Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a terrific weekend!

Wee Friends was an active place today. Here’s a glimpse into our day..—>

The habitrail area was transitioned into a zoo! We only had one animal that was available to see though: a monkey!

Bug hunting! Children grab a plastic container when they want to search for different kinds of bugs. We often form bug hunting groups. The more numbers we have, the better!

There was success today for a few friends! Elliott caught a white and black butterfly that he showed to many friends. Some of his peers grabbed him flowers off the ground and grass to use as a habitat.

Our creation station was packed this morning as children used their imagination to make different drawings.

It was quite a Monday!

Breakfast– English muffins with cream cheese and plums.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta noodles with marinara sauce, oranges/grapes, and cucumbers.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with homemade granola.

Wee Sprouts– A cucumber from our garden.

Have a great evening.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/25

Enjoy the pictures from our fun Friday!

Breakfast was Chex with pears. Lunch consisted of rice with shredded chicken, peas, and pears. Afternoon snack was string cheese and wheat crackers.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhfkYtDp40daNtNhz3g

Have a great weekend!

Amanda

Happy Friday!

We celebrated Eren turning 5 today! We hope you had a wonderful day!

After breakfast, we transitioned to the outside space where the bikes were made available along with the art table! We actually stayed out all morning because it was quite bearable and everyone was engaged in various activities.

Teachers AND children love the flexibility of our outside time. If we want to stay outside all morning, we have the option to. There are so many benefits to having a high quality outdoor space. There’s an informative article found here that I enjoyed:

http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201411/YC1114_Quality_Outdoor_Play_Spaces_Wright.pdf

“Children need opportunities to do things that are exciting and adventurous. We can create a sense of risk and challenge in a safe environment. Open-ended components, such as a long, balance beam, stump, or flagstone path, challenge children’s physical, social, and cognitive abilities by encouraging them to create their own challenge or obstacle course and engage in increasingly more difficult and complex activities.” (Spencer, Wright 2014)

Of course with the heightened temperature, we decided to stay inside where the play dough was made available to friends! Our imaginations ran wild! The art table became a pizza oven where many different pizzas were created.

Breakfast– Corn cakes with no nut butter and plums.

Lunch– Turkey and melted cheese quesadillas, grapes and cantaloupe, and our very own garden cucumbers!

PM snack– Eren’s birthday treat: homemade banana muffins along with strawberries and cottage cheese.

Wee Sprouts– Cucumbers.

Hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/22

We went outside early this morning to beat this crazy heat! We were glad to get some fresh air and time with our older friends.

The rest of the day was spent playing with sensory tubes…

Creating music…

Making meals…

And finding every toy we have that, according to our friends, say “vroom vroom”, “beep beep”, and “nee nar!”

Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and bananas. Lunch consisted of whole grain English muffins with shredded cheese, bananas, and corn. Afternoon snack was graham crackers and plums.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhfdjM6LknapgfVDZNA

Have a great night!

Amanda

Hello!

We want to wish Addi a BIG happy birthday! Today, she turned five years old! We hope you had the best 5th birthday ever!

We changed up the routine today (which is always a nice change of pace). Instead of waiting to go outside until 10:30, we headed out right after breakfast a little after 9. With the given temperature the next couple of days, our outside time will most likely be limited.

Friends lined up by the front gate to help Miss Melinda water our flowers outside. Each child grabbed a bucket to fill water with so that our flowers could get a nice drink.

Once we started to accumulate a little perspiration, we decided to head back inside where different activities were started up!

A group of four or five friends started building with magnatiles before they went to the trains where they built a complex working train..together! They talked with one another about how the train track should be set up.

An art activity was made available at the art table while Miss Rebekah read a couple stories to a group of children in the reading area.

We even enjoyed our thunder and lightning show this afternoon during afternoon snack!

Breakfast– Oatmeal pancakes with banana.

Lunch– Organic brown rice with chicken, banana, and carrots.

PM snack– Addi’s birthday snack which was different flavored fruit popsicles (YUM!) and pumpkin seeds.

Wee Sprouts– Carrots.

Hope everyone has a great night.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/21

A big happy birthday to David! He turned two years old today!

Enjoy the rest of the photos!

Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and bananas. We sprout was peas. Lunch consisted of hummus sandwiches, peaches, and peas. Afternoon snack was homemade zucchini bread David brought in as a birthday treat!

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhfZfQviD86mHgM7dZA

Have a great night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

We took full advantage of the beautiful morning and walked a couple blocks to Nuner Primary. When we arrived there, we noticed that there were two playgrounds! So, we had the five and six year olds go to the big playground while the small group stayed on the smaller playground.

We brought water, cups, and cucumbers to keep us hydrated and full until lunch time.

The slide was a popular attraction at the small playground. After the big kids left us, we started a game of hide and seek! With the playground being fenced in, there were some good hiding spots!

We also got in an animal lesson thanks to the playground equipment. Lions, tigers, and elephants were displayed along with what they ate and how much they weigh.

Our older friends were explorers on the playground. We were AMAZED at how many slides the playground had. Most of our friends partook in the monkey bars for most of their time there!

We had a rootin’ tootin’ good time!–(talk about a gross motor type of morning!)

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal and raspberries.

Lunch– Hummus on tortillas, apples, and snap peas.

PM snack– Wee Wee Friends was kind enough to share David’s leftover birthday snack! It was homemade zucchini bread with dates and string cheese.

Wee Sprouts– Cucumbers.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/20

You can almost always find someone in our reading area, our friends never get bored of books! They all have their favorites that they read everyday.

Mack enjoyed his outside time this morning! He hung out with his big brother Grady for a while and then played in the sandbox. He grabbed handfuls of the sand and let it fall through his fingers.

We had a dance party today and Franklin had no shortage of dance partners! We love seeing how much our friends enjoy music, dancing on their own or with their friends.

Breakfast was Kix and bananas. Wee sprout was peas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with cheese and refried beans, cantaloupe, and peas. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with cream cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhfVWtsDku5Hlp9PKmA

Have a great night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

In the early childhood setting, transitions occur. At the start of each school year, friends leave and new children come. While the turnover rate at preschools vary, children are flexible and anxious to make new friends. I found an article that articulates the building of friends in this type of setting fairly well.

“Often the preschool years mark a child’s introduction to the world of peers and peer relationships. Research supports the notion that children benefit in many ways from positive peer interactions. In early childhood programs, friendships foster a sense of connection and security and build self-esteem and self-confidence, helping young children adapt more readily to the preschool setting (Dunn 2004; Ladd 2009). (Manaster 2012; Jobe 2012).

“Children thrive in inclusive settings where each child is an important part of the community. When differences are celebrated and similarities discovered, children learn to value themselves, appreciate their peers, and develop meaningful and significant relationships with one another.” (Manaster 2012, Jobe 2012)

While the article is a little on the long side, here’s the link to it (it has some interesting thoughts and information).

Link to article: https://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201211/Manaster.pdf

Here are a few pictures from throughout our day, showing a few of the many relationships that are fostered here at Wee Friends.

Breakfast– Chex and PPC peaches.

Lunch– Refried bean and shredded cheese quesadillas, PPC strawberries/oranges, and cauliflower.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagels with cream cheese.

Wee Sprouts– Cauliflower.

Have a terrific night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/19

Enjoy the photos!

Breakfast was whole wheat toast with butter and bananas. Wee sprout was corn. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with shredded chicken, pear, and corn. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt with crackers.

Link to pictures: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulhfQ5nVRa_o9AeVSCVA

Have a great night!

Amanda