Wee Friends are very excited about our Christmas Caroling tomorrow! Here’s what we have planned for tomorrow (Wednesday) and Monday afternoon, our second caroling tour .

Wednesday 12/5: 10:30-11 We will be caroling around the block. If you would like to join your Wee Friend, please meet us in front of Wee Friends no later than 10:30. Here’s our route in case you can’t be there at 10:30: we will travel south on 29th street to Wall St. and turn left. From there we’ll walk around the block. When we’ve returned to Wee Friends, we invite you to say goodbye to your caroler and we head inside and jump in to creating your Christmas surprise!

Monday 12/ 10: We will be caroling the same route starting at 3:45-4:15. Please join us in singing and afterwards, we invite you to come inside Wee Friends for cookies and cocoa!

Don’t hesitate to ask any teacher for more details re: our caroling plans!

Our card exploration yesterday introduced many images of angels. We continued the conversation today by starting with the question: “What is an angel?” Here’s what we learned:

Arleigh: “A person with wings. Angels fly.”

Elizabeth: “They have wands.”

Lea: “They are princesses.”

Marina: “Angels are cold.”

Jada: “They are freezing.”

We studied Great Master paintings of angels from The National Gallery. Then we went on an angel hunt, seeking out pictures of angels that had been hidden throughout the classroom.

At the art table, Lisa created a huge angel mural and friends filled it in with bright colored tape!

Elliott and Max decided they would work three puzzles. As the angels floated about them, they achieved their goal!

Meanwhile, the girls found the angel costumes and created an angel improvisation with sparkly music that took them swimming through and floating high above the clouds! We caught raindrops underneath rain clouds, licked angel icing off angel cake, danced softly on fluffy clouds,  and slept soundly with the cool clouds all around.

With angels among us, we set out to top our tree with an angel. Lisa led a group of friends in this creation.

The Keepers of the Grinch created a car and enjoyed a long car ride.

Wee Sprouts: Celery sticks. Breakfast: Kix and fresh fruit. Lunch: Homemade beef stew, bananas and whole wheat buttered bread. Snack: Cheddar cheese slices and Goldfish.

Have a great day!

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

**Just a reminder that our holiday break is quickly approaching. Wee Wee Friends will be closed for two weeks, December 24th to January 4th. Thanks!

Our Monday started out with trains..choo-choo!. Friends helped one another put a track together. Once the track was assembled, children went and grabbed a few trains for themselves. Clara carefully put two magnetic trains together. She found out that if you put the wrong ends together, the train repel (don’t go together). We talked about this and why it happens.

Children got the waffle blocks out to build. Clara decided to put them in a straight row and hook them together.

Emma and Eve headed to the krinkle blocks where they used their fine motor skills to put the pieces together. There were a few pieces stuck together so Emma tore them apart.

Emma also improvised with the krinkle blocks by using them as a hair brush.

Friends kept themselves busy by showing interest in housekeeping. We got out all of the bowls and plates to put food on. Children served up different food for one another.

Bounce, twirl, shake! Emma enjoyed listening to music this morning. All of our friends light up when music comes on

During gross motor work, friends peaked through different holes and played peek-a-boo with their friends! Eve and Zoey were making one another laugh!

Eren looked out the window and said, “Ohhhh”. He must have seen something outside that he was interested in.

P.K. asked for books to be read to him. Even though he had a great nap, he let out a big yawn!

For breakfast, children had toast and pears. AM snack was green peas (our favorite vegetable). Lunch consisted of hummus on whole wheat bread, banana, and corn. PM snack was apples and string cheese.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

• Don’t forget this Wednesday at 10:30am, from Wee Friends, we will be caroling around our block. We’d love to have you join your Wee Friend and all us as we spread holiday cheer!

The Blue Bus is on hiatus ‘til January. With this change in our Monday schedule and two stay at home days left behind them, we found our Wee Friends full of energy, excitement and dare I say, a bit of frenzy?! So when all of our friends arrived, we regrouped, without our bus, and settled into our work.

A small group of friends sat with their dollies in housekeeping and learned a new holiday lullaby, The Coventry Carol-just singing the word Lullay on the melody line. They chose to continue singing to their babies, this time with Rock-a-Bye Baby.

We read  Mouse’s First Christmas by Lauren Thompson. Friends enjoyed guessing which holiday goody the mouse was happening upon. Afterwards, we moved to the art table, set out all of our Christmas cards and played seek and find for those very same goodies in the card’s artwork.

Lisa brought in ornaments to decorate our Wee Tree. Friends gathered ‘round and used sparkly glue and glitter to create their own ornament.

Melinda played soft, calming music and friends, almost always now, find a lovey and rest peacefully on the oval rug.

Tami brought in a gigantic poinsettia! Friends pondered its beauty while eating Wee Sprouts.

