A Short but Joyful Week!

Even with a short week, our days were filled with music, singing, and dancing!

We recently introduced our song cards — each card shows the name of the song, an image that represents it, and even lyrics on the back to help us learn the words as we sing along. Some of our favorite songs this week — ones you might have already heard at home — have been “Icky Sticky Bubblegum,” “Wheels on the Bus,” “Dance Bears,” “Here Is My Pumpkin,” “The Doughnut Song,” and the timeless “Old MacDonald.”

Our “Wheels on the Bus” explorations inspired lots of excitement — especially about the horn, the driver, and the mommies and daddies on the bus! Out in the yard, some children even created their very own bus using crates, driving through imaginary streets with big smiles and laughter.

During snack time, we enjoyed a crunchy bite of rice cakes and sweet bananas while reading A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni. This story sparked beautiful conversations about colors and change, as we learned how a chameleon’s colors shift and how things around us can transform, too.

In the yard, friends discovered new ways to use our climbing blocks — turning them into “pop-up” spaces! With a circle opening on top, children joyfully climbed in and out, laughing and shouting “Pop!” as they emerged.

We were also thrilled to welcome our morning teacher, Colette, to the afternoon! Her love of music and guitar filled our classroom with warmth and curiosity. Children gathered around to listen to her play and even tried out a “one-finger touch” to explore the sound of the strings.

This week, we also introduced playdough to our classroom! Friends were quick to describe it as “squishy!” as they discovered its sticky, soft, and moldable textures — perfect for pressing, rolling, and creating together.

In observance of Diwali, the school will be closed on Monday, October 20th. We look forward to seeing everyone back on Tuesday, October 21st.

✨ Have a wonderful and colorful long weekend! ✨

Exploring Inside the Classroom

The week started off wonderful with the first All School Sing of the year! It’s so exciting to share our classroom with friends and family, and it’s made even better by the beautiful songs our music teacher, Tony Soll, teaches us.

Outside in the yard, we played a game of Ring Around the Rosie. We all held hands and sang the tune while practicing walking in a circle and falling down safely. Soon enough, children were able to facilitate the game all by themselves. We also played with foam rollers, squeezing soap out of them with our hands and scrubbing paint off of the wall.

As the weather is starting to actually resemble Autumn, it felt appropriate to start exploring the inside classroom. After friends ate snack outside on the red rug and read The Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, they slowly trickled inside with teachers. The first step to coming inside is to wash hands in the bathroom, then we can make a choice at one of the areas in the classroom. At the art table, children could make marks on the table itself or paper on the chalkboard using colorful pastels. The green rug was the perfect place to set up train and their tracks. Kids even tried to make a life sized train with baskets inside, just like they do with the crates outside! Children also practiced taking turns and sharing at the peg puzzle table, passing each other pieces and naming the animals and vehicles they see.

We ended our days listening to music on the rug and joining along with our singing voices and shakers. We even had luxury of Brian playing music for us on the guitar. Feel free to comment any songs you and your family enjoy listening to so we can play them at school!

Dancing to our Song Cards

We noticed, and were told by some families, that children have been singing songs from Brooklyn Schoolhouse. We love to listen, sing, and dance to music at school, and when we do, we use something called Song Cards. Song cards are a tool that help us know what song we’re singing by showing us the title, a picture of what the song is about, and the lyrics. This week, teachers showed us the song cards and taught children the words and dances before the children decided to lead them on their own. They built a stage for them to perform songs like “Icky Sticky Bubble Gum”, “Here is My Pumpkin”, and “Dance Bears”.

Friends have been exploring climbing in different areas of the yard. Some kids noticed gaps in between the green climbing blocks and took the risk as a challenge. While holding hands with a teacher, kids courageously stretched their legs over the gap to step onto the next climbing block, practicing both their balance and spatial awareness. It was also fun to step on top of the wooden hollow blocks and dramatically jump off; even a half-foot drop can feel like a gigantic leap!

We enjoyed the beautiful weather by splashing in the water kitchen, making colorful paintings, and running around with our friends. Our story this week was Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney. We loved eating bananas and getting to the part of the book where Llama Llama gets picked up by their mom from school.

We also had the joy of celebrating our classmate, Briar’s, second birthday! Her mom and aunt came in to eat cupcakes and sing songs. Happy birthday Briar!

Photos from our Short Week

It was a short but sweet week for the Afternoon Group. The Full Day friends joined us, and it was wonderful to explore the yard and classroom together. We hope you enjoy the photos and have a great weekend!

All Aboard the Afternoon Class!

This week, we explored so many ways to play and create together. With bright colors, we painted on large paper and experimented with collecting rocks in a bucket in our bamboo-filled rock garden.

Two large crates formed a “train,” with children taking turns as drivers and passengers, their laughter filling the space. Using hollow blocks, they also built makeshift stands and steps, proudly climbing and balancing on their creations. We rolled barrels of water, pulled strong on big fabrics, and enjoyed a sweet game of hide-and-seek around the climbing blocks, laughing with delight when friends were found.

Our playful sea turtles joined in on the fun too—swimming in the outside kitchen sinks of cool water as children gave them splashy adventures. We gathered on the rug to dance and sing along to familiar favorites like "Old McDonald" and "Sleeping Animals,” a beloved BKSH song.

At snack time, we shared bananas while reading What Does Little Crocodile Say? by Eva Montanari. The children were so engaged, joining in with sounds and gestures from the story, making our time extra lively.

We also welcomed a new friend, Clive, who will be joining us in our Afternoon class.

We are excited for the weeks ahead as we continue building our routines, discovering new games, and deepening our friendships. Please note: there will be no Afternoon Class on Tuesday and Wednesday next week in observance of Rosh Hashanah. Have a great weekend!

Our First Week Together

We had our first week together as the Afternoon Class. Children explored each area of the yard with their grown-ups, new teachers, and classmates.

In the water kitchen, we splashed, stirred, and scooped the colored water.

Children discovered the rock garden and transferred many rocks from the ground to the bamboo planter.

We threw, rolled, and caught bouncy balls together. We introduced a song that we often sing with the 2s outside: “I roll the ball to Lily, she rolls it back to me/ I roll the ball to Wylie, he rolls it back to me.“ This is a great song for practicing turn-taking and bringing awareness to where the ball is going in the yard as we play together.

Blue, red, and yellow finger paint and paintbrushes were available, and the children added them to a large piece of paper.

Each day we practiced some simple routines that will be foundational to our year together. For example, we unpacked water bottles at drop off. We ended each day with a snack, story, and a goodbye circle with our drum.

We had so much fun getting to know you and your children this week, and we are excited to continue next week. As a reminder, next regular hours will begin for the Afternoon class (2:30-4:30).