WF Daily Exploration Wednesday 1/11

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One of the kid’s suggestions yesterday, on how to turn our classroom into an Alphabet Island, was “Put letters on the ground.” To support our friend’s continued interest in Audrey Wood’s Alphabet Adventure, we brought in an alphabet/number puzzle mat. Several friends spent a part of their morning assembling it. Afterwards, a teacher took all the letters out of the squares and then friends hunted for where each letter fit.

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Comments such as “Where’s my letter?” or “This is where brother’s letter lives” or “Look! I found ‘N’!” were exchanged. Triangular, circular and oval shapes also came out of the letter squares. Stephen and Alexandra were particularly interested in finding the appropriate homes for the shapes.

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Two puppies found their way to the mat for a good chase!

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Later, a small group of friends gathered to work smaller foam puzzles.

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A small group of friends gathered to work on a math exercise. Kai counted and discovered how many letters are in the alphabet! He wrote the corresponding number below each letter. Simon and Macy created color patterns under each letter. (Ex: blue, blue, green or orange, red, orange, red)

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Friends enjoyed each other’s company as they waited patiently for an art project to begin. They not only talked about their marker art, but also moms, dads and families.

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Another suggestion from yesterday’s Alphabet Island message board was to create letter costumes. Using T shirts and fabric paint, Tami led WF’s on an art exploration.

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In an early childhood classroom, there are certain moments in the day that create a bit more stress 🙂 than others! Lunch time is one of them! Today, the teachers (and Wee Friends!) were able to celebrate the many hours that have gone into establishing a smooth, collaborative and peaceful lunch time routine! Each friend knows to drop coats/shoes in cubbies. Each friend heads straight to either the bathroom or kitchen sink to wash his/her hands. Each friend knows who their lunch serving buddy is. Today at lunch time, two tables full of WF ate peacefully, helping each other and enjoying great conversation. Yet another benefit of not only our Wee Friends’ hard work but also the open space and wide visibility of our new classroom!

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For breakfast we served Cream of Wheat and apples. Lunch was whole grain rice with chicken, snap peas and fruit salad.

Enjoy this day!

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WWF, “Got milk?” 1-10-12

The children enjoyed some water play this morning with a sink full of bubbles and some abc’s. Olivia, Lea, and Elizabeth enjoyed pulling out one letter at a time, reciting it, and placing them on the perimeter of the sink. From there, we moved on to our donut shop game, we sang the abc’s, and then had the children identify by pointing the letter that their first name begins with. Elizabeth and Ellie were right on it!

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Chloe motioned to us for music. We read our CD book and music, “We’re going through the jungle.” Elizabeth was right there on the “Snap, Snap” for the crocodile. Ellie, Olivia, and Lea listened intently.

Our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom theme was continued in the kitchen with the children painting with foam letters. A beautiful mural was created. 011

For morning snack was a taste test! We sampled coconut milk (thanks to Jada’s mom for letting us sample it), then charted if we liked it our not. We drank from straws with mustaches, adding a little fun to the mix of it! We also had some abc crackers.

With the sun shining and beautiful temperature, it was time to head outside before lunch.

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Miss Tami made a wonderful casserole for us today with eggs, hash browns, and ham. We also had some bananas.

 

Enjoy the day!

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WF Daily Explorations Tuesday 1/10

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Inspired by Nate’s request to read Alphabet Adventure by Audrey Wood, we began our morning by diving into an alphabet letter exploration! After reading the book and singing a few rounds of “A, B, C”, we played a musical merry-go-round game. Melinda placed our sand letter placards around the pillar and friends hopped, walked and swayed to Jane’s Phineas and Ferb CD. When the music stopped, Melinda called out a friend’s name and asked them to find a particular letter.

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After each friend had a turn, the music continued to play and Wee Friends enjoyed a dance party. Annie brought special New Year’s celebration crowns to add to the fun!

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After the dancing ended, we asked our friends via message board “How can WF become an alphabet island- like in the book?” The class came up with some terrific ideas that we will work on over the coming days.

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After our conversation, we invited friends to participate in an alphabet hunt. We taped up all the letters of the alphabet around the art room and island. After finding a letter, friends would stick the letter next to their name on a message board. When the hunt was complete, we regathered and each friend identified which letters they found.

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This was an excellent opportunity for the teachers to assess each child’s understanding of and recognition of letters.

After our large group lessons, friends branched off and enjoyed the classroom, independently and collaboratively.

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Tami set out alphabet stamps and friends explored creating art with ink pads and watercolor. The question that arose was “which color (dry or wet) creates the clearest impression and sticks better to the paper?”

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From our Moncure My First Steps to Reading Collection, Melinda read “Letter B”.

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Breakfast today was Cheerios and raisins. For lunch we served scrambled egg casserole, peas and bananas. For snack we will serve yogurt.

Have a great day!

