Good Afternoon!

Smiles filled the air at Wee Wee Friends today! Our friends showed their pearly whites as they engaged in play throughout the day.

P.K. began his day with quiet time playing with the birthday cakes. He took all of them and scattered them within the cube.

Friends gathered on the jungle gym to share a few laughs.

Stories were read throughout the day. While reading about trains, P.K. repeated Miss Marty by saying, “Hong Kong.” There are pictures of different trains from various countries. He loved saying it throughout the story.

Children love to run throughout the backyard. Not only does it help with their coordination but they enjoy the feeling of the wind in their face!

Zoey enjoyed getting pig tails in her hair today. She is persistently trying to pull herself up using a shelf or chair. She is starting to crawl forward!

We have soft cars that are always a hit. They are soft to the touch and glide well on the floor. Friends enjoyed their car time this morning.

While music was playing, Eren showed us some of the moves that he has. He bounced up and down using his legs. While bouncing, he watched his legs move!

This afternoon friends listened to a few birds that we have. They make bird noises when you push them. Children love the different noises that they hear.

P.K. and Daniel headed to the kitchen where they were engaged in play throughout the afternoon.

For breakfast, children had corn flakes and oranges. AM snack was green peas. Lunch consisted of wild rice with chicken, pears, and tomatoes/zucchini. PM snack was apples and string cheese.

Our friends say, “Have a great night!”

“There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.” ~Linda Hogan

Our nature story tells itself in pictures today…

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On the way to the farm, we made a quick stop at Petsmart to buy crickets for Kai our classroom lizard.

Back at WF, the younger children spent the entire morning outside!  Some highlights from Lisa and Melinda:

-Ellie and Marina spent lots of time together exploring the sandbox and bicycles.

-Lea, Sophie, Marta, Elizabeth, and Jada played beauty shop in the lower playhouse.  The kids enjoyed treating each other to a manie and pedie, as well doing hair cuts and dos.

-Elliott and Sloane collected and organized a bunch of containers and chairs for the “birthday” celebration.

For breakfast we had corn flakes and banana.  WeeSprouts were zucchini slices.  Lunch was wild rice with chicken, pear slices, and cucumbers.

Have a great day!

Tami

Happy Wednesday!

P.K. started his day with gross motor work. He enjoys working his muscles and climbing on different apparatuses.

The bugs came out! They were icky so P.K. pushed them on the ground. He picked them up and placed them in a line across the table.

Eren settled into the afternoon as he played with trains. He loved exploring the classroom.

He enjoyed the red car. He pushed it across the floor to see how fast it would go.

P.K. built a train track this afternoon. When he needed help he said, “Help, please”.

Zoey enjoyed her time outside where she got to play with different toys. She enjoyed feeling Miss Marty’s water bottle. The cool water dripping from it along with the weight of the actual bottle were new adventures for Zoey to partake in.

P.K. pushed the trucks outside today. He ran with them while saying, “Vrooom!”

Friends gathered on the deck where they built with Legos. Sometimes the Legos get stuck and our friends are working on asking for help. “Help, please” is a popular phrase when friends need help with something.

Miss Marty got a ride from Macy from Wee Friends!

For breakfast, children had raisin bran and oranges. AM snack was green peas. Lunch consisted of pizza bagels, corn, and banana. PM snack was graham crackers and soy butter.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Oatmeal Squares and bananas. Lunch: Cheese pizza on whole wheat bagels, bananas and corn. Snack: Cheese stix and crackers.

Have a good day.

Good Afternoon!

We had an action packed morning at Wee Wee Friends!

To start off the day, Daniel migrated toward the kitchen where he whipped up some fabulous food! He took it to his friends for them to try.

P.K. got his gross motor in for the day by climbing, sliding, and running up the jungle gym.

Friends took part in a leaf activity where they got the chance to glue leaves to black paper.

Glue, push, stick.

