Early Childhood Curriculum Update
September 2018
Mott Class - Preschool
September was a month of meeting new friends, reconnecting with old friends, and exploring our classroom space, materials, and playground. We’ve shared books and songs about starting school, making friends and learning names.
The dramatic play area was a stop for nearly everyone each day. Students were busy chopping fruits and vegetables, planning trips to the beach (which included a stop at a bakery) as well as feeding and soothing crying babies and stuffed animals.
In the art/kitchen area we made banana oatmeal cookies and apple carrot smoothies. We discovered that apples are much easier to cut than carrots. Our art creations included painting with watercolors and tempera paints using marbles and wheeled toys. We also worked with buttons, beads, craft sticks, paper, glue and pipe cleaners.
The rainy days were a source of great joy and exploration in the Mott Class. A full rain barrel offered the buckets of water needed for sand pies, wood chip soups and creative concoctions of berries and sticks. Sounds of glee resounded as students stomped in puddles, landed in small ponds at the end of slides and caught raindrops on their tongues. We sang songs about rain with the favorite being “The Wise Man and the Foolish Man.”
Our busy days have also included: reciting nursery rhymes, building with blocks, singing, journal writing, modeling playdough, reading, listening and dancing.
Rustin Class - Kindergarten
The Rustin Class has had a wonderful time meeting all of our new friends by playing games to learn new names and the routines of the class.
Students learned that we received a grant to create a Monarch WayStation on the UFS property so we have been busy researching the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly, including plants Monarchs need to lay eggs. We have visited a Monarch WayStation in Allentown, and the gardener at the Pearl S. Buck House gave us a tour and tips for successful gardening. The class invited three special friends, a representative from the Heritage Conservancy, a landscape gardener, and a native plants specialist to the class to assist with creating a garden that will support pollinators, especially Monarchs. We have created a classroom flower garden by measuring each other to make a stem and then adding a beautiful flower at the top and adding butterflies to this paper garden. Students have been creating murals of milkweed, perennials and annuals that can grow in Pennsylvania and help Monarchs.
In addition to all this research, we are working on handwriting, letter identification and working with numbers up to 10. It has been a busy month.
About UFS
Email: frontoffice@unitedfriendsschool.org
Website: unitedfriendsschool.org
Location: 1018 West Broad St Quakertown PA 18951
Phone: 215-538-1733
Facebook: facebook.com/unitedfriendsschool
Twitter: @quakerschool