Butterfly In The WInd
A child is a butterfly in the wind:
Some can fly higher than others: but each one flies the best that it can.
Why compare one against the other?
Each one is different.
Each one is special.
Each one is beautiful.

Here in our senior kindergarten classrooms, we work very hard on being a community member:

-Developing the ability to relate to one’s peers and teachers and get along with all kinds of people
-Problem solving with each other and taking part in the rule making of our classroom
-Gaining social competence to be a leader yet also a member of a group
-Sharing
-Using words rather than actions to solve a conflict
-Having concerns for others

Our classrooms are interactive places where the children are always busy investigating and learning from their environment, constructing their own knowledge as well as collaborating with each other and their teachers. We provide opportunities and experiences for the children to grow to their full potential. It is a place where the children own their learning and can stretch past their current understandings and strategies. The children are surrounded by a wide array of hands-on materials and direct experiences – exciting and thought-provoking ones that are meaningful to them.

Research shows that real learning has to take place in context. We strive to nourish the children with words, projects, and units of study that spark and capture their fascination. Our environment and curriculum are closely intertwined with studies that may emerge from both the children’s interests as well as those that are introduced by the teachers such as:

-Monarch butterflies
-Trees and leaves
-Alphabet
-Post Office
-Winter birds
-Garden shop
-Nursery rhymes

All areas of our curriculum (math, science, social studies, reading readiness/phonemic awareness/literacy, art, music) are interwoven in each unit of study as well as in play activities.

Play is a vital part of our curriculum. Research shows that play helps to wire the brain. The more children play, the better readers and writers they become. Good play offers children success socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually.

Surprise me. Amaze me. Startle me.
Challenge me. Try me. Laugh with me.
Love me. Teach me in the ‘key of life’
And I promise I’ll surprise, amaze,
startle, challenge, try, enjoy, love You!”

-Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld

Teachers: Veronica Frehe and Sheila Medow
Associates: Susan Koehler, Maggie Baldwin, Alla Borodyansky and Karrie Smookler