“Teaching is instruction, but the loving and caring presence of the teacher to her students is education.” -unknown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WWF, Sunshine, swings, and Blue Dogs, once again! 1-9-12

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We started off our day today introducing and playing with our new friend Lea! We demonstrated the donut shop game to her. After the donut shop game, some of us chose to read books and play on the jungle gym.

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Since it was such a nice morning, most of us went outside! We all bundled up in our hats, jackets, and mittens. Chloe and Olivia invited their new friend Lea to join them on the swing. Lea and Ozzy chose to play together in the house outside. Sloane and Elizabeth had a blast going down the slide! Ellie had a great time riding the bikes and cars around. Since we hadn’t been outside in a while, it seemed like all of the kids gross motor skills were in full swing! While Miss Mindy and Miss Lisa took the kids outside, Miss Marty enjoyed time with P.K., Aiden, and Clara. They played with blocks and were able to start on a snack before the rest of the kids came inside.

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For breakfast, we enjoyed cereal with milk. Before it was lunch time, we got to nibble on rice cakes with cream cheese which was a hit! Once lunch time came, we all sat down and enjoyed whole wheat noodles with tuna, apples, banana, broccoli, and bread. When asked what she wanted more of, Lea stated, “Red apples please!” We are all starting to distinguish between the different colors :).

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Have a great evening!

WF Daily Explorations Monday 1/9

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Happy Monday!

We started the day with Miss Jennifer and the gymnastics bus. Today Wee Friends worked on the trapeze bar and the octagonal barrel. On the bar, they practiced pike and “V” swings-they got to swing upside down like bats! On the octagon, they learned a backward walk over. They practiced rockers and at the end of class, they were steam rolled! Don’t forget the first group (older) starts at 9am and the second group (younger) starts at 9:30!

After a week in the new space, Wee Friends are continuing to discover creative ways to use the new classroom. Pictured above is a scene from Sleeping Beauty. We chose the music area to begin our dramatic play and as the story unfolded, each princess found her resting spot while Kai, (always the prince!) utilized the large pillar to hide behind and then, storm the castle to save his princesses.

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After gymnastics, Tami led friends in an art exploration. The end result is the magnificent mural hung on the same huge pillar! Using the new wide open length of the classroom, friends used a variety of painting tools and tempera paints, scrolling the fabric out as they created.

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From story time to nap time to washing hands time, Wee Friends are making their spectacular new classroom their very own!

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WWF Daily Explorations, 1-6-12

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Good Afternoon!

What a glorious sunshine filled day! Our day began with some of our favorite books and songs on CD. Chloe kept signing for more! The children danced and sang to “We all sing with same voice,” and “We all go traveling by.” PK joined us in our morning donut shop ritual. Ozzie was very much interested in our gender recognition today. Elizabeth and Ellie joined in as well. Sloane and Olivia opted out of our name cards, and have had a full day building with Legos and playing on our Jungle Gym.

In the kitchen we offered the children alphabet stampers with various colored ink pads. This is a great way to help the children learn their abc’s. Chloe and Olivia enjoyed markers. Sloane, Ozzie and Olivia spent a lot of time connecting our train tracks.

PK was so glad to see his friend Clara today! How nice it was to see her dimples and smiling face. Miss Marty gave her pigtails.

Our breakfast this morning was cereal and fresh fruit. Miss Tami prepared a cream and cheddar cheese pizza on a whole wheat pizza crust. The children loved it. This was accompanied with a vegetable medley and bananas. Afternoon snack was Chex Cereal and raisins.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO PARK ACCORDING TO OUR NEW PARKING GUIDELINES. The teachers have been instructed to remind parents and ask them to move if they are not parked on the East side of the street (our side), if they are parked too close or in the alley, if they are parked the wrong direction, or if they are staying inside longer than 10 minutes for pickup. To help with parking the wrong direction, I suggest parents begin to approach WF/WWF by using
Wall Street and leaving us using Hastings Street. I have noticed that most families are arriving from North locations and they use Hastings which has them going the wrong way for parking. But, I also realize its hard to form new habits when the car is on autopilot! Also, please park so that the maximum number of cars can park in our spaces.

You can use the parking pad on the North side of WF. Short cars can angle park there to fit 2 cars, but be sure to pull all the way forward so that your entire car is out of the alley. Other options for longer pickups is the East WWF alley parking pad or the church lot. We so appreciate your cooperation!

Here’s a few pics from the last few days!

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Enjoy your weekend!

WWF Daily Explorations,1-5-12 Shake, shake, shake and an ABC!

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After a breakfast of fresh oranges and toast, the children were ready to venture into the main room for our donut shop game. PK joined in today, and was grinning from ear to ear. Along with our name cards, and naming the gender of each of our friend’s, the children are also beginning to tell us how old they are.

