Good Afternoon!

We started off the morning with relaxation and baby yoga. P.K. softly twirled his scarf around his body. Chloe got a mat and laid down. She said, “Tired.”

P.K. was having fun with Paulina singing different songs. Marina and Olivia were having soft touches with Mindy.

Marina and Sloane ran around the room while music was playing. Jada twirled her streamers around as she spun around the room.

Olivia practiced making her circles. She is getting very detailed and determined to make great circles. She even got very close to the paper and closely moved her marker to make a circle.

Marina joined Sloane in the kitchen where they painted with red paint with some sparkles added.

Elizabeth said she had a ‘princess’ dress on today. She spun around to show her friends!

 

A few friends headed to the sandbox where they worked today to fill it with sand! They then enjoyed the sand by filling cups!

Ozzie sat on the swing where he sang the ‘ABC’s’ in different tones. He sang low and he sang high! He even sang the ABC’s when his mouth was closed. Earlier in the morning, with the help of Paulina, he counted to 30!

Aiden enjoyed working with soft fluffy balls and different shapes. He felt the different materials with his hands. He loved the different sensorial materials today!

For breakfast, we enjoyed eggs with banana. AM snack was snap peas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with melted cheese, banana, and cucumbers. PM snack was cheese and crackers.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

 

Parent Communication:

Thanks to the families who have brought us bottles of sunscreen. If you haven’t had a chance to bring in sunscreen for your child, please do so at your earliest convenience!

Today Lisa began the day by asking “What is your favorite way to travel?” Friends discussed this and charted their answers. Later, they used scissors to cut out tracks: zig zag, straight, and curvy. We gathered cars, trains and airplanes, laid the paper tracks on the black felt board and experimented with our creations.

Other friends worked with alphabet sand blocks, sketching familiar and unfamiliar letters, sounding them out and determining if there were any friends whose name started with the letter.

And out came the salt dough! Kai and Isaac created volcanoes. Stephen, Nate and Finn loved cutting and adding  pipe cleaners. Ada measured with precision and spent most of her morning working with the dough and morphing it into different things. Macy helped each friend measure, pour and mix. Max observed patiently until it was his turn to mix it up.

Tami hung our solar system that we worked on last week!

Lisa created a math game using dice and a sheet with pictures of different transportation vehicles. First a friend rolled the die, then they counted that many spaces and put a poker chip on the square, counting out loud as they went along.

On Monday morning, Paulina will be here at 9am to teach us about Chile. It’s the first stop on our Around the World in 55 Days! We can’t wait!

Wee Sprouts: Snaps peas and tomatoes, Breakfast: Raisin Bran and bananas, Lunch: Melted Mozzarella cheese on whole wheat tortillas, cucumber slices and bananas!

Enjoy your day.

Basic Salt Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of fine salt
• 1 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of water (may add more)

  Instructions:

  • In a large bowl, combine the salt and the flour
  • Make a well in the salt/flour mixture and add the water
  • Knead until smooth and shape into a ball
  • When not in use, wrap in plastic or store in an airtight container

    HINT: To get a softer dough you can add more flour. Adding more salt will lend a more granulous affect. Use wallpaper glue and the dough with be more cohesive. To add color to your dough, use different types of flour or add food coloring or paint.
    Knead to get an even color.
    You may also paint your ornaments and sculptures after they dry.

Good Afternoon!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Miss Olivia!

Our friends started their Wednesday off with some relaxation yoga. Children lay on their stomachs and backs to relax. This is a great way to start off our day. Everyone seems to start off their day refreshed and ready to play!

After yoga ended, we got out our musical shakers. Ozzie and Chloe had a great time running while shaking their musical instruments. P.K. shook his shakers while he also shook his head!

Once outside, children jumped in the car! They said, “We’re going to the gym!”

Ozzie gathered a pail and shovel to scoop and pour the sand. It was rather tricky because the shovel was really big. He had to take his time to make sure that all of his sand ended up in his pail.

