Our day started with a yummy breakfast. Our swimmers departed and a quiet morning filled with a continuation of projects began.

Our swimmers know the drill of getting out of the classroom and into the Weehicle. They dress in their outer gear to the extent that they are able, wait patiently for additional help and then gather on the porch and wait for their ride!

This morning, Lisa recognized an opportunity to read Mr. Brown Can Moo-Can You? by Dr. Seuss. They created a cacophony of animal sounds as they waited to leave.

 

Yesterday, we set out various scraps of wood onto a rectangular felt board. Friends were decidedly interested in figuring out how to piece the wood scraps together and cover the whole board. Then they began coloring the wooden blocks with markers. This work continued today.

After lunch, our older Wee Friends dumped all the blocks into a pile and reconfigured their puzzle, examining and naming the shapes as they pieced it back together.

When we see that our friends have finished their work on it, the puzzle’s  final destination (to celebrate the culmination of our Puzzle Study!) will be a 3D work of art!

The Magna Doodle is also holding attention. It is a ‘one friend at a time’ learning tool and friends have done a great job sharing and waiting patiently for their turn.

Macy discovered if you attract two of the magnets, they will spin like a top.

Arleigh drew a treasure map and Ellie joined her to look for hidden treasure.

Tami made Irish Play-Do! We squished, rolled, pounded and sang as we worked with the green dough. Leo filled six cups and counted 1-2-3!

Lunch: Whole grain bread with turkey and melted cheese, peas and pineapple/banana fruit salad. Snack: Craisins and peanuts.

Enjoy your day.

Happy Monday!

Today was a day of firsts for us! We got our new camera that we used this afternoon (Thanks Tami!) and we also got a few new toys in.

One of our favorites so far are the magnatiles! We had a blast building different structures. It really worked our fine motor skills because since they are magnetic, sometimes they automatically cling together when we don’t want them too! Friends also enjoyed their new baby dolls!

For breakfast, children had eggs with cheese and whole wheat toast with soy butter. AM snack was carrots. Lunch consisted of whole grain noodles with kidney beans, mixed vegetables, and apples. PM snack was goldfish and hard boiled eggs.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

On the Blue Bus, our Wee gymnasts worked with an obstacle course. They ran circles around an octagon, crawled under the bridge and swung over a hot lava pit! They also had a forward roll contest and did all their jumps. At the end of class, they made a big crash!

Today’s Magna Doodle was a big hit. We talked about how the magnetic pen tip and magnetic shapes draw the colored magnetic liquid parts to the surface to create a drawing.

Other friends caught Magna Tiles with their magnetic sticks.

Still, others used our river to catch fish.

One magnetic stick made a handy anchor.

Ada used the magnetic drawing board as a sketch for what became a permanent marker work of art.

Marina and Ellie shared a meal.

Marta helped fold clothes.

After choosing a book, Leo climbed on Lisa’s lap for a read-aloud.

Elizabeth found Angelina Ballerina.

Melinda read an Arthur book in which D.W. was being bossy. Friends talked about what it is to be bossy.

What is a sentence? Literacy FAB K.7.2 invites friends to “share information and ideas, speaking in complete, coherent sentences”. We decided to explore the idea of a sentence a bit.

Finn requested salt dough. We added pink sparkles and shaving cream for more sensory delights!

Wee Sprouts: Cucumber slices. Breakfast: Raisin Bran and apple slices. Lunch: Whole wheat penne pasta with red beans, apple slices and mixed veggies. Snack: Cheddar cheese and multigrain crackers.

Have a great day.

Mel introduced our Wee Friends to “All that Jazz” from the fabulous musical Chicago. They danced their tooshies off, eventually moving on to “Head Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, the Hokey Pokey and a medley of The Wiggles.

This puzzle has been worked by Macy and Jane everyday this week.

Finn decided it was time to switch out the pirate flag.

