*Don’t forget that Wee Friends will be closed Monday, Sept. 1st in observance of Labor Day.

That was the consensus today: Mary’s lamb had fleece as white as ice cream. As Wee Friends initiated their own works this morning,  we offered an exploration of this classic nursery rhyme. First with the characters on felt board. Romy and Naia belted out the tune. Melinda and Jessica created a choir and friends stood around the piano singing. We introduced puff balls and tongs, Little People, an illustrated copy of the rhyme, a reading of a non-traditional version of the story, and finally, the choice to make a puppet.

Friends loved the puppets. And then they loved the freedom to jump back into their other works in progress.  We loved the coming together as a class.

Hope your day is coming together nicely. –Laurie

Wee Sprouts: Green bell peppers. Breakfast: Rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh strawberries. Lunch: Whole wheat pizza with spinach and Cassie’s homegrown tomatoes, corn-on-the-cob and fresh strawberries. Snack: Cottage cheese and tomatoes.

 

Good Afternoon!

To start off our morning, we watched on as the sidewalk next door to us got demolished. We heard loud crash, boom, and bangs as they put the sidewalk into the bin. Our friends could have watched it all morning.

Friends went into the kitchen where they worked with markers and paper. A few of us used one marker at a time to put marks on the paper. Others colored a little on their hands and felt how the tip of the marker felt.

To end our morning, we turned on music and got down the rings and blue shakers. Nora started a ‘dance party’ with her friends.

For breakfast, children had cheerios and grapes. Lunch consisted of cheese filled tortillas, mixed vegetables, and PPC plums. PM snack was apples with soy butter/yogurt dip.

Have a wonderful night!

It’s the way emergent curriculum was designed to work: follow the leader. We have 16 leaders whom we observe each day. We support our friends and look for ways to encourage them as they work. “What are you building? Let’s write the words that you are describing!” “I see you are interested in the rainfall. Would you like to measure it?” “What do you see on the computer desktop while your friends are dancing to the music?” “What is this? Does it belong in the ocean or in a house?” “How does water freeze?” And all the while, we are infusing the development of life skills:  using kind words, creating opportunities to share or collaborate. Emergent curriculum. Building our community. Following the leaders. Have a great day.- Laurie

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Whole wheat bagels with hummus and strawberries. Lunch: Banana and almond butter roll ups, watermelon and green beans (PPC all). Snack: Mozzarella cheese and whole wheat crackers.

 

 

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

For breakfast, we had english muffin with soy butter and grapes. Lunch was whole grain pasta with chicken, peas, and apples. PM snack was raisins and string cheese.

Have a wonderful night.

He came to us when he was exactly two. This week he turned six. When we sat down recently to log his costume collection we identified many of the roles he has played at Wee Friends: pirate, policeman, miner, strong man, doctor, santa claus, master gardener, Viking, train conductor, soccer player, mail carrier, construction worker, zoo keeper, fireman, pilot, farmer, chef and Gaston. We know there are more. We know there will be more.

Finn’s desire to dress in a different character each day went much deeper than wearing a costume. When he would arrive at Wee Friends, he would immediately begin building the life of his character in all our learning centers.   He learned letter and words by using pirate lingo. He studied patterns, length, distance and gravity by tying links around animals and babies, and watching them dangle and fall off the loft. He used paper and art materials to create sailor logs and menus. He requested music whenever he built ships or cars, planes or restaurants with the large wooden building blocks. He counted the number of triangles it would take to fill the crocodile’s mouth up with teeth. His character driven, self initiated learning explorations were endless.

Finn.

He was a natural leader in our classroom and would invite, appoint and inspire his peers to see what HE saw. He would teach them everything he knew about his current character interest.  He was most comfortable creating and learning with his friends right beside him.  He was a peer mentor and loved showing his friends the way, reminding them of Wee ‘rules’ and procedures.  Finn made his friends laugh with his storylines, comments and observations. His friends have loved him, liked him, listened to him and will miss him so. Finn has been a good friend to his Wee peeps.

