Hello! While the older children were at the farm, the other Wee Friends had a great morning. It started with an exploration of our stencil collection.

Friends chose a stencil that interested them and used it in the way they saw fit. Some friends put their stencil under their paper and drew on top, while others drew inside the stencil. Other friends chose to color without stencils and some used them to make specific shapes in their drawings. Each friend worked the way they wanted to and were peacefully engaged in their creations.

After our inside work, we had SO much energy to expend outside. We definitely used our voices and lungs to their full capacity this morning! These three friends had a dance/singing party as they jumped and twirled to songs of their choosing, such as “ABC,” “This Old Man” and “Twinkle, Twinkle.”

Later, friends pretended to be lions and crawled/roared their way across the yard.

Kindergarten: Today the kindergarteners spent some time outside on the bridge, reading Mirette on the High Wire. After reading this exciting story about a girl who meets a famous high-wire walker and learns to wire walk, we had a discussion about the story and its characters and setting [working on literacy FAB K.RL.2.3: Identify important elements of the text (e.g. characters, settings or events)]. We decided that it would be very scary to walk across a high wire!

Later this afternoon, we held a pumpkin meeting! Ms.Tami bought our classroom two BIG pumpkins, so Ms. Melinda led a discussion about what we should do with them.

Each friend had a chance to share and we came up with some pretty great ideas:

Have a wonderful Wednesday!–Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Hot wheat cereal and red grapes. Lunch: Farm fresh eggs with cheddar cheese wrapped in whole wheat flat bread, cucumbers and fresh strawberries. Snack: Refried beans and blue corn chips.

Hello! While the older children were at the farm, the other Wee Friends had a great morning. It started with an exploration of our stencil collection.

Friends chose a stencil that interested them and used it in the way they saw fit. Some friends put their stencil under their paper and drew on top, while others drew inside the stencil. Other friends chose to color without stencils and some used them to make specific shapes in their drawings. Each friend worked the way they wanted to and were peacefully engaged in their creations.

After our inside work, we had SO much energy to expend outside. We definitely used our voices and lungs to their full capacity this morning! These three friends had a dance/singing party as they jumped and twirled to songs of their choosing, such as “ABC,” “This Old Man” and “Twinkle, Twinkle.”

Later, friends pretended to be lions and crawled/roared their way across the yard.

Kindergarten: Today the kindergarteners spent some time outside on the bridge, reading Mirette on the High Wire. After reading this exciting story about a girl who meets a famous high-wire walker and learns to wire walk, we had a discussion about the story and its characters and setting [working on literacy FAB K.RL.2.3: Identify important elements of the text (e.g. characters, settings or events)]. We decided that it would be very scary to walk across a high wire!

Later this afternoon, we held a pumpkin meeting! Ms.Tami bought our classroom two BIG pumpkins, so Ms. Melinda led a discussion about what we should do with them.

Each friend had a chance to share and we came up with some pretty great ideas:

Have a wonderful Wednesday!–Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Hot wheat cereal and red grapes. Lunch: Farm fresh eggs with cheddar cheese wrapped in whole wheat flat bread, cucumbers and fresh strawberries. Snack: Refried beans and blue corn chips.

Good Afternoon!

It was a BEAUTIFUL day for our farm trip!

When we first got to the farm, we noticed baby goats! We were able to go into the fenced in area and interact with them.

Friends gathered grass to feed to the goats. We found out that they like grass AND dandelions!

We were able to lend a hand to Miss Charlotte today! The first item on the list was to line the green house floor with cardboard and newspaper. The goal was to kill off all of the weeds that had grown within the greenhouse. Friends got in a line and worked together to carry the hose over towards the greenhouse.

We all took turns spraying down the greenhouse. Friends made sure they got the corners and sides of the ground.

Next, we had to tear down cardboard boxes to make sure they were completely flat. Once the boxes were flat, friends laid them down. Throughout this activity, friends were extremely vocal with one another. Language such as, “We should lay it here”, or “This area needs covered!” occurred between friends.