After our artwork was finished, children investigated the leaves. P.K. found out early that the leaves can be easily tore apart. Daniel pointed at the different colors that he saw.

We cleaned up the leaves and brought out the scary and creepy bugs! P.K. said “Ooohhh!”

Before we headed outside, children took a quick look at the pictures in the kitchen. They pointed to their friends and gave them nice kisses.

We decided to venture out further to look at more leaves!

We geared up, buckled up, and headed out!

Zoey and Emma loved riding together! Here we go, friends!

Zoey pumped her feet throughout the whole walk. She was pretty excited to be outside! Emma pointed to a couple of dogs she heard.

We saw beautiful trees! We pointed out to our friends that the leaves are changing colors. They start off green and turn to pretty colors such as red, orange, and yellow.

We headed home where we continued our fun outside! We had a blast on our walk.

For breakfast, children had cheerios and apples. Lunch consisted of ham sandwiches, watermelon, and sliced green beans. PM snack was rice cakes with soy butter and string cheese.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

Just a reminder that this Thursday, Tami will be taking the older friends to the farm. The following week, October 11th, she will take the younger group.

Today at swimming, Miss Leslie remarked at how well Wee Friends were progressing in their lessons. It was another fun day at the pool!

While the swimmers were away, we explored nursery rhymes. We have two books: one is a traditional book with bright colored illustrations and the other was created by setting the rhymes in an urban setting, New York City. We read/sang and compared the pictures in both books.

Afterwards, we acted out “Jack Be Nimble” (using each friend’s name) and “Little Miss Muppet”.

We introduced our felt nursery rhymes.

After lunch, just before sleeping, our younger friends join a small group with Lisa. She reads a story and follows up with a discussion and, often times, a message board to explore a story or idea more in depth. Every circle ends with a kiss as friends make their way to the potty and/or their cots.

The older friends work with Laurie on the front porch. Mon/Wed/Fri is focused on literacy and Bob Books and Tues/Thurs is math. Sometimes the group gets started before Laurie gets there. This week we are discussing favorite books, hard/soft back, front/back/spine and who and what a character is. (Literacy FAB: K.3.3 Identify characters, settings and events. K.3.4: Identify favorite books). In math, we are working on number recognition and counting.

Here is what naptime looks like, as friends settle themselves in.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with peanut butter, and oranges. Lunch: Whole wheat tortillas with ham and hummus, watermelon and string beans. Snack: PB Yogurt dip and apple slices.

Have a great day.

Happy Monday!

On the first day of October, we started our day off with block play. Emma and friends sat with one another as they built trains using different blocks. It’s a great fine motor activity as children work hard to get the blocks on the train.

Stories always help our friends settle into the day.

We walked outside and it had turned to Fall! Leaves were on the ground which a few of our friends pointed out. P.K. enjoyed working with a big purple ball. He used his arms to throw the ball across the fence.

Children sat in different places of the backyard. Zoey enjoyed her blanket as she played with different toys. Emma loves the soft feel of the grass.

The slide is always a popular place outside. Today, friends tried to slide down the slide as fast as they could!

Our newest little friend enjoyed some floor time where she showed curiosity by looking around the room. One of her favorite focal points of the room are the fans.

Zoey is continuing to be very adventurous and mobile. She likes standing when a teacher holds her hands. Her leg muscles are very strong and she loves to pull herself up.

In the afternoon, P.K. and Daniel headed to the kitchen where they cooked together. They shared different toys throughout their extended play experience.

For breakfast, children had cheerios and pears. AM snack was pears. Lunch consisted of noodles and black beans, watermelon, and green peas. PM snack was graham crackers and watermelon.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Cheerios and oranges. Lunch: Whole wheat penne pasta with black beans, watermelon and peas. Snack: Jada’s paleo cookies and raisins.

Have a great day.

Happy Friday!!

With lower numbers today, our friends really bonded and played great with one another.

