Happy Monday! Hope everyone’s weekend was spectacular!

**This upcoming Friday (March 22nd), we’ll be having a development professional come out to do an in-service with the teachers at Wee Wee Friends. She’ll be helping us to determine certain milestones that each child should be achieving and the development of children in general. We wanted to make parents aware that she will be coming into our classroom for a few hours in the morning. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! Thanks!

Today, we started off the day with calm play. This helped us to get into the day and settle in.

P.K. and Eve headed into the kitchen where they worked with tongs and fluff balls. They both worked on their fine motor skills and colors as well!

Music was turned on at the request of our friends! P.K. moved the scarf over his head while Eve moved her body to the left and to the right.

Eve and Emma pointed out their favorite fish as they went swimming by.

Gross motor occupied our afternoon. We enjoyed standing on the colored cubes and jumping off of them!

Clara took two circular mats and put them together. She slid down the slide and went under the bridge like structure that she built! Friends loved following her lead.

Language and book reading took up a good portion of our morning before lunch time. We’re doing a better job at getting a book to read and then taking care of that book when we’re done reading it. Taking ownership for our toys is very important!

Emma and Clara worked on their ballet today using the ballet bar! They enjoyed practicing different moves and perfecting their balancing skills.

Daniel said, “Two hats!” Everyone looked and Daniel had put two hats on his head!

For breakfast, children had kix and apples. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of whole wheat noodles with tuna, peas, and a mixture of banana and pineapple. PM snack was whole grain crackers and cheddar cheese slices.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

Message from Tami:

• Blog change…we have a new plug-in for our blog that will allow us to post all of the pictures we have taken for the day in a photo album slide show.  We have tons of great shots each day that never make the blog so this will allow parents to view them ALL and it will make the blog text easier to read.  This means that each day, you will see just a few featured pictures within the blog text and there will  be a photo album at the end each blog!
• We are on break from the Tumbling Bus for 2 weeks and today was the end of the current session.  Blue Bus will return on Monday, April 8th. 

At a Wee Friend’s request, we offered a sensory exploration at the art table. Lisa invited friends to sit down and then she, literally, sprayed shaving cream on the table top for friends to ooze, mix, squish, smell and paint with.

Whenever the opportunity presents itself, we build in a literacy lesson, particularly with our older friends who are reading or on the cusp of writing/reading.

The ice cold spritzy day kept us inside, but we worked it out, first by acting out The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella. A few friends crawled beneath the orange satin fabric and pretended to be beneath an orange tree, eating and squeezing oranges. Music ended with a sensory awareness game of passing an object around and under the blanket, then using our hands as eyes to guess what it is. Then the parachute!

For breakfast whole wheat toast with PB and fresh pear slices.  WeeSprouts were carrots.  Lunch was whole wheat pasta and tuna, peas, and pineapple/banana.

Today’s photo album!  Enjoy!

Happy Friday!

I want to start off by saying an early Happy Birthday to Miss Marty! She turns a BIG 29 tomorrow! Have you ever tried taking a posed picture with a two year old and three one year olds? We wish her a very Happy Birthday! We love you!

**We have a confirmed case of pink eye going through Wee Wee Friends. The symptoms include puss like discharge from the eye along with a relatively “pink eye”.

Visit http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/tc/pinkeye-topic-overview for more information.

P.K. started his morning off with magnatile work. His creations are becoming more and more complex every day.

He enjoyed knocking down his tiles and yelling, “I did it!” He also enjoyed rebuilding them again. And again .

Clara, Eve, and Zoey took excellent care of their babies. They were well fed and looked after today.

Lu Lu had a great day! She went through the motions of rolling over and having splendid floor time!

Laughter and smiles consumed our Friday.

A lot of time was jumping and going crazy in the gross motor area!

Friends Clara and P.K. pretended to be dinosaurs before snack time. “Roar” went the dinosaur!

While dinosaurs stomped around in the kitchen, chef Eren made delicious creations in the kitchen.

As mommys and daddys came to pick up their children for the weekend, we watched out the window to see how was leaving.

For breakfast, children had chex and raisins. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of ham and cheese tortillas, pears, and corn. PM snack was cottage cheese and pretzels.

Have a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

 

Orange slices and whole wheat bagels with cream cheese was today’s breakfast.

Ooey, gooey chocolate cake (for the teachers!) was our HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Marty, who also turns 29…tomorrow!

Friends busied themselves with old and new projects and Melinda set up a science experiment.

Homemade sidewalk chalk.

With cornstarch, water and watercolor, friends measured, poured and stirred cupcake tins to the brim with their concoction.

Before Finn and Ada joined the gang at the table, they continued working (and side coaching) on the Muppet.

Finn, having made a Muppet, explained to Ada what it’s like to use a glue gun.

Next, a sensory exploration with the cornstarch. How can it be hard and silky soft at the same time, we discussed.

Lisa took mathematicians on a picnic where they counted the number of ants who landed on their blanket of food.

Ben experimented with cause and effect: he filled the toaster up, and dumped the contents out. Several times over.

A Trios village was erected.

A pirate captain finds inspiration with a new ship. His first mates geared up to set sail.

Another cause and effect experiment brewed with Leo lifting the sail flaps up and down, head bobbing in and out.

Negotiating the terms of the trip.

Ada asked if she could put on a puppet show. Marts jumped on board because she was working with the original WF Muppet, Annie. So we gathered at our puppet theatre and the show began.