Finally, we had the entire ground covered. Our next step: getting the ground wet!

After our greenhouse project was complete, there was a pile of goodies that Miss Charlotte asked us to take down to the red barn. We were all super eager to pitch in and do our share of work.

A few of us spotted a “ big tractor” as someone called it. The farmer was nice enough to answer some of our questions. First off, it’s called an ‘excavator’. Secondly, it takes a LOT of gas to operate this machine. We watched as gas was poured into the excavator. We discussed how its extremely important to stay a ways back from big machines like this one. Safety first!

Miss Charlotte gave us a bucket of apples to feed to the pigs. Each child got an apple to give to the pigs. BOY, were they hungry .

To end our morning, we took a small walk admiring the nature around us. We stopped and looked at milkweed as well as a flower bush that had A LOT of bees!

It was truly a GREAT morning! We achieved a great amount within the time that we were at the farm.

 

Our friends found chalk outside while playing this morning. They drew colorful pictures together on the sidewalk!

Then this afternoon, David did a puzzle and Anna and Rosemary wrote in their journals.

Emma and David played with the object permanence boxes together. Emma used the coins and David used the balls.

Breakfast was Chex cereal and pears. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with cheddar cheese, grapes, and cucumbers. Afternoon snack was brown rice cakes with sweet pea butter.

Have a good night!

Amanda

Announcements:

*Group A [Elizabeth, Elliott, Emerson, Daniel, Jackson, Clara, Addi, Eren] will be going to the farm tomorrow—Wednesday, September 30th.

*This Friday, October 2nd we will be taking a field trip to the apple orchard at Springhope Farm [18720 Cleveland Ave Galien MI 49113].

• We will be taking ALL Wee Friends! Parents are invited to join us for this very exciting fall trip! Please let Tami know if you are coming so that she can plan car seating accordingly.
• The cost will be $5.00/child. Tami will bill this trip along with farm trips at the end of the month.
• Please be here by 9:00 am.
• The weather is supposed to be cool, so please dress your child(ren) in layers!
• Permission slips are posted by the front door.

Thank you and let us know if you have any questions!

This morning friends continued work on one of our math FABs for this week, which involves dividing objects into equal groups. Concepts like these can be directly taught during group time, or brought up during the course of the day individually/in small groups. Miss Melinda used a friend asking to get out the play dough as an opportunity to teach about dividing into groups.

Friends were challenged to divide up the big bin of play dough equally among 6 trays!

While the swimmers were at swimming lessons today, we decided to tackle a big project up in the science area: reattaching the back of the bookshelf! Friends were a great help taking everything off of the shelf, working together to carry the big items.

Once everything was off the shelf we examined the gap, pulled the shelf back from the wall and discovered a treasure trove of lost items.

After some vacuuming and hammering, the science bookshelf was back in business and will soon be filled with some reorganized books and materials.

Have a great day! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Cucumber. Breakfast: Corn Chex and kiwi. Lunch: Whole wheat bread with hummus, tomatoes and fresh apples. Snack: Homemade blueberry bread in honor of Emerson’s birthday yesterday with colby jack cheese slices.

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a terrific weekend!

Our Monday morning started with friends heading to the gross motor area. Lately it’s been a big problem solving area. Whether it’s friends getting up on the habitrail and figuring out how to get down or wanting a toy that another friend has, friends are learning how to work through their problems using language and their actions.

Once we got outside, all five of our friends who were outside headed right to the sandbox! David has been experimenting with cause and effect. He’s been using the shovel and pouring sand on his body (he gets a BIG laugh out of it).

We heard a loud bird outside. Anna quickly stood up and started talking back to the bird. She was quite enthusiastic about it!

There were all sorts of leaves falling down from our tree! Friends sat and worked with the trucks and little people as well as putting leaves into the trucks.

Franklin loved the sensory experience he got from feeling the leaves. Between the leaves, sand, and grass, it’s a sensorial experience outside! Anna grabbed a broom and pitched in to rake up the leaves!

