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Why The Symbols?
Imagine 4-year-old Cate, who cannot yet recognize her name. The world around her is filled with ...
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ART with Jim: 3/4’s Class1, Fall 2024
Each year as Fall begins, the art room transforms from a BLANK CANVAS into an evolving rainbow of colors and new ideas.The structure of the next ...
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Meet our Specialist Team!
JIM SPERBER began his art career after graduating from the California Institute of the Arts in 1994. His abstract paintings are simple and complex at ...
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The Red Room Rainbows Raise $820 during Lego Build-A-Thon
On Thursday, May 27th, the Rainbows embarked on a special mission – raise money for Habitat for Humanity. The task incorporated their love of ...
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Plants, Growth, and Moving Forward: Greenhouse in a Bag & Potting Beans
The Joy of Planting by Anna Campbell (2017)
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Space for Wonder and Sense-Making: Butterflies in the Yellow Room
It has been a special experience to watch the children observe, in real-time, the process of ...
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A Year of Wishes
We all start off the year making wishes for our children? Whatever those wishes were, we hope they came true in their classrooms, connections, ...
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ART: 3/4’s Blacklight Office, Spring 2024
I love black lights. In college I wrote an entire two books of a journal in highlighter while bathed in the purple glow. It was this experience ...
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Building a Story = Brain Development
Could simple story-telling boost all sorts of academic and social development in young ...
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The Countdown Begins
This week we began our final countdown to the last day of school. We have several routines and traditions we use to mark the end of our year ...
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A Whale of a Time
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Suncatchers with Kim!
A few weeks ago, our early drop-off friends noticed Kim getting ready for an exciting project with the 4s/5s — glue suncatchers! In true Silver ...
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ART: 4/5’s BASQUIAT! Spring, 2024
There is a lot of depth in the art of Basquiat. I go into the social commentary a bit, talking about the role of his mostly black figures being ...
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Can You Guess?
“Can you guess what’s in the bag, what’s in the bag, what’s in the ...
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Purple Room Boat Exploration
As the Purple friends have grown more creative with their vast block creations, we noticed the children making all types of boats more often then ...
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May Spotlight
What a year it has been! As we send out our final Spotlight of the year, we find ourselves reflecting on the ...
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Storytellers
Silver Room friends delight in opportunities to tap into their imaginations and create rich and elaborate stories! During a small group, some ...
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Kindergarten Research
This week, the Super Lollipops began their Kindergarten Research Project. Last week, during our first research session, the Super Lollipops listed ...
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Who Sank the Boat? Exploring Float & Sink
After learning about the science of sinking and floating, The Skeletonsattempted to make boats ...
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Celebrating Our Earth
April 22nd is Earth Day, and this week is Earth ...
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Having Fun Isn’t Hard, When You’ve Got a Library Card!
This week, the Super Lollipops took our first of four visits to the Hudson Park Library! We were the first to arrive at the library for the day, and ...
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Parachute Play
This week in the gym the Excavators were overjoyed to revisit a favorite material: the parachute! As teachers, we love utilizing the parachute to ...
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Roll and Write
Upon returning from break, we reached a review point in our Handwriting curriculum where the children were ...
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Snails, Snails, Snails!
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Make a prediction: Will the object float or sink? Explorations on density.
This week in science, The Super Lollipops were asked to predict whether certain items would float or sink in ...
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The State of Matter
States of Matter – Solids, Liquids & ...
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The Magical Yet
A while back, we read The Magical Yet, a book about a kid who is trying to learn to ride a bike. She becomes very frustrated by the challenges ...
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Research Group: Donut Shop
While Kayla was away student teaching, the Super Lollipops made a list of ideas for our Dramatic Play center. They then worked with Brian to sort the ...
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ART: 3/4’s Putting it all together in ARCHITECTURE
We’ve learned about LINE, COLOR and SHAPE so we’re clearly ready to move on to ...
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Walking Trip to the Mailbox
Last week each of the children sent a letter home in the mail! Going on a neighborhood walk, even a small one to the mailbox, is valuable for feeling ...
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ART: 4/5’s COLOR
Not everyone sees color the same way. Of course, we may have heard of red/green color blindness, but even for people who see the entire spectrum, ...
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ME ♾️ WE
On your child’s recent Early Learning Summary we shared individual goals for your child, consider this post an Early Learning ...
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Literacy Work Time
At our monthly full faculty meetings, teaching teams take turns sharing about a new curricular development in their classroom. It was our turn this ...
