Happy Monday!

Our friends started their Monday by asking questions and having conversations about the fish tank. Elizabeth used her hands to help her talk about the different fish that were swimming around.

Marina travelled into the kitchen where she practiced her dots and circles on white paper. She made many circles one after the other.

Again, the fish tank was a gathering place today. Chloe observed the fish swimming from a distance. Marina and Ellie sat closer and pointed to the different fish that they saw. The following question was posed to them: “Can fish live out of the water?” Our friends responded with a resounding, “No!” We also talked about how people can’t live in the water like the fish do.

Marina got out colorful bowls and lined them up throughout the table. She pretended to pour water into each bowl. She bent down and scooped the water from the ground. She was very concentrated during her play.

Elizabeth and Chloe spent time together in the kitchen where Chloe used a pretend knife to cut her fruit while Elizabeth took care of her baby by feeding her an orange!

We turned music on and our friends started running. Ellie said, “I’m running as fast as I can!” Their gross motor skills are improving just by the small things they do throughout the day, such as running!

Children bent over at their waist along the window opening. They all said “Cheese” while looking at the camera.

We got out the blocks and children had a blast sitting and standing on them. We asked, “Who has the blue block?” We went through the four different colors. Children were asked, “Who has the purple block?” Elizabeth looked around at all of the blocks and said, “There’s no purple block!”

For breakfast, our friends enjoyed Chex and apples. AM snack was strawberries. Lunch consisted of whole wheat noodles with ham and cheese, fresh snap peas, and juicy watermelon. PM snack was pretzels and raisins.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

Parent Reminder:

• Next week is the last gymnastics Monday!

The day got off to a quiet start as our two groups of Wee Friends took turns on the Blue Bus. It’s official! Today, Sloane joins our classroom as a Wee Friend! Welcome Sloane!

Cassie will also be with us all summer! We’re glad you’re here!!

 

We were delighted to welcome Ada’s mom, Tiffany Johnson Bidler, this morning for her presentation on portraiture. She chose four different styles of portraits and discussed the differences: profile (Arcimboldi), naturalistic (da Vinci), abstract (Leger) and expressive (Matisse).

She passed out different coins and had friends find the portrait on the coin.

When she discussed abstract portraits, she used a drawing Ada had created and pointed out that abstract art uses different shapes (circles, ovals, rectangles, cylinders, etc.) to create portraits. We discovered that most of us are abstract painters, particularly in the journal work we produce.

To further illustrate this concept, she passed around an African wooden doll that exemplified abstract art with it’s many shapes and designs. She also explained that this doll was hung around the necks of expecting mothers to ensure a healthy baby and hopefully, a girl!

Afterwards, we created our own portrait of Tiffany using different shapes of fruit. Each friend decided where their piece of fruit would be placed.

We said goodbye to Tiffany with a song and a huge thanks for sharing her expertise with us!

Later, a small group of friends gathered around the art table to continue their own independent study of portraits. Be sure to check these out on the wall in the habitrail!

Today’s Wee Sprouts are carrots. Breakfast was Cheerios and apple slices. Lunch is whole wheat penne pasta with ham and cheese, French cut green beans and watermelon.

Enjoy your day!

Happy Friday!

With our five friends that we had today, we ventured out on a walk! Children were strapped in and ready to go!

Along the way Ellie, Sloane, and Marina conversed about things that they saw out in nature along with things that are going on in their life. Marina pointed to rocks and showed her friends. Ellie let her friends know that she is going to the dentist on Monday! Sloane pointed to a house and said, “Doggie!” when she saw a puppy come out of the house.

While on the walk, we saw white and purple flowers along with a cat! A friend yelled out, “Meow!”

P.K. and Chloe were all smiles as we were ending our walk.

Our Wee Friends were playing with the water table outside and they graciously let us play with them!

P.K. practiced stepping up onto the tree stumps with each foot. He joined his brother Nate as they threw bouncy balls at the basketball hoop.

Marina found a sand toy that she found interesting. She talked into it and found that her voice echoed.

Miss Laurie brought out bubbles that our friends loved (Thanks Laurie)! We worked on blowing air out of our mouth that made the bubble fly into the air. We demonstrated how to blow with your mouth for our friends who were having difficulty. At the end of our bubble session, bubbles were flying everywhere!

Marina, Chloe, and Ellie blew with all of their might!

Marina chased the bubbles as they flew around the back yard. Sloane got a serious look on her face before she blew into the bubble wand. She loved when the bubbles finally were free and flew around the backyard!

For breakfast, our friends had Chex and banana. Lunch consisted of homemade pizza with cheese and marina sauce, carrots, and watermelon. PM snack was raisins and homemade strawberry-banana ice cream that Breania made for us!

Have a great weekend!

