While the swimmers were away, the remaining Wees enjoyed having their heads (and airplanes!) in the clouds!

With cotton balls, glue and a cardboard base, WFs began creating a cloudy sky through which their airplanes could fly.

Once there was sufficient cloud coverage, WFs used felt runways to ascend through the air.

When they had finished this part of their exploration, we moved the materials to the sensory bin. Elliott requested an air traffic control tower and the work continued.

Viv found an air traffic controller.

Arleigh discovered that she could pull the cotton balls apart and went on to make a pie.

Later, Viv and Marta practiced the piano.

Parent/Teacher Partnership Info:

On another note, this Saturday the WF staff attended an outstanding conference with Michael Brandwein (www.michaelbrandwein.com) as the keynote. His focus was “Life Skills: Getting Kids Ready for Life”. We were all inspired, affirmed and excited about a formula that he presented to use when communicating with our Wee Friends. When working with our friends, we first DESCRIBE what they are doing. Secondly, we LABEL it in a positive way. Lastly, we ENCOURAGE the positive behavior. An example is: Sally is playing dominoes with her friends. She sees that another friend would like more dominoes. Sally chooses to share her dominoes with her friend.

Teacher: “Sally, I see that you have shared your dominoes with Mary. You are choosing to be very cooperative. When you are cooperative, we can all play together peacefully. Sally, thank you for being cooperative.”

Our Wee Sprouts today are broccoli crowns. Breakfast was Cheerios and clementines. For lunch, we are serving melted cheddar on whole wheat tortillas, fresh beets/peas and fresh fruit salad (strawberries, raisins and clementines.

Have a terrific day!

 

WF Air Flight 123

In the absence of the Blue Bus on Monday, we would like to take all Wee Friends on a field trip to the South Bend Regional Airport. Our days this week have been filled with airport/airplane exploration and we think it will be a great adventure to incorporate into our blossoming study! Tami will email permission slip forms to you. Please return them Monday morning when you bring your WF to school. We will be departing at 9:30 and returning in time for noon lunch. We will take both the Weehicle and Tami’s Honda. While all four teachers will be accompanying the class on the field trip, parent volunteers are welcome!

While we ate lunch, we collected some information from our Wee Friends. When we asked “Where did you fly to on an airplane?” here’s what we learned:

Umi: “Chile!”

Annie: “Disneyworld and somewhere else.”

Ada: “I haven’t been on a plane.”

Nate: “New York!”

Max: “Minnesota and California!”

Vivian: “Minnesota and California!”

Kai: “Arizona and California.”

Alexandra: “I don’t know.”

Marta: “I went on the airplane!”

Finn: “spain!”

Stephen: “To the Batman store!”

Jane: “Grandpa’s house.”

Macy: “Aunt Ashley’s wedding.”

Simon: “To my Grandma’s house, England, New Jersey and Chicago.”

Elliott: “I flew to Florida.”

This morning Melinda read A Little Golden The Airplane Book, and friends worked on creating a runway.

Next, Lisa prepared passengers to board WF Air Flight 123. First, she demonstrated the job of the ground crew.

Next she described the job of the air traffic controller. WF chose who they wanted to be, we set out seats, passed out boarding passes and prepared for a flight to New York.

While on board, friends enjoyed snacks, beverages and entertainment. Flight Attendants passed out instruments when we hit our cruising altitude.

We landed, exited the plane and ran outside before the rain.

Our Wee Sprouts today are carrots. Breakfast was Wheat Chex and cantelope. For lunch we served whole grain brown rice with kidney beans, corn and pineapple.

Have a terrific weekend!

 

 

It has been a beautiful spring morning in our classroom!

Many friends gathered on the rug this morning and pulled out all the building blocks. Stephen began building a tunnel. It morphed into an intensive, morning long airplane exploration. Elliott described and built runways, towers and deemed himself co-pilot to Finn’s pilot role play. Lisa invoked her eight year journey as a flight attendant and, with a perfectly scripted monologue, directed passengers to their seat, asked them to buckle up and put their tray tables up. We added environmental sounds of a jet taking off and inner flight noise. Flight Attendant Lisa gave passengers the choice between chicken and pasta and their choice of beverages. Night fell as we were in the air and the passengers slept as John Denver sang “Leaving on a Jet Plane”. We landed and headed outside!

Fabrezio reminded many friends of the importance of flossing each day!

A small group of friends gathered at the art table after breakfast for a shape exploration. We cut out 7 shapes and identified them. Each friend took a turn creating a picture using the shapes. Other friends guessed the artist’s intention and also shared ideas about what they perceived it to be.

After the shape study, many friends chose to stay at the table and continue creating art. Some friends drew shapes on paper and cut them out. Others created elaborate and detailed ninja creatures! Kai and Vivian dedicated their work of art to Wee Wee and walked over to share their gift.

Umi, Arleigh and Alexandra worked in housekeeping feeding, clothing and loving their babies.

Our Wee Sprouts today are carrots and cherry tomatoes. Breakfast was whole wheat toast with peanut butter and bananas. For lunch Tami prepared whole wheat turkey salad roll ups, roasted asparagus and fruit salad.

Have a great day!

 

 

 

 

Important Parent Reminders!

Breakfast is served from 7:45am-9:00am and Wee Sprouts are served all day. If your child arrives to school after 9:00am, please make sure they have had breakfast!

We prefer that ‘at home’ toys stay at home to avoid conflict in the classroom. If your child does have a toy that is brought in, we ask that it is small enough to fit inside the cubby. We will invite our friends to share/show their toy for the first couple moments after they’ve arrived and then we’ll ask them to put it away until mom and dad come at the end of the day. Thank you so much for honoring this. It truly eliminates additional conflict as we help our Wee Friends navigate other natural conflicts throughout the day.

The bird feeders FLEW and today was the older kids opportunity to make their own.

The second part of the morning dealt with a shape study.

Lisa read Mouse’s First Spring by Lauren Thompson. They discussed the variety of shapes they saw in the illustrations and went to the message board to record their findings.

Afterwards, Lisa and Melinda passed out clipboards, paper and pencils and off they went on a nature shape hunt!

Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs and bananas. For lunch, Tami prepared melted cheddar on whole wheat tortillas, yellow/green beans and applesauce.

Enjoy this day!