We played with water today! The sinks were filled with water, soap was added for bubbles, and a few different objects were placed in for scooping and pouring.

Our friends had lots of fun splashing their hands in the water! They refilled their cups over and over just to pour them back out. Anna took two bowls and passed water back and forth between them. Emma and Ruby both filled their cups and taste tested the soapy water, and neither seemed to mind it!

Sponges were added to show how they absorb the water. Anna squeezed hers and was excited when bubbles came out. David used his to scrub the bowls!

Breakfast was whole grain oatmeal and apples. Lunch consisted of whole wheat flatbread with eggs, blueberries, and peas. Afternoon snack was pretzels and string cheese.

Have a great night!

Amanda

Link to photos: http://1drv.ms/1XNpQUq

Despite the wintery mix outside, we were warm and cozy inside Wee Friends. We have been BUSY today! The other day we exchanged stuffed animals and skirts for new ones from the basement. Friends have had a blast exploring these new-to-them materials. The iguanas and koala are popular choices for friends’ imaginary play.

Back in habitrail, some friends created a maze out of plastic and wood blocks. They needed the steps to avoid stepping on the hot lava—”We can’t touch the lava, guys!”

Today friends also had the opportunity to explore our dried corn and bean sensory bin. There was lots of scooping, pouring, sorting and mixing going on!

Kindergarten: To expand upon the work that our kindergarteners naturally do each and every day, we sometimes have friends complete a habitrail log. In this journal they draw a picture of their work and write about it. Today Elizabeth and Addi made the sun, Earth, Mars and Pluto out of trio blocks, as well as some vehicles. Below, you can see Elizabeth’s detailed drawing of one of her cars. At first she was concerned about how to make the wheels a perfect circle, until she decided to trace bottle caps!

Wee Sprouts: Pea pods. Breakfast: Whole grain oatmeal with fresh plums. Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs, whole wheat tortillas, cucumbers, apples and strawberries. Snack: Multigrain tortilla chips and refried beans.

Link to the photo album: WF 2/24/16

Please stay safe driving tonight! –Jessica

Our friends played with the rice and birdseed mixture in the kitchen this morning. It’s a sensory activity they really enjoy. Emma first ran her hand through the mixture to experience how it felt. Then she used the cups and spoons in the bin and started scooping and pouring!

Afterwards, we bundled up and went outside! Our favorite thing out there today was going down the slide, but climbing on the log house was a close second for Anna!

While the older friends were napping, Ruby, Maggie, and Franklin were having fun together!

Breakfast was Corn Chex and kiwi. Lunch consisted of whole wheat flat bread with mozzarella cheese, blueberries, strawberries, and carrots. Afternoon snack was crackers with sweet pea butter.

Have a great night!

Amanda

Link to photos: http://1drv.ms/1QalyS7

Here was our day in a nutshell: 

Kindergarten: Today’s kindergarten sign-in continued our work with measuring length in unifix cubes. Elliott and Elizabeth were asked to pick 3 objects of their choosing from inside the classroom and measure them using unifix cubes. Elliott chose to measure a wood block, a magna-tile and a Lego. He even made a prediction before he measured and figured out how off his guess was!

Large Group: Today in large group we continued our study of length by examining some of our favorite things: names! First we explored how the way you write a name (with letters spaced out or squished together) makes a difference and determined that we should write our names evenly spaced.

Using boxed paper, friends wrote their names—one letter in each box. Next, we put our names in order from greatest number of letters to smallest. We noticed that many friends have the same number of letters in their name!

 

Our child-initiative constructed days allow us to follow the specific interest of any given child. For example, when a child comes up and asks, “How do we spell ‘tree’?” We can easily have them grab a marker block and paper (often self-initiated) and continue that specific interest. Today, it was spelling words that he was interested in. Whether we’re specifically working on sounds of letters or the mechanics of writing, we’re working at his pace, doing something that he’s truly interested in.

Our housekeeping area was at full capacity today. ‘Restaurant’ and ‘house’ were played interchangeably by many different friends. The flexibility of play in any given area of the house is key to friends working cooperatively together.

For those friends needing a little sensory input, play-dough was offered all morning. Using spatulas, scissors, and rolling pins, children manipulated the play dough as they wished!

Two days in a row we’ve been able to go outside! I say this as we’re slated to get snow tomorrow and Thursday..

Being able to run freely outside is definitely one of those things we take for granted during the cold winter months. We’ve loved being able to let out some of our energy outside!

Wee Sprouts– cherry tomatoes.

Breakfast-whole grain cheerios and grapefruit.

Lunch– shredded chicken and cheese quesadillas, cherry tomatoes, and banana/oranges.

PM Snack– english muffins with cream cheese.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 2/23

Please note: Re-enrollment forms and fee’s are due on Friday, March 4th.

Also, since the the weather is finally getting warmer, we will be going back outside! Please make sure your child has a warm coat and hat here.

Our friends were so excited to go outside this morning to play! It was like they had never seen that world before. Their eyes got bright, they smiled and laughed, and went to each and every spot in the yard. It was awesome.  