Children practiced their running abilities by running around the bike circle. Their coordination is growing everyday!

When running got tiring, children sat on the pavement ready for their bikes. They knew what they should do and did it! They are putting the rules that we have outside into action!

Once the bikes were out, Jada wanted to ride the tricycle. She used her legs to push herself but started to use the pedals at the end! P.K. loved sitting on the blue dog. He rocked back and forth. Ellie pretended like she was going to the grocery store. She went and grabbed a grocery cart and headed to get food!

Aiden was reaching towards people and toys today! His legs are getting stronger as well. He loves standing up with the help of an adult.

Clara practiced her drawing today using markers. She used white paper and colored using one marker and progressed to using two markers at the same time!

For breakfast, our friends enjoyed cheerios and banana. Children had snap peas while outside this morning for AM snack. Lunch consisted of chicken and noodles, carrots, banana, and ham. PM snack was homemade raspberry ice cream, special cheese and crackers that Olivia brought in for her birthday, and hard boiled eggs.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Wee Sprouts: Carrot and celery sticks, Breakfast: Raisin Bran and pears, Lunch whole wheat pasta with roast beef, mixed veggies and pineapple.

Enjoy your day!

Happy Tuesday!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday weekend!

**Just as a reminder, WWF will be CLOSED Friday, June 29th through July 8th for our annual summer vacation.

Jada started off her morning with the felt board. She talked about different colors that she saw such as red and different shapes that she saw such as a circle. The recognition of shapes and colors is continually growing at WWF. She then decided to make a birthday cake out of Legos!

Children hid under the red sheet as it went up and down! Our friends liked touching the thin material and ducking underneath the sheet when it came down real low. Then, we used the sheet as a bed where our friends curled up and rested for a short period of time.

The drums were brought out so our friends could have music time. They listened to the music and the beat and followed along using their drum.

Friends joined each other in the kitchen where a car track was made on the table. Stop signs were made and put on the table. Ozzie shouted, “Stop!” He recognized the sign and spelled the word out: s-t-o-p.

Once outside, P.K. practiced opening and closing the windows on the house. He opened them and shouted, “Ah!” He loved riding the blue dog! He used his feet to push himself.

 

We gathered in the shade where a variety of summer hats were brought outside for us to play with! Children put on a variety of hats, even many at the same time!

P.K. sure did like the pink hat with the flowers. He kept pointing to a certain hat and once he had it on he said, “Hi!” Jada thought it was funny that she had a baby hat on! Olivia sported a pink and white baseball cap that she put on backwards. We talked about the different kinds of hats that our friends were wearing.

Marina, Jada, and Sloane gathered in the sandbox where they used cups, buckets, and shovels to build a castle! They helped each other out and worked great together.

Miss Paulina had some planting to do! Our friends watched as she planted some tomatoes in the back garden. Friends pointed and said, “Yummy.”

Clara investigated this afternoon using a cardboard tube. She put different things down the tube such as cars, her arm and foot, and blocks! She found out that some of the objects were too big to fit through the tube.

For breakfast, our friends enjoyed eggs with apples. Lunch consisted of chicken salad on whole wheat bread, corn, and honeydew melon. PM snack was cheese and pears.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

Parent Reminders:

• Correction! Today was the last day of swimming! Classes will resume in the fall.
• Tomorrow, Tami will be taking the older WF group to the farm. Henceforth, the farm trip will be scheduled on a week to week basis. Remember, Charlotte loves for families to come out and you have an open invitation to go to the farm anytime!
• After checking our sunscreen reserve, we do have to ask that you bring in a bottle (spray, preferably) of sunscreen for your child as soon as possible. It goes fast!  This is not an item that WF provides for our families. Thank you so much for your attention to this.

While the swimmers were away, we discovered a basket of bean bags! Melinda set up a bean bag toss and each friend took turns tossing a bean bag into a turned over block.

Afterwards, we decided to make our own bean bags. We collected pea gravel, stuffed a cupful into an old sock, tied the sock up and used it to paint!