The first activity that children took part of was building trains. P.K. initiated this by pulling the trains out and saying, “Choo-choo!”. Zoey loved joining in and working with the blocks.

P.K. drove the train around the classroom. Zoey stacked the blocks on top of the train.

Wee Wee Friends train coming through!

P.K. and Emma headed toward the abacus where they pointed to different animals. Working with a teacher, P.K. pointed to each animal. He even made the noises that went along with the animal! For instance, his favorite sound was the dog which said, “Ruff!”

Children settled in by reading some of their favorite books. A favorite lately has been ‘The Wheels on the Bus’. P.K. took the book to Miss Melinda and said, “Round and round.”

Emma and P.K. headed to the puzzles next. They worked with their fine motor skills as they tried to put the puzzle pieces back into the slot. When Emma was done, she put both hands together and clapped for herself.

Finally, time for some gross motor! We headed to the jungle gym where P.K. crawled through holes and said, “Boo!” Emma jumped up and down with P.K. as they laughed together.

Group activities throughout the day allow children to build relationships and start bonds with one another.

For breakfast, children had corn flakes and banana. Lunch consisted of chicken and noodles, hummus on tortilla, broccoli, and applesauce. PM snack was graham crackers and apples.

Have a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

It took us a while to find our Zip today. The morning was a little rough. Several friends were sad to say goodbye to Mom and Dad. Other friends used their bodies to express themselves, instead of words. There was general discontent all around. We checked our environment to see if there were any adjustments we could make, and we set out to the playground….determined to find our Zip again.

A mini-society took shape. A hearty negotiation took place on where the door should be in the house that Arleigh, Nate and Ada created. Next, are friends invited to enter the door? Yes, Jada, Lea and Marta were invited to enter the house and the role playing work. Words were used and physical space was shared. Zip.

Max and Elliott teamed up to take a trike and rickshaw to the gas station for a fill up. What’s Gonna Work? Teamwork. Zip.

More mini-society negotiations. (Still zipping, though.)

Finn found Zip in the sandbox by moving a heavy log to take it to his house, for the crane.

Max offered to help. Mega Zip. The kids are talking and playing and the teachers are breathing easier.

A second mini-society took place that was filled with Zip and sparkly, strawberry ice cream. Who scoops the ice cream? Who sits down? Who drives the rickshaw and who rides? All points negotiated with Zip.

Zippy compromises: “Can you help me? I’ll put it on.” And I’ll help you zip it up.

“I can’t get these apart!”. I can’t either! But that’s ok, now you have two to enjoy! Questionable Zip, but Zip nonetheless.

A Zip Rush when you clean up after spilling rocks or getting to yell as loud as we can! “I can yell this loud outside!”

“I want to play with Macy and Jane!” You talk to your friends about it first, and I will help you next.

“I’d like to play with you.” Ok! Zip! No….ZAP!!!!

We came inside at our usual time full of Zip. It continued during Morning Part II.

We started in the reading area talking about our feelings, our actions and our friendships.

Lisa gathered a small group of friends together to play a memory game with WF garden veggies.

 

Next, she put on the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack and friends, played independently with self regulation, calm and plenty of individual Zip.

Laurie set out Styrofoam, golf tees and hammers for friends to express themselves by pounding, pressing, poking, pushing and pulling. Loud Zip.

Looking back over the morning, it didn’t take long to find our Zip. Together we turned the frown upside down, we flipped the script. We took turns listening and speaking. We helped each other figure out what we need to be Zippy again. “Is it ok to be sad?” a friend asked this morning. Of course, was the reply. We will help each other, when we are sad, not to hurt others.  We will help each other figure out what we need to get happy again. So on we go in to our Friday afternoon with a good supply of Zip. Just the way we like it.

Wee Sprouts: Watermelon. Breakfast: Cheerios and watermelon. Lunch: Chicken and noodles, broccoli and whole wheat bread with hummus. Snack: POPCORN!

ZIP! ZAP! ZOP!!!