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ART: 3/4’s SHAPE
Class started with a review of ABSTRACT vs. REALISTIC, LINE and COLOR, before moving onto ...
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Barrow Family Week 2024
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Purple Room Job Chart!
Since September, the Purple Room friends have become expert explorers of their classroom environment. The children navigate the classroom with ...
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Storytelling
“Writing stories gives children a sense not only of what they can do as writers, but also what they can do in the world … It gives them a ...
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Mesmerizing, Melting, Marshmallows
The Super Lollipops wanted to make s’mores. Since this was science class, we had to be scientific critical ...
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WADDLES POLAR HABITAT
The Rainbows wanted to learn more about the habitat where Waddles, the class penguin, would ...
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A brand new routine!
Since returning from break, the Rainbow Sprinkles have shown a truly insatiable interest in writing, drawing, and letter identification. We’ve ...
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Family Week Preview
During our Thursday Morning Meeting, we asked your Super Lollipops “What is a family?” Some answers ...
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The Skeletons’ Skeletons
Over the last few weeks The Skeletons have been working on a project where they glued different sized bones (q-tips) to fill in their silhouette. The ...
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A Visit to the Skeleton Hospital
Have the Space Pups ever told you just how much they love playing doctor at school? Since December, the class has been interested in doctors, ...
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ART: 3/4’s LINE
Lines are everywhere. Whether you are making an abstract or realistic piece of art, lines are the main ...
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ART: 3/4’s Abstract vs. Realistic art
After the cave kickoff, I like to start the second semester, (Foundations of Art 101 ;-))class with a simple distinction between abstract and ...
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Pipilotti Rist @ Luhring Augustine: Curricular Connection
In the yellow room we create tiny worlds to play inside. We play with light, shapes, characters, and create our own stories. In the yellow room we ...
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Research Group: Pizza Restaurant
While Kayla was away student teaching, the Super Lollipops made a list of ideas for our Dramatic Play center. They then worked with Brian to sort the ...
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Leemie Visits!
Starting this week, Leemie will be joining the Super Lollipops at home for a weekend visit every ...
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Board Game Spotlight
Over the past few weeks, we have been introducing board games to the friends in the Purple Room. Board games are a fun way to practice many tricky ...
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January Spotlight
Earlier in the year, we shared about our “third teacher,” the physical environment. Since our return from Winter Break, our classroom setup has ...
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Winter Science with the Blue Room
The Skeletons have been exploring winter and snow in habitats similar to those where they live in New York ...
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We’re Cooking…and Baking, Too!
The Super Lollipops wanted to explore the science of cooking and baking. They have set up a kitchen in dramatic ...
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Big Body Season
Big body season is upon ...
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“Flowers in the ocean and hearts”
As the children are all progressing with their writing, we wanted to call attention to line. If we think about forming letters and ...
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A Look Back at Family Weeks from the Past…
With our fourth annual Barrow Family ...
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January Materials Highlight!
Since returning from winter break, the Purple friends have been ringing in the new year with some new and exciting materials. For our first class ...
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Next Steps in Dramatic Play
The kids had a blast in the Hot Chocolate Stand we setup in Dramatic Play prior to break. However, upon returning we felt like we needed to refresh ...
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Welcome Back!
We have jumped right back into the swing of things after our winter break! We wanted to share some updates, photos, and a preview of what’s ...
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It’s More Than Washing Hands!
The toddler years are a time of rapid growth. So much happens in such a short time, which is why it can be so ...
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The Nutcracker and American Ballet Theater
The children acted out different parts of the story and practiced balancing the crown on their heads ...
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Snow Globes and Celebrations
To celebrate the end of the semester and all of the 4/5s’ interest in precipitation, we made snow globes in science. Measuring, pouring, ...
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Needs, Wants, and Teacher Gratitude
The Rainbows have been exploring what it means to NEED something, and what it means to WANT. We kicked off this inquiry by reading one of our ...
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Curriculum Spotlight – Maps, Homes, and Windows
Recently, the Purple Room friends have been hard at work playing, exploring materials, and learning new things. A few weeks ago, we wanted to more ...
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Tuesday Times
Reporting to you today from the Yellow Room. We hope you enjoy reading this post with your kiddos like a little newspaper about today’s events. ...
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Plié, Relevé, Tendu
This week, we had our first Nutcracker rehearsal class with Miss Wendy from the American Ballet Theatre. In preparation for our first class, the ...
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But How Will We Care For the Plants?
Last week in science, the Super Lollipops made observational drawings of the plants on the ...
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Precipitation, Evaporation, Transpiration, Oh My!