The independent work today included book reading, song singing and letter/number writing. Finn worked on writing familiar and new letters and Arleigh wrote her name and several numbers, by memory. We went on musical number hunts, listening for different meters in a variety of different songs and then tapping to the rhythm with wooden dowels. Afterwards, friends lined up all the dowels side by side and created a drum to play.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumber slices, Breakfast: Corn Chex and pears, Lunch: Chicken salad sandwiches on whole wheat bread, corn and a tossed salad.

Have a great day!

 

Happy Friday!

**Just as a reminder, WWF is closed Monday, May 28th for Memorial Day. Thanks!

Our Friday started with music time where Ellie decided to run around the living room! Here friends soon joined in with the fun and they continued to run! Along with running, they walked, jumped, and stomped!

Aiden loved looking at the colorful ribbon that he saw yesterday! He had a great session of belly time and loved listening to Miss Paulina’s music.

P.K. was in all different positions this morning! He was playing a silly game with his friends. He looked at them and then turned and laughed! When our friends were singing songs, P.K. went in the middle of the circle and posed as ‘downward facing dog’! He listened intently as Miss Paulina sang a song!

Children were very nurturing to their babies this morning. They made sure to have their babies covered up with the scarves and some even rocked them to sleep. They turned to their friends and said, “Shh…baby sleeping.”

P.K. and Aiden loved bonding today! Aiden loved touching P.K.’s arm and shirt and P.K. thought this was so funny! They were both laughing with each other.

Once music was over, P.K. and Clara decided to have some individual time where they both chose a different activity. P.K. played with the animals while Clara decided to work with different sized pails.

Our friends ventured on into the kitchen where a sensory tub was set up including water and colorful bubbles! Children used paint brushes along with the bubbles.

While outside, our friends helped our Wee Friends in a cleaning project that they started. Our Wee Friends were cleaning different toys with water and our friends decided to join in and help!

For breakfast, our friends had cheerios and banana. Lunch consisted of eggs with cheese, mixed fruit (oranges, strawberries, and bananas), corn, and English muffins. PM snack was craisins and string cheese.

Have a fun and safe holiday weekend!

-Mindy

Parent Reminders:

• Please remember, next week, to bring in two full changes of clothes for your Wee Friend! In the summer months, we water play almost everyday and we want to make sure everyone has a change of dry clothes. Thank you so much!
• We are closed this Monday, Memorial Day, May 28th.
• The Garden Growing Committee is looking for more tomato plants. If you are interested in donating a starter, please bring it to Wee Friends and we will get it planted!
• Each morning, we lather up all of our friends with a thick layer of sunscreen. Please feel free to bring in sunscreen for your child as we will go through our remaining stock pretty quickly.

As we’ve studied the earth this week, volcanoes have been the sustained area of interest! Lisa and Mel had the great idea to take our Paper Mache globes, insert a plastic cup in the top and create our own volcanoes! By combining baking soda and vinegar, friends explored eruption after eruption!

We decided to spend the rest of the morning outside! We set out several tubs: some filled with cool sudsy water and Little People, and the others with blocks of ice.

One ice block would not come out of the plastic container. Kai, Nate, Alexandra and Finn had a lengthy discussion about how to help it along. Kai and Marat made the observation that when it melted it would become water and fill up the plastic container it was stuck in.

When Lisa added rags, friends flocked to the tubs and began cleaning madly! Then came the dust mops and friends, literally, cleaned backyard surfaces for an hour.

We read books under the shade of Wee Wee’s tree and found a cool spot under the bush near the WF plastic playhouse. We rode bikes and Cassie listened to her MP3 player!

We enjoyed Wee Sprouts (cucumbers) on the porch and played house in the sandbox.

Parent/Child Communication Starters:

1. What happens when you pour vinegar on the baking soda (white powder)?
2. What are the four layers of the earth?
3. When you choose to share a bicycle or book or marker with a friend, how does it make you feel? Happy? How does it make your friend feel?

