Here’s how we begin every day:
With music or a gentle signal, we move into our morning circle on the rug. In silence, we settle our bodies and our minds and open ourselves up to a new day. We then greet each other and our teachers by name, share our hopes and questions, then spend time getting to know our friends and ourselves.
The work of our youngest students is hard. There’s so much to learn – the symbols and sounds of language, the puzzle and pattern of numbers, the feel of a pencil, the finger grips of tricky scissors, the way we use our feet to lift our swing up to the sky. We practice moving our bodies through a small space, flicking a math spinner, sharing a box of colored pencils, and helping a friend. We begin to understand the difference between home and school, inside voices and outside voices.
Most of all, we learn that school is fun, sometimes challenging, and that kindness, truly, is our daily gift.
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Like the sensory beings that we are, we use everything to learn about our world – our fingers and toes, manipulatives like frogs and bugs and cars, our woods and fields, our so-very-curious minds, and each other. We watch monarchs grow from the tiniest caterpillars to fragile-winged marvels that can fly hundreds of miles. We jump for joy when our tadpoles suddenly sprout legs. We learn that letter symbols turn into words which turn into books and poems that make us giggle and feel and imagine. We know we will be wonderfully prepared for the next stage of school. We will build our strong foundations, step by gentle step, hand by friendly hand, running, leaping, wondering, reveling in the process that starts as that tiny caterpillar and sends us on as mighty fliers, ready to embrace the world.
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Academic Highlights
- Play-based, inquiry-driven learning rooted in Quaker values
- Emergent curriculum responsive to student interests
- Focus on social-emotional learning, early literacy (Fundations & Learning without Tears), numeracy (Bridges Mathematics), and outdoor exploration
- Weekly specials classes include art, music, science, physical education, library, Spanish, and Mandarin