-Mindy

Parent Reminders:

• Wee Friends will be closed Friday June 29-July 6 and opening again on Monday July 9.
• A weasel attacked Farmer Charlotte’s henhouse this week and depleted her egg supply. As a result, WF will not have any eggs until further notice!

Peer mentoring! Yesterday, after lunch, Sydney and Taylor offered to help our younger Wee Friends with their Bob Books.

The last couple days we have read Miss Smith’s Incredible Storybook by Michael Garland. We’ve had great conversations about how to bring books to life, as if the characters of the stories jump out of the page and say hello! Friends have shared who they would be if they could jump out of a story book.

We spent every moment of our morning outside. Melinda set up a science exploration. She filled a bin up with bubbles, added a squirt of magenta watercolor and friends blew air out of straws to make bubbles!

Inside, as we lunched, a friend refilled a water pitcher with warm water. From across the room Elliott expressed “That’s hot water.” We asked “How can you tell?” We had a great lunch conversation comparing hot/cold water.

We filled up the water table and enjoyed being with our Wee Wee Friends.

Ada and Elliott got a groove going in which Ada would pour water from a top tube and Elliott would catch it from the end of the tube. We discussed teamwork and this became the shared word around the water table: “Look! Teamwork!”

We blew bubbles under the tree and Nate started singing “Bubbles in the Bathtub” expressing “I like that song.”

Kai watered marigolds and we stopped and smelled the most fragrant and luscious WF roses.

A lovely, peaceful, feels like summer, day.

On Monday, we welcome Ada’s mom, Tiffany, to Wee Friends to learn about and explore several great Master painters. We can’t wait!

Wee Sprouts today are snap peas. Breakfast was Corn Flakes and apple slices. For lunch we had cheese pizza on whole wheat crust, watermelon and carrot sticks. Our friends are making their own snack today: fruit kebabs!

Have a terrific weekend!

A couple blogs we love that offer great ideas/stories/teaching philosophies:

• www.teachertomsblog.blogspot.com
• www.handsfreemama.com

 

Good Afternoon!

Our day started off with a new sensory opportunity: blue and purple macaroni noodles! The noodles were dyed with watercolor. We put them into the light table where the light shown through the noodles. Our friends used tubes and their hands to manipulate the noodles. A few of our friends looked through the tube and to their surprise, found a friend on the other side!

Once outside, our Wee Wee Friends witnessed a soccer game going on that starred our Wee Friends! We sat along the fence and cheered our friends on as well as clapping our hands.

P.K. sat on the teeter totter while the soccer game was going on. He looked on from afar. He sat on the swing with some of his friends. He turned and looked at the camera and said, “Cheese!”

Elizabeth and Sloane worked on their gross motor skills by riding tricycles. It is their favorite activity!

Our friends did a great job waiting in line for a drink of water.

Marina and Sloane walked on down to the sand box where they shared tools and worked very well together. They both took off their shoes and sandals. When they were done, they put them by the door!

Elizabeth gathered sand and put it on a plate. She brought it over to Miss Mindy and said, “Here you go!” It was a plate of food that she had made!

For breakfast, our friends enjoyed eggs with cheese along with bananas. AM snack was snap peas. Lunch consisted of egg casserole with cheese and hash browns, bananas and strawberries, bread, and carrots. PM snack was string cheese and pretzels.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

This morning, as friends arrived and ate breakfast, a few of us headed outside to the sandbox. Lisa stayed inside with a small group and read Insects and Bugs. It became a creative drama explorations with bugs, puppies and doctors. Friends acted out and named their characters.

We studied a Guatemalan rain stick and made our own with pvc pipe and dried rice and beans. We experimented with different quantities of rice/beans for different sound effects. 

Elliott asked us to read Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo.

And then we played soccer. The Ninjas and the Tigers.

Today’s Wee Sprouts are snap peas.  For breakfast, we served peanut butter and wheat toast and mangoes. For lunch we are having farm fresh egg casserole, bananas/strawberries and snap peas!

Have a great day!

 

Good Afternoon!

Our friends started off their morning by taking a wagon/stroller ride around the block. It was a gorgeous day! While walking, we saw birds and dogs. The bird that we saw looked very protective and didn’t move much so we talked about the possibility that it could be a mommy bird watching out for its babies. Marina saw the dog and said, “Woof Woof!”

We also talked about making sure that we’re watching for cars as we cross the street when we are on a walk. Clara, Chloe and P.K. laughed along together as they rode the three person stroller. Clara bounced up and down as she rode along. P.K. looked at the wheels as they spun around.

When we got back from our walk, we travelled inside where we had Wee Sprouts. Once we were finished, we headed outside where our friends played in the sand box and rode tricycles along with pushing grocery carts.

