As usual, the school year hurtled out of August like an overloaded jalopy without any brakes, careening from the end of summer camp through clean up, skidding around the corner to shudder into the first day of school. Our summer teachers jumped off the running board to join up with their other lives...

The Afterschool Spreads its Wings In a whirl of boxes, crates, tables, chairs, and pianos, without interrupting its programming for the children, the Afterschool teachers and six friendly, burly movers dismantled and transported four classrooms to new locations during a blustery week at the...

What happens below the four-foot level Those of us who communicate through the medium of in-the-classroom-notes or the PIC newsletter are adults. As adults, we hope to convey something interesting about children’s programming at PIC, such as a classroom innovation, or a STEM initiative that is...

Summer is upon us! This summer, I am thrilled to be back at the Parent-Infant Center PIC for my second year as the Summer Camp Leader. we are already in the third week of camp having survived our first heat wave; it’s official: summer is upon us! And what a summer it’s shaping up to be! Last week we...

Staff Specialists Build Bridges One of the ways the PIC's After School Center (ASC) attracts high-quality, highly-motivated, talented teachers is by sharing a precious handful of them with the Early Learning program. This January, ASC welcomes Rachel Kolber , a veteran early-learning teacher...

Quality Out-of-School-Time for ALL On a lovely sunny day early this month, I was fortunate to accompany the after school children on a day trip to Wissahickon Park’s nature center, near Chestnut Hill College. We enjoyed hands-on educational programming in the woods: one program was geared to the...

written by School Age Programs Director Anjali Gallup-Diaz Waiting is a skill that needs developing. When we tell children to “Wait!” “Be patient!” “No, you can’t … not yet!” aren’t we teaching them to wait? No. What we’re really teaching is frustration. And when the child asks, “why?” we provide a...

PIC's Early Learning program will host a Winter Open House for families on Thursday, December 11. All PIC families are invited to visit each classroom for sensory and make-and-take activities and enjoy festive hallway potlucks. Here's your roadmap to the fun! SPRUCE Building First floor Bumblebees -...

Post revised: January 6, 2015 Coming soon! In addition to the usual communication channels, PIC will use School Messenger to announce school closings and other important messages via text and/or email. Many of our families may already be familiar with this platform as it is the same alert system...

Word Power in the Afternoons When children start to read, they begin to discover the power of words. As a child mouths the words in a story, he learns that words can evoke feelings, or paint a picture for his imagination. When a teacher reinforces the idea that words are powerful and evocative tools...