Friends were enraptured and the girls took their bows.

With the excitement of performing in the air, Lisa created a new Wee Friday tradition: Wee Friends Open Mike. Everyone who wanted, a turn singing either an original or a familiar song. Here’s the video of our friend Ellie taking her turn: Open Mic WF 3/18 . To warm up, Lisa had them sing “Sunshine On My Shoulders” that Max ended up leading, belting out the lyrics at the top of his voice.

Leo provided a warm blanket for the girls on the front row.

 

This WF, signing off for the weekend.

Wee Sprouts: Broccoli. Lunch: Peanut butter on whole wheat, pears and corn. Snack: Peanuts and apple slices.

Good Afternoon!

**We’re asking all parents if they could donate grocery bags or plastic bags for our diaper bag supply, it’d be greatly appreciated!

Here are a few pictures taken throughout the day.

For breakfast, children had whole wheat bagel with cinnamon and butter along with oranges. Lunch consisted of egg and melted cheese tortilla sandwiches, fresh pineapple and banana along with mixed vegetables.

Have a terrific evening.

-Mindy

Congratulations, Finn, on your ice skating badge!

Kashi and raisins started our day.

Macy loaned us her alphabet board for a letter matching lesson. Using a letter puzzle, we chose a letter and found the corresponding one on Macy’s board.

It is a huge developmental deal when friends find ‘their letter’ or a family member’s letter and all day, through activities and conversations, we foster this literacy hunt! Above, Marina picked out ‘G’ and expressed “Look! I found my grandma’s letter!”

We began working on our afternoon visual schedule.

Macy and Jane spent a large portion of their morning at the island studying and working with stickers. Throughout this one on one work we heard accolades: “You’re my best friend!” and negotiations: “I’ll have this one and you can have that one.”

Using connector squares, Finn created an anchor for his ship. Behind him, Ben has long since mastered the habitrail climb, up and down!

Lisa led an alphabet letter exploration with our sand letter boards and crayons.

Happy fairy ballerinas working together to prepare a meal.

Ada is completing her Muppet step by patient step. Her sewing activity captured the attention of other Wee Friends who then chose their own activities using felt, tape, scissors and thread.

Elliott and Ben have discovered a mutual love for the habitrail and building things and Elliott is mentoring his new friend in the ways of trucks and construction!

Max (and Amy—Thank You!) shared a days of the week/weather/seasons/numbers and clock activity board with us. Leo spotted it on the shelf, pulled it off and began his study, first by flipping the hands of the clock around.

We have voracious readers at Wee Friends.

Wee Sprouts: Broccoli. Lunch: Tortillas with melted cheese, peas/carrots and bananas. Snack: Yogurt and pretzels.

“Oh yah…..I love my life!”

Happy Wednesday!

The habitrail was a popular place. There were often backups and friends waiting their turn to do an activity! We loved playing with the colorful blocks as well as the habitrail itself. Gross motor is an important part of our daily routine. Whether we spend time during the morning focusing on gross motor or in the afternoon, it works our body and it pushes us to our limit.

 

Friends find themselves twisting, turning, and squeezing into places that are difficult! Clara enjoyed scooting her body underneath the habitrail. P.K. twisted his legs through the ladder pegs.

Friends Clara and P.K. relaxed up in the habtrail this morning. They each put their legs between the metal rods. They talked with one another about what they wanted to play next! Clara suggested baby dolls.

Relaxation time is key during the day. We all love to sit down for a moment and take a breather. For most of the day, we’re go, go, go. Even a good five minute break jumpstarts our battery and we’re good to go again!

Baby dolls were a fascination today. Friends love to take the baby dolls over to the mirror where they can set up the baby dolls and see them.

Cheesy smiles were a given today .

Through stories, our language has taken off. All of our friends are saying new words and the conversations that we’re having with one another is a GREAT thing to witness!

Clara and Eve went through the motions of “The Wheels on the Bus” again. They love to do the actions while listening to the book being read.

For breakfast, children had eggs with cheese and banana. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of couscous with cheese, squash, and pears. PM snack was rice pudding and cucumbers.

Have a wonderful night.

-Mindy

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Raisin Bran and bananas. Lunch: Cheesy cous-cous, pear slices and roasted squash. Snack: Cottage cheese and animal crackers.

Great day!

Good Afternoon!

Zoey and Emma started their Tuesday off with making breakfast! Emma did an excellent job at sharing with Zoey. Emma put an orange in a cup and handed it to a friend!

All of that cooking must have worn Emma out because she laid down to take a nap with her baby dolls.

Clara invited Emma over to put the babies to sleep. With the help of one another, they wrapped up the babies and rocked them to sleep.

Our friends were very curious of the fish tank today! We loved looking at the different fish swimming around.

Children have been enjoying music where they have to follow directions. We shake our hands down low. Dance as crazy as you want to! That’s a favorite . It’s exciting to see friends listening with their ears to the music and interpreting what they hear.

Dancing makes us smile .

Eren read his book while sitting quietly.

We held on the bars today to help us with our balance.

Clara put the foam circle at the end of the slide to go underneath.

Breakfast was kix cereal and banana. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted turkey and melted cheese on whole grain bagel, corn, and pears. PM snack was graham crackers and cheddar cheese.

Have a terrific evening.

-Mindy