Breakfast was whole wheat toast with butter and bananas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with shredded chicken, grapes, pears, and peas. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt with pears. Wee sprouts was corn.

Have a great night!

Amanda

Link to photos:http://1drv.ms/1XJ0Gq6

Today many Wee Friends were all about building! Lots of creations were built with wood blocks, trio blocks, and magna-tiles. The perfect materials to work fine motor skills and spatial awareness.

In addition, our WF authors worked on completing the book they started making last week. They had illustrated all of the pages, now it was just a matter of putting it all together. First, the friends ordered their pages 1 through 16. Next, they chose a binding color: dark blue. Finally, it was all ready to share with friends! Both teachers were asked to read their version of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. Check it out on our bookshelf.

Kindergarten: Today’s kindergarten activity was presented to all our friends in the large group, working on standard K.M.1: Make direct comparisons of the length, capacity, weight, and temperature of objects, and recognize which object is shorter, longer, taller, lighter, heavier, warmer, cooler or holds more. We took a variety of objects from around our classroom (beanbag, book, spray bottle and stapler) and made a prediction about how many unifix cubes tall the object was. Then, we measured the objects! Friends were quite close in some of their predictions.

We also enjoyed our outside time this morning. The fresh air makes us smile!

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Toasted whole wheat bagels with peanut butter and grapes. Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with chicken, mixed vegetables, oranges and grapes. Snack: Organic whole milk yogurt and apples.

Link to the photo album: WF 2/22/2016

Enjoy the day! –Jessica

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy your weekend and these photos from our day!

Breakfast was corn flakes. Lunch consisted of whole wheat flat bread with hummus, bananas, pears, and peas. Afternoon snack was pretzels and string cheese.

Have a great night!

Amanda

Link to photos: http://1drv.ms/1mMQaR8

Today there was a variety of construction going on in the back of the house. Friends worked together to build a wooden car ramp and a magna-tile “hiding place”.

We were very happy to work with puzzles!

We also LOVED the warm weather and sunshine outside today. There was lots of imaginative play, sledding, shoveling and making “muck”. All the exploring with water and sand meant we had to wash some snowpants today! But boy, did friends have a blast.

Kindergarten: Today the kindergarteners and older preschoolers continued this week’s work on literacy FAB K.RL.2.2: With support, retell familiar stories, poems, and nursery rhymes, including key details. They decided to retell the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. They dictated the story to a teacher and needed no help in remembering the details of mommy, daddy and baby bear’s things. The entire story ran to 16 pages!

Next, Elizabeth, Clara, Daniel and Cassie split up their book pages and got to work illustrating. The process of creating a book together is very empowering. During our read aloud at large group today, we read the book’s author and illustrator. Elizabeth declared, “We’re illustrators too! We’re making a book!”  

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with cream cheese and bananas. Lunch: Whole wheat flatbread with hummus, cucumbers and watermelon. Snack: Pretzels and grapes.

Link to the photo album: WF 2/19/2016

Have a great weekend! –Jessica

We have new art in the classroom that our friends created this morning! Our friends love to paint and enjoy picking out the different colors to use.

Maggie bumped a block against the wall xylophone today and was delighted when she discovered the different sounds it makes! She hit the block against all the rungs she could reach!

There was laughter and silliness in the habitrail area this afternoon. Friends were racing each other through the habitrail and following each other down the slide!

Breakfast was Kix with bananas. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with shredded beef, pears, and mixed vegetables. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with sweet pea butter.

Have a great night!

Amanda

Link to photos: http://1drv.ms/1SCOcB3

This morning’s big work was driven by a desire to replace all of our dried and worn out markers with new ones! Friends tested the markers, replaced those that didn’t work and put the unusable ones in our “yucky marker” jar. Next, they went to the work bench to take the yucky markers apart.

Using pliers and screwdrivers, friends took off the ends of the marker and pulled out the inside of the marker. We use the colorful insides to make our watercolor paint! Friends really enjoy being involved in this real and important classroom work.

Today friends also gathered on the music rug for a group meeting. We’ve been seeing lots of friends coming to teachers for a wide range of issues and wanted to empower friends to try and solve problems on their own. Together we talked through some common issues (e.g. someone takes your toy, someone pushes you, someone didn’t clean up, etc.) and brainstormed words we can use to talk to our friends.

Friends had many great suggestions that we recorded on chart paper. For instance, if a friend takes your toy, Maddie thought you could say “please could you give it back to me” while Luke suggested, “no, it’s my truck”. These critical problem solving skills take lots of practice and are something we work on every day!

Kindergarten: Today our kindergarteners and some other friends worked together to construct a giant letter. They shared, “Look! We made a 3D L!” Love seeing literacy played out in other areas such as building!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wee Sprouts: Broccoli. Breakfast: Corn Chex and grapes. Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded beef, carrots and bananas. Snack: Pistachios and wheat crackers.

Link to the photo album: WF 2/18/2016

Hope your Thursday is terrific! –Jessica