Breakfast was oatmeal and banana slices and lunch was farm fresh egg casserole, fruit salad and corn.

Have a terrific long weekend! See you Tuesday, May 29th!

 

Good Afternoon!

We started our Thursday morning off with plastic ring time! Our friends used the plastic rings to spin in their hands, put over their heads, and gather in a bunch. Children used the rings to look through to see their friends.

Miss Paulina got out her guitar and Ellie and Ozzie started dancing to the music. They moved their arms from side to side and stomped their feet.

P.K. was being extremely nurturing to Chloe. He first gently laid his head on her back when we were having quiet music time. He then sat up and patted her back softly.

Our friends went on a horsey ride. Teachers offered up their legs for children to ride on. We went through bumpy and gentle periods. Children laughed in excitement as they went riding through the forest!

During our outside time, we buried our feet and hands. Even though feet and hands were buried, our friends still knew they were there. They would say, “Where’s your feet?”

Since it was warm outside this morning, we turned on the water fountain so our friends could get a drink. We talked about sharing and letting our friends have a drink while everyone else waited their turn.

Our Wee Friends were so kind as to let us use the water table this morning! Children loved using different tools to fill the water and dump it. Splashing was happening often and our friends loved getting wet! It was a great opportunity for children to practice the skill of filling and pouring.

While others were sleeping, a ribbon was hung from the door way. Clara loved looking at the colors and spinning the ribbon around.

Aiden also enjoyed touching the ribbon with their fingers. They were very soft and he loved pulling on them.

For breakfast, our friends had eggs and banana. AM snack was cucumbers. Lunch consisted of hummus on whole wheat tortilla, cucumbers, oranges and bananas, and turkey. PM snack was homemade strawberry ice cream (made by Breania!) and animal crackers.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

 

Parent Communication:

We have started spending a lot of time outside and today, we pulled out the water table and let the hose trickle for sand play. Please check your child’s bathroom cubby to make sure they have at least two changes of clothes for after these water play experiences. Thank you so much!

The Earth’s Core

“The inner core, the outer core, the mantle and the crust.

The inner core, the outer core, the mantle and the crust.

The four layers of the earth…….TRUST US!”

Today we began with a study of the earth’s core. First we studied a photograph of the four layers of the earth. As we discussed it, Arleigh exclaimed “Look! Here’s the earth’s core!” as she placed a rock onto her headband. Then we learned a song. Lastly, friends gathered around the art table to assemble the four parts of the earth, layer by layer, cupful by cupful.

Many friends chose to experiment with motion. They placed several items first, in the center of the Lazy Susan, and next, toward the out rim. They spun it around and studied which items fell off first and why.

Burning hot lava was a part of our discussion and Lisa played a video that examined an erupting volcano. They learned and discussed what a volcanic vent is.

We choreographed our new song…..

…..and spent a lot of time building, improvising, stretching, climbing and sharing in the hopscotch/habitrail area.

 

Our creative music making began with a hunt for the number 3. We played “Rainbow Connection” and listened for 3 to make an appearance (3/4 time). She did and we tapped our rhythm sticks to 3/4 time. Mostly we enjoyed listening to Kermit the Frog.

We also learned dance steps to “Why Should I Share?”, focusing mostly on the twirling of our partners!

We rocked out to “Le Freak” and “Dynamite”. This free form dancing is not only a great gross motor exercise, but it gives our friends a creative opportunity to experience how their bodies fill the space all around them. Especially in relationship to their friends bodies! 

As always, we end this wild dance time with music meditation and a chance to take deep breaths, and slow the energy down. Now, when friends hear “Puppy Love”, they automatically find a lovie (stuffed or human) and cuddle on the oval rug to rest.

We ended the morning with water play!

Breakfast was Oatmeal Cinnamon Squares and bananas. For lunch, Lisa prepares whole wheat tortillas stuffed with hummus. Fresh cucumbers and mandarin oranges.

Have a terrific day!