When Elizabeth, the Ballerina, arrived, we hurried to the dance floor and moved our bodies to several different songs and tempos. We stretched, squatted, spun around, pointed our toes and made our arms dance.

We wasted no time getting outside to continue exercising our bodies!

We found an earthworm and studied its length, color and texture. We decided to let it live and find its habitat naturally.

Friends always ask for towels to wipe the slides when they are wet.

We carefully watched several friends in a favorite gross motor exploration: toppling off of the see-saws.

And then hop on the train to catch their breath.

Many friends changed out of their play clothes into dry, clean clothes and we came in to eat PB and J on whole wheat bread, corn and applesauce.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Whole wheat peanut butter toast and pear slices. Snack: Cottage cheese and apple slices.

Have a good day.

Happy Friday!

We had low numbers today so we spent good quality time with one another.

Friends were on the jungle gym for a while this morning. Laughter took place and we sure did get some energy out!

Smiles, smiles, smiles!

Clara Rose was very independent this morning. A teacher tried to help her with a dress and she said, “No, me”. We watched as she stepped into the dress and put the straps over her shoulders. Once the dress was on, she was so very proud of herself. Independence is key at this age during play. Children become so proud of themselves during this period of time!

While the sun was hiding, we went outside to the cloudiness! We rode bikes, played in the house, and spent time in the sandbox.

Zoey is enjoying the soft areas throughout the classroom that she can enjoy. The cube is a favorite along with the pillows. Today while friends were napping, she kicked back and lay her head on the pillow to relax.

Giving raspberries is also a favorite too!

Step 2 is complete of our tree project! We used sprinkles to make the tree shiny and wonderful! All of our friends contributed and now we just wait until it dries!

We had no friends for breakfast today! AM snack was green peas. Lunch consisted of pita bread with cheese and turkey, bananas, and corn. PM snack was raisins and animal crackers.

Have a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

 

As the teachers OWLed (Observed, Watched and Listened) this week, here’s a bit of what we’ve seen:

• Max and Finn are in Pirate Mania. Over the last several days, they have donned pirate hats and worn pirate gear. They also spend time ice skating around the housekeeping table with house slipper skates.
• Marina and Elizabeth (and sometimes Lea and Marta) have spent countless hours this week applying makeup, the natural way. Long pieces of bark serve as brushes. Sand has been the blush of choice and dark, wet soil has been lipstick. (we keep close watch on the soil!)
• Jada (and Marina, Sloane and Lea) spend a lot of their time in housekeeping. Jada works with diapers, putting them off and on continuously, and all the girls practice dressing the dollies, rocking them and taking care of them. They usually wear shoes and various costume pieces during their imaginative play.

• Arleigh seems to have created a rock band. We’ve seen Jane, Macy and Sophie participate in the group, and we’ve heard all of them singing original (we think!) songs. They use a magnetic sphere and rod as a microphone and a stool as their stage.
• Sophie spends most of her time playing with the older girls and they take care of her well.

• Ellie can always be found reading a book and gravitates to whomever is reading aloud. She is a great conversationalist and this week, has talked several times about how beautiful the day is or how she is thinking about mom and dad. She has taken to riding her favorite trike on a regular basis.
• Elliott, Marta and Sloane have spent a lot of time this week working with dump trucks outside. They push them around the yard, shifting work locations regularly. They fill up the trucks with sand and dirt and sticks. They hide the trucks, dump the trucks and today they had a “truck party”. They refer to all of this as their “work”.

• Ada is the keeper of the Grinch. He’s in the house and Ada takes care of him. This week, she has been very interested in listening to music (making song requests) as she swings in the hammock.
• Nate, Max and Finn have spent much of their time this week building: they build pirate boats with large wooden blocks, sand castles and tunnels with logs, buckets and shovels. They build forts in the reading area with the pillows and more forts outside with plastic bins and the plastic see saws.

Wee Sprouts: Pea pods. Breakfast: Kashi and pear slices. Lunch: Whole grain flat bread with melted cheese, broccoli and pear slices. Snack: Yogurt and animal crackers.

Have a great weekend.

Good Afternoon.

To spruce up the classroom, we’re making a Christmas tree! It will be a multi-step project and take many days to complete.

Step 1: Use a BIG white sheet of paper and splatter/paint/dab green paint onto it! This will be our Christmas tree.

We got on our hands and knees and used mops to paint with. Children made sure to paint the white areas and move their bodies around so they could paint as much as possible.

We did get some green paint on our hands and feet . But we did a great job and our 1st step is complete!

Group projects are fantastic!

Zoey and Emma enjoyed reading some of their favorite books this morning.

We got our winter gear on and headed outside! Clara asked for “bikes” so we sat and waited patiently as the bikes were retrieved from the garage.