Finn taught US how to teach him. When we said “yes!” he took us on an emergent learning journey that we couldn’t have planned ourselves. When we said “let’s think about that some more” he articulated his vision reasonably, clearly and with great passion.

And Lindsay and Jenn. How can we thank you for the volunteer hours, the generosity, the support and the kindness you have shared with us these four years. We will truly miss seeing your family everyday. And we thank you, so very much.

Finn, we love you. You are one-of-a-kind. Your personality, vocabulary, knowledge, curiosity and creativity filled our days and classroom with wonder. Thank you. We can’t wait for you to visit to hear about your GSMS adventures.

We’ll see you soon.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Cereal and pear slices. Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with chicken, fresh apple slices and peas. Snack: Yogurt and PPC’s fresh fruit delivery.

 

Happy Friday!

Anna loved her tummy time today! She is constantly pushing herself up with her arms. Those gross motor baby milestones are right around the corner…

Lucy enjoyed getting a little sandy this morning. That’s the first place she goes! Tate ventured off to the corners of the yard. He loves exploring!

It was a ‘sibling love’ kind of morning.

Rosemary is cruising all around the house lately! She loves the floor abacus. Her favorite thing to do is open the doors that are on the side of it.

For breakfast, children had toast with grapes. Lunch consisted of hummus on whole grain flatbread, cantaloupe, and mixed vegetables. PM snack was whole grain bunny crackers with string cheese.

Have a terrific weekend.

NOTE! On Monday, Finn graduates from Wee Friends. He has requested water play to help celebrate the Big Day. So bring your suits!!!! We have towels.

August is always a time of change in our Wee Friends classroom. We say goodbye to old friends and welcome new ones. Our multi-age classroom shifts ages and we spend lots of time, on the floor, learning about our new friends and observing changes and developmental milestones in ‘old’ ones!

So we’ve reached this Friday with new information, new friendships, new ideas and new perspectives. Off Wee go into our new year! We’re so glad you’re with us.

Have a terrific weekend. –Laurie

Wee Sprouts: Celery sticks. Breakfast: Oatmeal with peaches. Lunch: Whole grain flatbread with hummus, cantaloupe/grapes and cucumbers/tomatoes. Snack: Strawberries and Cottage Cheese.

 

Hello!

Sadly, there are no pictures for today.

For breakfast, children had cheerios and grapes. Lunch was rice with lentils, strawberry/banana mixture, and broccoli. PM snack was cottage cheese and grapes.

Have a great night!

Happy Birthday, Finners! On this magical day,  Finn turns 6!

1- Exploration of shapes, shapes and more shapes.

2- Finn the Magician arrives and a big round of Happy Birthday is sung.

3 – Life Skills Group Lesson: When do you tell a teacher information about a friend? When do you not?

4- Miss Jessica teaches Finn a magic trick and Finn performs a Magic Show. Cassie teaches friends how to count dice.

5- Some friends work at the island writing with invisible ink and others create Play-Doh art.

6 – Melinda and Wee musicians work on rhythm, counting, and dynamics at piano.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Cheerios and strawberries. Lunch: Lentils and rice, bananas/strawberries, celery.  Snack: Finn’s Birthday Bundt and peanuts.

 

Hello!

Friends wanted to paint this morning. So that’s exactly what we did. The sensorial aspect of our experience went from feeling the paint between our fingers to in our mouth. We talked about how we put food in our mouth and not paint. Even with our mouths a little blue (), our artwork turned out lovely! Friends really used all of the paper available to them today!

Sloane and Tate enjoyed some sibling bonding time on the swing while Miss Mindy and Nahla walked around to see a few butterflies!

Anna has really been grabbing for toys lately! They hold her attention and she’s enjoying the sensorial aspect of putting things in her mouth. As we know with all of our toddlers, that feeling of wanting to have anything in your mouth at anytime doesn’t go away .

For breakfast, children had eggs with raisins. Lunch consisted of cheese and refried bean tortillas, mixed vegetables, and grapes. PM snack was thin rice cakes with hummus. This is one of our favorite snacks!

Have a great night!