Using the old local campaign magnets that Lisa donated, friends created their own magnet designs and stuck them to the fridge.

Robert Munsch is a favorite Wee Friends author. After Mel read his “Stephanie’s Ponytail”, she and Lisa asked friends what their favorite type of pony was. Then we invited Marty over (hair designer extraordinaire!) to make our friends favorite hair styles come to life!

The Pirate ship set sail and this time there was a pirate princess aboard.

It started as an “I can’t do this.” and ended with a big I CAN and I DID!!

We’re taking our time getting Thumbelina off the ground and added new costume pieces today.

Wee Sprouts: Broccoli. Breakfast: Corn Chex and bananas. Lunch: Slices of turkey and cheddar cheese with whole wheat bread, corn and apple slices. Snack: Cottage Cheese and raisins.

Have a great weekend.

Friends at Wee Friends love Magna Tiles. Day in and day out we watch as friends build with, count, stack, arrange, demolish and share Magna Tiles. To support and build on this interest, we’ve decided to probe further into the world of magnets!

Mel started off with a question: “What is a magnet?” She demonstrated and discussed how magnets work.

As a large group discussion continued, she began stringing magnets to yarn to make fishing poles.

And then we went fishing!

She explained north/south and experimented with how opposite poles attract and like poles do not.

Lea began her day interested in a nursery rhyme book. We laid out our felt boards and felt nursery rhyme story pieces for friends to explore. Lots of storytelling and singing took place.

Elliott made a three compartment cargo plane and described that cars were the cargo being transported.

Finn set up his pirate ship and we got his pirate music going. Other friends enjoyed working on their own projects while on the ship. We wondered:

So Lisa asked the question.

Lisa continued reading and singing nursery rhymes in her small group.

Today was Finn’s day to lead large group with Ada as his assistant. Finn began with leading the group in singing “Calm Your Bodies”, “Thumbelina”. Then, using 1001 Pirate Seek and Find book, he asked his friends, “Ok, who are you in this picture?”.

Wee Sprouts: Celery sticks. Breakfast: Cheerios and bananas. Lunch: Cous-cous, fruit salad and broccoli. Snack: Whole wheat crackers and cream cheese.

Have a great day.

Hello!

Our Wednesday started with water play! Friends went two by two into the kitchen where Miss Marty set up water play in the kitchen sink. Clara and P.K. enjoyed soaking the sponge and then squeezing the water out. Eren worked with different toys including a baby that he scrubbed clean.

In the afternoon, children came into the kitchen as a group to work on their fine motor abilities. Eve, P.K., and Clara worked with tongs and fluff balls. It took multiple tries for children to squeeze the tongs and grab the fluff ball in the same motion. Eren had an inventive time working with pegs and foam boards. He built up high and also enjoyed dumping and filling the pegs.

For breakfast, children had whole wheat toast with cinnamon and pears. Zoey signed for ‘more’ when she was out of food! Lunch consisted of egg salad on pita bread, oranges, and corn. PM snack was hard boiled eggs and cucumbers.

Sorry there are no pictures today! We should be up and running as normal by tomorrow .

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

We are collecting bottle caps for a spring project! Please keep us in mind when you are recycling! Thank you!

Quote of the day: “My mom lets me pick them, but not eat them.”

Our Montessori bead board got things started today. Using math FAB K.3.1-Identify, sort and classify objects and other attributes. Identify objects that do not belong to a particular group. Friends determined which square did not belong in a pile. They patterned, stacked and sorted. We added Magna Tiles and friends combined the two materials to create structures and forms. We also hid them and several friends followed a treasure map to find them.

Macy sorted stacks into small, medium and large. Ellie and Marina determined top, middle and bottom.

Lisa read and discussed another literacy FAB K.3.3-Identify characters, settings and important events in a story. She shared dialogue with friends, discussing these aspects as they made their way through the book.

Writing galore today! Friends worked with crayons and markers, scissors, glue and tape to accomplish multiple works.