We danced to “Five Little Monkeys,” then read one of our monkey books, per Elizabeth’s request. From there, we moved right into our ‘Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.” Jada knows the book cover to cover, and all of the children are enjoying our abc song. Today we identified the letter that begins with their first name. Ozzie, Ellie, and Elizabeth are real pros!

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Miss Lisa and Miss Mindy made water bottles with a group of children in the kitchen. We added letters to them, naming and recognizing each letter before the children placed it in the bottle. After they decided there were enough in the bottle, we counted paint drops in an array of colors to the bottle. We then added some dish soap to make bubbles. Once the lid was securely tightened, we would turn the bottle over and watch the letters float to the top. The children also took individual bowls and enjoyed playing with the letters at the table.

Miss Marty read to some of the other children. Ellie is becoming quite the bookworm.

For lunch today we had ham and cheese tortillas, peas, and fresh fruit.

Please be sure to turn in your parking form to one of the teacher’s if you have not already done so. Tami is requesting that you print and write your name on the signature line.

A special thanks to Jen for providing us with enough water bottles to complete our project today. Also, for those of you who brought us plastic bags, many thanks, and do keep them coming.

Enjoy the sunshine~

WF Daily Explorations, Friday 1-6-12

Happy Friday! Miss Melinda and I made it through the week without any catastrophic missing items. We did have lots of little things that have finally turned up as the week progressed. I think the children are now very familiar with the new arrangement of the classroom. Since we wrapped up all our prior in depth studies before the holidays, this week has really been about processing the new set-up. They have enjoyed reuniting with teachers and friends while playing with the everyday quality materials that fills our classroom:) Here are some examples from yesterday afternoon and today.

Friends reading together:

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Friends playing games:

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Friends helping maintain the classroom:

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Teachers talking with friends as they use manipulatives:

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Friends being active:

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Friends painting:

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Friends exploring process art:

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Friends building with blocks (really cool things too!):

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Friends working on number skills:

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Friends enjoying our outdoor learning environment and a cooperative effort to build a snowman:

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Finally, friends working on fine motor skills with beading:

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For breakfast we had Total Whole Grain Cereal and Apples. For lunch we had Whole Wheat Cream Cheese & Cheddar Pizzas, Vegetable Medley (Zuch, Squash, Pea Pods, Carrots & Peppers), and Bananas.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO PARK ACCORDING TO OUR NEW PARKING GUIDELINES. The teachers have been instructed to remind parents and ask them to move if they are not parked on the East side of the street (our side), if they are parked too close or in the alley, if they are parked the wrong direction, or if they are staying inside longer than 10 minutes for pickup. To help with parking the wrong direction, I suggest parents begin to approach WF/WWF by using
Wall Street and leaving us using Hastings Street. I have noticed that most families are arriving from North locations and they use Hastings which has them going the wrong way for parking. But, I also realize its hard to form new habits when the car is on autopilot!

You can use the parking pad on the North side of WF. Short cars can angle park there to fit 2 cars, but be sure to pull all the way forward so that your entire car is out of the alley. Other options for longer pickups is the East WWF alley parking pad or the church lot. We so appreciate your cooperation!

Enjoy your weekend!

Tami

WF Daily Explorations, 1-5-11

I’m running short on time, so I will just post some pictures from today:) Enjoy!

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And for those who haven’t made it in to see some of the changes we made over our Christmas Break, here’s a sneak peak!

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For breakfast we had whole wheat toast with cinnamon and bananas. For lunch we had warm whole wheat tortillas with cheddar cheese and ham, peas, and apple sauce.

Enjoy your day!

WWF, Finger paint fun! 1-4-12

Hello! This is Miss Mindy. My first day at WWF was Monday and I’m loving getting to know the children as well as parents!

Today we started the day by reading a snowman book that Miss Amy was kind enough to share with us. The children loved talking about the snow! Afterwards, we played the donut shop game. We’re still working on recognizing boys and girls using our name cards. Ozzie is beginning to show great progress when distinguishing between girls and boys. We put in a few CD’s to dance along to. Chloe and Sloane were shaking their musical instruments to the beat of the music. Ellie danced while moving her body to the music. She had a great time spinning in circles.

Miss Mindy and Miss Lisa did a painting activity in the kitchen after dancing. Olivia, Jada, Sloane, and Ozzie had a great time working with green paint to make a hand print tree. After they finished their tree, they had a chance to mix paints together and finger paint or some chose to use a brush to paint.

Miss Marty had a group on the carpet reading books and playing multiple hands on activities including musical instruments and different kinds of blocks. Ellie chose to read multiple books and Aiden had a great time listening to the stories being read.

For snack this morning we had muffins and bananas. Lunch was couscous, carrots and lima beans, and pears. P.K. loved the couscous! He was a mess when he was done :). Afternoon snack consisted of animal crackers and apples.

Sorry for no pictures today, as they all came out fuzzy. We apologize