For breakfast, our friends enjoyed eggs and apples. AM snack was carrots. Lunch consisted of pasta salad with red beans and corn along with bananas. PM snack was

Have a wonderful evening!

-Mindy

Taylor and Sydney Little, Macy’s big sisters are back for the summer! Welcome back girls!

 

“How much do I love you? I’ll tell you no lies…How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky?” – Ethel Merman

How deep and blue and salty is the Pacific ocean that makes up the earth to south and west of Chile? That was the question that started our day. First, we filled two bins: one with salt water and one with fresh water. We dipped our fingers and hands into both and explored how differently they tasted.

We studied Paulina’s book, Patagonia, and studied the many shades of the ocean. We added watercolor to create our own Pacific ocean.

And then we just played. Friends expressed “Our water isn’t blue!” Kai accurately explained the reason that friends could not see their blue water in the black tub.

We added measuring cups, spoons and soap, to create frothy waves.

Lisa guided a small group as they continued to create the Wee Friends Story fabric. They continued creating images of Wee Friends and Macy referenced the same book, Patagonia, for pictures of a llama that she wanted to add.

Melinda worked with a large group of friends on the rug, playing “Is Your Mama a Llama?” Friends chanted “Is your mama a llama?” and responded “No she’s not!”. One friend jumped to the center of the circle and we guessed which animal they were.

Elliott invited Melinda to ride the train that he was engineering. Many friends hopped aboard.

Friends always know how to take care of themselves when they need a break from the rhythm of the day.

We moved our bodies to “The Ocean Blue”, a bi-lingual song that states, in Spanish, the names of several underwater creatures: crabs, sharks, whales, dolphins and others.

And as we prepared to head outdoors, we calmed our bodies in music meditation to the late and great Ethel Merman as she sang to us…….”How Deep is the Ocean?”….how high is the sky…..and off we went.

Today we say goodbye to Alexandra and Stephen! We will miss you so much…as deep as the ocean and high as the sky!

Today’s Wee Sprouts are carrot sticks. Breakfast was oatmeal and raisins. Lunch is whole wheat penne pasta salad with peas, corn, navy beans and tuna…and bananas.

Have a great day.

Good Afternoon!

Our friends tried on different hats to start off their day! They looked at the colors of the hat and whether the hat fit or not! Sloane tried a hat on and it covered her eyes! She had to move the hat up so she could see her friends.

A few of our friends headed to the kitchen to do a painting project.

They used rollers.

They also used their hands and fingers.

Outside, Elizabeth and Marina climbed up a few logs in the house. Elizabeth poked her head out and said, “It’s a window!”

Sloane and Marina made different castles together using sand and buckets.

Elizabeth looked at Sloane as she was going down the slide and said, “Hold my hand, Sloane.” This started a trend where children held their friends hands as they went down the slide. They were very polite to one another and made sure that each friend had a hand to hold.

Children covered up their feet with sand. They popped their feet out very fast and said, “There they are!”

For breakfast, our friends had corn bran and pears. AM snack was carrots. Lunch consisted of turkey sandwich, watermelon, and snap peas. PM snack was watermelon and animal crackers.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

Apologies for not getting yesterday’s blog out until this morning. I was unaware that the  post aborted mid-publishing!

We started the day outside and after we lathered up our friends, they spread out and  began their interesting work! Simon created a tank modeled after a Star Wars tank.

Kai, Vivian and Finn went on a slug hunt and found a long slug and three babies.

Lea and Ada got wet rags and cleaned the chalkboards, up and down and all around.

 

Jada worked on the tricycle and princess Arleigh and Marta, in the sandbox.

Jane and Alexandra enjoyed the swing and Nate and Macy played house. “I am the grandma!” expressed Nate.

Lisa researched Chilean fabrics and worked with friends on creating a felt mural. Kai had the idea to create felt people that represented Wee Friends. Lisa explained that many fabrics created in Chile tell the stories of the people who live there. Several friends spent their entire morning creating, what will become, a work of art telling the story of Wee Friends!

Melinda took small groups of friends to the back yard to plant maple tree leaves!

Laurie worked with a small group of friends, exploring the llama. We started by reading   “Is Your Mama a Llama?” which is filled with rhyming words. We read two other llama books by Anna Dewdney. We studied the words and then talked about what a llama looks like. Using Paulina’s alpaca poncho, we figured out how to shape our bodies into a llama.

Afterwards, we played a game using the book’s words, Is your mama a llama? “No she’s not!” we shouted and then jumped to the center of the rug and had to guess which animal each friend acted out.

The alpaca poncho (that became a rug!) was very inviting and there were mostly creepy crawling on your belly bugs being acted out.

Todays Wee Sprouts are carrots and cherry tomatoes. Breakfast was Raisin Bran and pear slices. Lunch is peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread, snap peas and watermelon.

Have a great day!