Our field trips are intentionally planned with the goal of setting children up for success and connecting what they are learning and doing in the classroom to hands-on experiences in the outside world.
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We believe that sharing assessment information is an essential ingredient to building collaborative and reciprocal relationships with parents.
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A common question our teachers often hear is, “When is my child’s writing going to look like writing?” I’ll answer that question, but first let’s reflect on when your child said their first words, an exciting milestone for any family. Perhaps you called grandparents? Maybe you encouraged your child to say it again in order […]
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One way that we continue to build community within our classroom each year is by creating meaningful opportunities for the children to work and communicate with a single partner at times. This could be during a specifically designed activity, during lunch, or at a center. In the first photos, partners are either working on recreating […]
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“I wish I had been here from the beginning”, said my older son half-way through 7th grade at BCD a couple of years ago. When I asked him why, he gave me several reasons: The teachers, the students, the community, the opportunities to explore new interest areas, the leadership opportunities, the service projects, the trips, and […]
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Winter is here – and so are all of the zippers, laces, buckles, jacket sleeves, snow pants, gloves, and mittens that create a unique type of “snow-clothes-storm” in our hallways. At first glance, this part of our day might feel a bit overwhelming. And, I’ll admit there are those moments that make dream of summer… […]
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It has been said that a toy is a toy, but a box has a million possibilities. The best preschools under understand this concept and utilize it thoughtfully when developing their dramatic play areas. Dramatic play areas are designed to allow children to experiment with familiar and fantasy everyday. But children can’t role play what […]
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Over the last week, I spent some time thinking about the skill of listening and revisiting Mary Renck Jalongo’s book, Learning to Listen and Listening to Learn. In her book, Jalongo poignantly describes how listening is a skill that is commonly misunderstood and hard to define because it often has different meanings to different people. […]
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How The Batman Brigade Changed My Understanding of Play Let me set the scene… Three preschool age children are tearing around the room using quick zig-zag motions – climbing on tables, jumping off chairs, darting out of sight. They’re wearing capes that they fashioned for themselves by ripping open pink skirts commandeered from a box […]
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Take heart…and then take these few simple actions that can smooth the journey.
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