Breakfast-whole wheat toast with butter and pears. Lunch-whole grain noodles with marinara and shredded cheese, mixed vegetables, and pears. PM snack-cream cheese and whole grain crackers.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Today we wish our dear friend Emerson a happy birthday! We hope you have a fabulous first day of being 5. It’s been a pleasure watching you learn and grow this past year!

With the end of September approaching, friends are already eager for the Halloween season. As such, our Halloween sensory bin, full of spiders, skeletons, cauldrons and bats, has been a popular choice for friends today.

Building towers was another common activity:

As was playing in the sandbox!

Kindergarten: Today our kindergarteners worked on one of our math FABs for the week, K.NS.10: Separate sets of ten or fewer objects into equal groups, using unifix cubes. Both Elizabeth and Elliott were given a group of cubes which they had to count and split into equal groups. They then recorded their work in their math journals. Groups of smaller numbers such as 10 and 4 were easily spilt, so we moved onto more challenging numbers like 14 and 16!

Elliott then chose to work with the cubes in a different way by making patterns.

Have a great day! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Toasted whole wheat English muffin with almond butter and bananas. Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese, cucumbers and pineapples/bananas. Snack: Organic whole milk yogurt with granola and fresh apple slices.

Happy Friday!

Ruby and Franklin played with the musical instruments together. Franklin liked using the shakers to beat on the drums.

Emma went looking for tasty treats in housekeeping. She decided a cup of ice-cream was what she wanted!

Breakfast was toast with butter and bananas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat bread with hummus, watermelon, and peas. Afternoon snack was mozzarella string cheese and wheat crackers.

Have a fun weekend!

Amanda

Today we discovered that our current play dough was dry and crusty and decided to make a new batch of fall play dough! Here I’d like to highlight all the ways in which a simple activity, such as making play dough, can provide a plethora of learning opportunities and discussion topics for all of our preschoolers and kindergarteners.

The first thing we had to decide is what scent to make our play dough. We smelled many different spices and voted if we liked the scent or not. This provides a sensory experience as we used our noses and helped us state our opinions. While counting up the votes we practiced counting, the concepts of more/less, and recording information. We discovered everyone liked the smell of apple pie spice!

Next we began measuring the ingredients for our play dough. This allowed us to practice measuring, counting, and fine motor skills as we had to be exact in our measurements. We discovered that we use some of the same ingredients making play dough as we do when we make muffins: flour, salt and oil (making connections).

This process also allows us to practice taking turns and following directions. Friends must be patient while others are working with the play dough, knowing that they will also have a turn soon.

While choosing a color to make our play dough, the topic of colors naturally came up. We predicted what colors would mix to make orange and learned that red and yellow (two primary colors) make orange!

And after the play dough is finished cooking, friends get to play with it! They learn the satisfaction that comes from seeing something though from beginning to end.

Although adults may find making play dough a simple and straightforward activity, to our little people it offers a rich and engaging learning experience across many dimensions.

Have a wonderful weekend! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh pears. Lunch: Whole wheat bread with hummus and fresh green beans and strawberries/blackberries. Snack: Mozzarella cheese sticks and pretzels.

Happy Thursday!

To start off the morning, friends were invited to the table to take part in a ‘shape bingo’ game. When friends spin their spinner, they place the type of shape onto their board. Not only does this game allow friends to focus on shapes but colors as well.

Magnatiles have been a main stay lately. Friends use their imagination and creativity to create different structures.

Naia brought in a story from home. This week, we’ve been learning about different genres of stories. This story was about hippos that consisted of informational text. We talked about how this story was a non-fiction story, providing us with information.

Holy moly, have we had a nice week! Our outside time has been lovely this week!

Wee Sprouts: carrots. Breakfast: Farm fresh egg and cheese tortillas and pears. Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with cheese, fresh watermelon, and PPC broccoli. PM snack: Peanuts and strawberries.

Have a terrific night!

-Mindy