes or so that we did get this morning!

Breakfast: Whole grain Chex cereal with PPC banana.

Lunch: Whole wheat flatbread with refried beans, corn, and fresh PPC Kiwi.

Snack: Whole wheat bagels with sunflower butter.

Wee Sprouts: Corn

Have a nice night!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljNk7Ilyzpt_noxiD6w

Happy Monday!

**We’ve been having several children bring in stuffed animals or toys from home. If your child NEEDS an animal or ‘lovey’ (please keep it on the small side) to fall asleep with, please feel free to leave it in their cubbie. Otherwise, we’re asking that toys and stuffed animals stay at home. We have lots of snuggly animals to play with here and lots of books to read . Thanks for everyone’s cooperation.

Today was Miss Annastecia’s first full day at Wee Friends! We enjoyed getting to know her and showing her what our mornings look like.

When we found Annastecia in July, she put her daughter, Penny, on our waiting list. While we were so sad to lose Emma this month as she moved up to Michigan, we are very happy that we now have space for Penny to join our classroom!

We’re so happy that they’re both joining our Wee Friends family!

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In pre-k/k group, we read ‘Tackylocks and the Three Bears’. Afterwards, we talked about the rules that we have here at Wee Friends and why we have them. For example, when we talked about why we wash our hands at different parts of the day, friends quickly shared, “It’s to keep us healthy!”. Another friend shared, “My brother and I got hand, foot, mouth when we were little so we need to make sure we’re washing our hands to keep us healthy!”

Social Studies: K.2.3 Give examples of classroom and school rules and explain how each helps us.

Loose parts consumed our morning!

Anna started off her day by taking the gems that were out at the welcome activity and used them to create a pattern. After she made an ABAB pattern, she starting to make an apple tree. When she was done, she wanted to document her creation so she asked that I take a picture!

Below is a link that describes what loose parts are and why they’re such an important part of the curriculum and early childhood setting.

https://extension.psu.edu/programs/betterkidcare/early-care/tip-pages/all/loose-parts-what-does-this-mean

Anna and Lucy started a line of several different animals. While Anna took the animals and lined them up, Lucy started taking the small rocks and creating eight rectangular boxes for the animals to go in.

Franklin and Ruby took wooden blocks and made cages for their animals. Franklin and Ruby both gave reasons why animals were either alone or with another animal in each cage.

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast/english muffin with peanut butter and PPC banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat noodles with butter and shredded pork, PPC plums/peaches, and PPC cherry tomatoes/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with PPC banana.

Wee Sprout– PPC cucumber.

Have a fantastic night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 8/27

Hello and Happy Monday! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend.

PLEASE NOTE: WF/WWF will be CLOSED next Monday, Sept 3rd in observance of the Labor Day holiday.

“Every day in a 100 small ways, our children ask, Do you hear me? Do you see me? Do I matter? Their behavior often reflects our response. ~L.R. Knost

Monday’s are always the BEST habi-trail window days! Why you ask??? Well, that’s when the most awesome truck comes down on our street and stops right in front of our classroom. To do what you ask??? To take our garbage away, of course! It doesn’t matter what our friends are doing, as soon as they hear the loud banging and the loud sound of the garbage truck revving up, they stop what they are doing immediately and run to the habi-trail to look out of the windows. Sometimes we’re really lucky and the garbage man honks his horn at us! What a great way to start off our week.

The dramatic play center was a very happening place today! Friends LOVE to cook and serve their teachers and other friends with all kinds of goodies. Doughnuts were on top of the list today. We talk about the shape and colors of the yummy doughnuts as well as eating them all up.

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon, and fresh blueberries.

Lunch: Whole grain pasta with butter and shredded chicken, peas, and fresh blueberries.

Snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Have a fantastic evening!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljNhJbnr1I8CIomD_4Q

Happy Friday!

Today the Wee Friends got to explore some multicultural books. I also brought in some objects from Japan. They tried their hands at fanning themselves, and even attempted to use the chopsticks. This was very amusing to watch. They eventually gave up on using them the right way, and just used their own process to pick up things.

I had some Origami animals, and explained that in Japan they use special paper to create things. I had plenty of paper left over, so some of our friends decided to color designs on them.

We made it outside this morning before the rain came. Ms. Tami brought out some books to read. Many of the WF really enjoyed being outside just looking at the books.

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with PB, PPC banana

Lunch: PB on whole wheat flatbread, PPC tomatoes/broccoli & carrots, PPC banana/kiwi & strawberries

PM snack: Goldfish & cheese sticks

Wee Sprout: PPC tomatoes/broccoli & carrots

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Kim

LINK TOPICTURES:

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljLEIYQ0J0dOZbxBZAQ

Happy Friday, I hope you have all had a great week!

“Today you are you, that is truer than true! There is no one alive, that is youer that you!” ~ Dr. Suess

Engaging ourselves in gross motor activity is so much fun! Just look at these faces The weather has been gorgeous the last few days, and we are enjoying every single moment!

Engaging ourselves in fine motor activity is just as much fun! Happy faces for a happy Friday!!!

Breakfast: Whole wheat/grain bagels with cream cheese and fresh PPC strawberries.

Lunch: Whole grain flatbread with no-nut butter, carrots, and fresh PPC kiwi and strawberries.