We offered friends wood blocks and alphabet puzzle stickers to see where they would go…

Friends watched as Elliott created dominoes with wooden blocks.

Marta read Cinderella, articulating details in every illustration and asking for explanations for things unknown.

Right before lunch, Lisa read Goodnight, Sweet Butterflies. Afterwards, each friend chose a page they loved and Lisa invited them to sing an original song about what they saw in the picture.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Hard boiled eggs and bananas. Lunch: Egg salad, pear slices and corn. Snack: Yogurt and bananas.

Have a great day.

Happy Tuesday!

P.K. narrated one of his favorite books this morning. Even though he doesn’t know all of the words, he knew the storyline of the book and told the story through his words. Eve looked for different letters in ‘Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!’ When we read this book as a group, we look for each of our letters such as ‘E’ for Eve.

Zoey reached up high so that her friends could see her! Her friends were up in the habitrail waving at her.

Toddler music was put on this morning and our friends twirled around the room using their scarves.

Friends got in a circle and play ‘Ring Around the Rosie’. Clara asked a teacher, “Hold it please?” so she could go play.

Zoey is starting to put multiple steps together on a consistent basis. She walked multiple times today putting together eight or nine steps at a time! Yay!

Children got a chance to paint today. Using different colors, friends made wonderful works of art!

Clara enjoyed painting and then taking her two index fingers and running them through her paint on her paper. Emma was very careful at how she painted with her brush. Eve took her time and used different colors to make sure picture beautiful!

Zoey stood at the gate wanting in with the big kids! So she was invited to come and sit while observing and playing with toys. After she played with her toys, she was able to paint too! We put a piece of paper in a bag and squirted some paint in that bag before zipping it up. She used her hands to bang and squish the paint in the bag. The outcome was gorgeous!

For breakfast, children had cheesy eggs with oranges. We LOVED it! AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of cheese tortillas, cucumbers, and apples. PM snack was oranges and string cheese. We ate so fast that Miss Mindy couldn’t keep up with cutting the cheese and oranges! “More, please! More please!”  

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARINA! Today Marina turns three! Congratulations, dear Marina! 

Today’s Message Board sign in question: “Do you know how very special you are?”

There was only one maybe…..and we suspect it’s because this dear friend has discovered how to split her four letter name into half!!!

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Cereal and bananas. Lunch: Melted cheddar cheese on wheat tortillas, apple slices and carrots. Snack: Marina’s Birthday Banana muffins and raisins.  

Enjoy your day.

Happy Monday!

Our day started with gross motor play where we discovered that we have new carpet in our gross motor area! Instead of the colorful ABC mats, we got to test out our carpet that has padding underneath! We love it!

Children picked a colored block to sit in, stand on, or pull around.

Clara, P.K., and Eve headed into the kitchen where they worked with fine motor activities. Eve enjoyed working with the colorful shaped foam boards with pegs. She talked about the different colored pegs that she was using. Clara and P.K. decided to work with tongs and fluff balls. They each had a plastic device where they dropped the balls into each hole using the tongs. They really had to squeeze the tongs hard so that the ball didn’t fall! Even when it did fall, they were very determined and tried again.

Our literacy is soaring! Between having conversations with one another and reading stories throughout the day, we’re learning new words daily.

During music time, maracas were used to make interesting sounds. Friends did a good at playing following the leader with Miss Mindy. We shook our maracas high and low. We shook them on our bellies. We also spun in a circle while shaking our maracas.

P.K. headed into the kitchen where he built his car track. He put the car at the top of the track and let it go! He said, “Wow!” as he watched it head down the track.

For breakfast, children had whole wheat bagel with cinnamon and oranges. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of whole grain noodles with chicken, peas, and apples. PM snack was pears and colby jack sliced cheese.

Have a terrific evening! Enjoy what’s left of the sunshine!

-Mindy