Friends pushed with their legs while working on their balancing skills.

P.K. kept Lu Lu company on the floor. He stroked her hand softly.

Clara talked to Mommy and Daddy on the pretend phone! Our friends love using the phone to talk to friends or family when they miss them.

For breakfast, children had bagels with cinnamon and oranges. Lunch consisted of whole grain rice with chicken, apples, and mixed vegetables. PM snack was hard boiled eggs and string cheese.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Friends created music for a very long time today. It started with an impromptu caroling rehearsal. We sang loud and strong and accompanied ourselves with jingle bells. We moved on to working with rhythm sticks. We found soft/hard places to tap our sticks. We tapped them loudly, softly and with a medium volume. Then we added Hap Palmer’s “Tap Your Sticks”.  We passed out all of our instruments and took song requests. We explored time signature and tempos by counting along to the music. We ended our music making with our usual meditation.

We took yesterday’s painting project to the next level today by creating a Christmas tree and adding a sparkly garland.

We watched Finn exercise tremendous determination as he worked at getting a nail out of a board.

Tami set out a round wreath with fabric scraps and friends worked at tying the fabric around the wreath.

Jane, Arleigh and Sophie have been practicing their rock band for a few days now. A few of the lyrics that were being sung were “oh Sister…..oh sister….”

Our holiday mail box has come out and this week we’ve been watching as friends deliver, sort, cut out and glue holiday cards. Opening and closing the mailbox is the center of many friend’s work.

We gathered around our lighted tree for a final rehearsal before heading outside.

Wee Sprouts: Pea pods and cucumbers. Breakfast: Corn Chex and bananas. Lunch: Whole grain rice with chicken, corn and apple slices. Snack: Goldfish and raisins.

Have a great day.

We just got power back at 4:15, so we are just sharing some shots from this morning

Wee Sprouts: Pea pods. Breakfast: Applesauce Malt-O-Meal. Lunch: Egg Salad, peas and pear slices. Snack: Cheddar cheese and crackers.

Good Afternoon!

We had an exciting day (power outage in the afternoon)! However, we do have a few illnesses going through Wee Wee Friends at this time. We have one child with the flu and two confirmed cases of pneumonia.

While some of our friends were at home resting and getting better, the Wee Wee’s had a great day!

Friends interacted with one another on the jungle gym! It’s a great activity for friends who want to test their limits and try new things. Eren loved going down the slide on his belly!

Eren looked out the window and saw a dog! He said, “Ruff, Ruff!”

We had a great sensorial morning! At first, we were a little hesitant. This white stuff (shaving cream) is different. It feels funny. It’s a whole new experience!

However, we dove right in! We had it on our hands, faces, and clothing (even with smocks on)! Friends squished it in their hands and found out that it made funny noises!

Man, did we have fun!

Zoey migrated to the cube again where she enjoyed alone time. She tossed and turned on a soft pillow. She’s the only friend who can stand up in the cube without bonking her head .

For breakfast, children had malto-meal and pears. Lunch consisted of egg salad, whole wheat tortillas, peas, and pears. PM snack was rice cakes with soy butter and pears.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

Good Afternoon.

“Vroom!” That’s how our morning started off: fast and on the move! P.K. pushed cars across the floor and made several car noises as he was doing this.

After children were done playing with the cars, as a group, we built a train track. Friends shared the cars and trains with one another. There were a few times where the train would come undone and P.K. made sure to put it back together.

We had a great time doing this group activity. Friends took turns putting trains on the train track.

We set up tempera paint in the kitchen where children took turns at the art easel.

P.K. took his brush and pushed down on the paper. When he did this, the paint squirted off his paint brush and onto the paper. He also enjoyed making lines while using soft strokes.

Daniel made sure to look carefully at each paint color before he used it on his paper. He looked into each cup full of paint.

Eren dabbed his paint brush on the paper. He enjoyed looking at all of the different colors that were available to paint with.

Eve was soft and gentle as she painted on her paper. She looked down and realized she had paint on her hands! She finished painting and then we went to the sink and washed the paint off .

Clara studied her work hard. As the paint went onto the paper, she watched it carefully and made sure to use most of the paper available. The different strokes that she used allowed her artwork to be different on each paper that she painted.

Friends P.K. and Eren sat with one another as they built a train. Eren handed P.K. different parts to the train as P.K. assembled it.

We were so gentle with babies this morning. Each friend got a baby and a blanket. They wrapped the baby up, burped the baby, or fed the baby. Clara said, “Shh..baby sleeping.”

Our smallest Wee Wee friend enjoyed time on her boppy as she played with different toys. Her reach is getting better everyday!

For breakfast, children had blueberry muffins and oranges. Lunch consisted of turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread, banana, and snap peas. PM snack was string cheese and animal crackers.

Have a great night.

-Mindy