Snack: Whole grain cheese crackers and mozzarella string cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots.

Have a wonderful evening and weekend!

Marty

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

Good Afternoon!

Today we had a wonderful time celebrating, and learning about what makes us unique. The activity this morning required them to study themselves in the mirror. We talked about what they saw in their mirror (i.e. hair/eye color). They were then given the opportunity to draw their portrait of themselves on paper. Of course, some of them decided to be creative and draw what they wanted to look like. We hung up their masterpieces for all to see. If you get the chance, take a peak at their creations.

Some of the friends started up a Sorry game. Eventually, someone decided they wanted to play Uno. At first, only a few wanted to play. Others started watching, and then joined in as well. Miss Melinda showed the younger ones that they had to match the colors or numbers in the pile in order to win. There were a few friends who really enjoyed using their skip or “draw two” cards.

Breakfast: Whole wheat Cheerios & strawberries

Lunch: Brown rice with chicken, PPC cucumbers/carrots, PPC bananas/plums

PM Snack: Whole wheat Triscuits & pumpkin seeds

Wee Sprout: PPC cucumbers/carrots

Have a wonderful night!

Ms. Kim

LINK TO PICTUES:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljNc0yPQAVDNlH0-adw

Good afternoon!

“Around here we don’t look backwards for very long… we keep moving forward, opening up new doors, and doing new things because we’re curious… curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” ~Walt Disney

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and Apples.

Lunch: Whole grain rice with shredded chicken, mixed vegetables, and fresh PPC kiwi.

Snack: Whole wheat Ritz crackers with cheddar cheese cubes.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh Cucumbers.

Have a fantastic evening!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljNctDz2DlB5CZG8fWA

Good Afternoon Wee Friends Family,

We had a very busy morning before we got the chance to go outside. It seemed like every corner of the house was full of friends playing, creating, or solving puzzles. Many of them asked to get out puzzles, or patterning games to explore. Others decided to go to the art table to create bracelets. Most of them went to the Habit Trail to create houses or tracks for their cars.

It was such a lovely day that we decided to go out early. Our friends took this opportunity to perform a concert, and investigate what was living under our umbrella.

Breakfast: Oatmeal and PPC banana

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with cheese, whole grain bread, PPC broccoli/carrots, and PPC mangos/bananas

PM Snack: Blue corn chips and refried beans

Wee Sprout: PPC tomatoes

Hope you get to enjoy this beautiful weather today!

Ms. Kim

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljNZ_Wg9m_ypBE7jneA

Good Afternoon Everyone! What a beautiful day.

“A mind when stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions.” ~Anonymous 

Rose asked to play with puzzles this morning and she chose the very bright crayon/shape puzzle. Not only is Rose utilizing her fine motor skills but her hand eye coordination, color recognition, and cognitive skills by finding where to place her selected piece into the correct space.

During our wonderful outdoor play, we found many activities to engage ourselves in. Trucks, the sandbox, and finding bugs are always on the top of our play list! We are able to utilize many of our developmental skills while outside as there is always so much to do.  

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and PPC banana.

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with cheese, whole wheat butter toast, peas, and fresh PPC strawberries.

Snack: Pretzels and mozzarella string cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Garden fresh cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljNZR3qaueIWnlhfTuA

Good Afternoon!

**Wee Friends Families— The symphonic choir that Melinda is in will be performing at Potawatomi Park at 7:00 pm on Saturday (August 25th). It will be outside and be held by the IU Art students so there will be dancing and music! If you’re free this Saturday, it sounds like a great activity for families!

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This week, we’re focusing on identifying and comparing the similarities and differences of families, classmates, neighbors and neighborhoods, and ethnic and cultural groups (Social Studies: K.3.6).

In pre-k/k group, we read ‘Here and There’. I got it at a Usborne book party (fantastic books!) but this specific book goes into detail about specific differences depending on the country that you’re in. Today, we talked about different ways to travel to school. Before we started reading, each friend answered the question, “How do you get to school?”. All friends shared how they get to school and we soon found out that majority of us have the same thing in common: we all take a car to get to school!

We started reading and soon found out that that’s not the only way to get to school. In Zambia, children have to walk miles to get to school, often having to walk over elephant paths! In Japan, children have to take several trains to get to school. Children often travel to school by themselves by the age of six! This made many of our children’s eyes get HUGE as they couldn’t imagine having to take several trains by themselves at the age of six! Other transportation options that we learned about were bus, bike, bus bike, cable car, horse, train, and canoe!

We talked about all of these differences that we saw as far as transportation and wrote it up on the chart as we recalled each one.

Several children wanted to journal this morning so after they got out a journal, children started drawing. Our younger friends are working on their name and learning the letters of their name/writing it too!

Maxwell and Chloe requested two math boxes this morning. Chloe worked on identifying shapes and matching shapes while Maxwell took the fruit that was in his box and sorted it.

Mack and Grady were busy all morning long building with trio blocks. Grady was a supportive, patient older brother as he helped Mack build several of his creations.

Breakfast– Kashi Blueberry Clusters and PPC kiwi.

Lunch– Refried beans and shredded cheese on whole wheat flatbread, fresh watermelon, and fresh carrots.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and cheddar cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 8/21