Loving reading The Fireflies are quickly getting to know the language associated with books. They are developing their attention span, their love of reading, and the knowledge that comes with comprehension. We talked about the characters in some of our favorite stories then quickly moved to the plot...

No right or wrong answers Every morning, Roadrunners are invited to answer questions at drop off. Questions are opportunities for parent and child to discuss learning in the classroom. No answer is right or wrong; questions are simply a chance for children to have their opinions heard. It may be...

A happy and healthy winter It’s the time of year when we watch the leaves change, take out warmer clothes, and watch football on the weekends. It is also the time when various cold and flu viruses start making their way through classrooms. The Blue Jay room is no exception, and we have had lots of...

Life and Death The Grasshoppers went through some really wonderful and new experiences this summer. We helped to care for another classroom’s pet hamster named Dragon. It was exciting, heartwarming, fun, entertaining and became the topic of a study of rodents. What was not so fun, was having Dragon...

Asking good questions In the Roadrunners, we are all scientists. When asked what it means to be a scientist, Roadrunners offer, "it means discovering things," or "doing experiments." But what do all scientists start with? Good questions. A few weeks ago, the Roadrunners instituted Why? Wednesday. On...

Building from the ground up The Peanuts have been investigating buildings of all sorts. We started with a discussion of the different aspects of buildings, such as the foundation, the walls, the roof, the floors, and built collaborative sculptures during meeting times. The Peanuts were encouraged to...

PIC opens a new preschool classroom On Monday, the Hummingbirds joined the ranks of the Fireflies, Grasshoppers, Leapfrogs, Peanuts, Roadrunners, and Starfish-- the names of the our other preschool classrooms. On their first day, the new classroom was a flutter of activity as the children spent time...

Exploring Power It is not uncommon to see children running around open spaces, chasing one another, perhaps even pointing pretend weapons at each other. Postures of heros, doctors, and even families show an understanding of natural orders of power. “Good guys” and “bad guys” are common archetypes in...

Building Bridges to Kindergarten The transition from prek to kindergarten is a big one. New teachers and a new school can be hard for most five year olds, not to mention the change from learning through play to direct instruction and more academic skill building. In the Starfish classroom we took a...

written by Roadrunner Teacher Danny Galpern Rough housing around It’s great to rough house with your child! When an adult allows a child to play energetically and offers lots of physical touch, it works magic on children. It helps your child get out their energy, notice their connection to you, and...