The Rainbows continued their exploration of the water cycle by examining clouds and their saturation ...
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Finding Joy in Nature
The Orange Room spent Science on the roof, exploring the plants which are able to withstand the cooler weather ...
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The Rainbows Learn About The Water Cycle
Turning on the water
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Musical exploration!
In recent weeks we have begun an exploration of music with our Purple Room Cookies! We first noticed the group’s interest in music in the ways ...
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Friendship and Feelings
This week we began reading stories and having conversations that focused specifically on friendship and feelings. We observed that many of the ...
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Diary of a Happy Pumpkin
Dear Grown Ups,
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Literacy Connections
In the Yellow Room we use literature to explain big ideas, prompt play, and make connections. When reading aloud with children we talk about ...
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Handwriting Without Tears
• Prewriting/Writing – by learning prewriting strokes, grasp ...
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Somewhere Over the Rainbow
The Red Room students have continued their exploration of rainbows, color, and light using prisms. Last week, ...
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The Votes Are In!
By the 3s/4s year, students have had some practice choosing and voting on a class name. In the 2s/3s, the students learn what voting means and how to ...
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The Orange Room: A Scientific Exploration in Color Mixing
“There are colors we cannot see, but they are connected to the ones we can. There’s a connection between ...
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And The Great Blue Room Bake Off continues…
For the past three weeks, the Blue Room students have continued their exploration of the ...
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Art in the Green Room: Writing and Drawing
Let’s turn our attention to writing!
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Art in the Green Room: Writing and Drawing
Art encompasses so many areas of development. It’s a form of communication and a way to express one’s ideas and feelings. It can be a social ...
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Voting in the PM Purple Room! Now presenting the…
As a part of the annual Barrow tradition, the Purple Room friends have been busy working to name our classroom for the 2023-2024 school year. Over ...
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October Spotlight
In the Reggio Emilia approach, Loris Malaguzzi named three teachers of children – adults, other children, and the physical environment. The ...
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Pumpkin Cookies!!!!
It is autumn in the city, that time when all things pumpkin start to arrive in our lives… and into Barrow classrooms. To honor the lovely ...
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All the Colors of the Rainbows – What happens when we mix light, color, water, and a little pre-K curiosity and creativity?
Continuing their exploration of rainbows in science today, the Red Room students delved deeper into how ...
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Contrast and Compare – When Playdough Moves Beyond Play and Into Scientific Reasoning
In science, the Orange Room has been on a mission to learn more about playdough. The ...
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Dictionaries
A key component of our literacy curriculum is the children’s individual dictionaries. Once a week, each child gets to work one-on-one with a ...
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Building with Unit Blocks
As we continue to settle into school, we wanted to take some time to reflect on how children have been interacting with blocks. Unit blocks are an ...
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Cotton Ball + Sandpaper
For this week’s update, we wanted to highlight our ongoing exploration of Cotton Balls and Sandpaper! Let us explain…
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Specialists Who Make Barrow Special
At this Thursday’s Back to School Night you will have the opportunity to “meet and greet” your child’s beloved BSNS ...
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A Tour of the Green Room
Meeting
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Why The Symbols?
Let’s start by exploring how this might be experienced from the child’s perspective. Imagine 4-year-old Cate who ...
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West Village Historic Walking Tour
In anticipation of the event, the DEI committee would like to share some resources with you to use with your children to learn more about our Barrow ...
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Banana Muffins, Anyone?
The green room has been thinking about what we could make using all of the extra bananas we had. We decided to make a list for our cooking ...
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Our Silver Thinking Bubble
I was first introduced to the idea of a “thinking bubble” way back in 2021 by our good friend (and magical guide in all things early education!) ...
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What Do We Know About the Moon?
In the beginning of the school year, we had two books on our bookshelf that featured the moon: A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin and ...
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Spotlight on: Ten-Frame
During Goodbye Meeting each day, the Orange Room comes together to create a journal entry for our days adventures. Take a look:
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Our Classroom Agreements
Each year as we get to know one another and our new classroom, we think about ways we can ensure that everyone in the Red Room can feel safe and have ...
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Beading Bonanza!
In addition to our monthly newsletter, we will be posting a story that highlights an activity and the learning ...
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And so it begins… Science with the 4/5s
“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.”
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Sharing Our Families
As we embark on this journey of learning and growing together, it is our hope that we can create an environment where we encourage a sense of ...
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20 Questions
In addition to the weekly questions we’ll offer focused on current goings on, we also wanted to provide some general questions that might help ...
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A peek into the Purple Room…
Since the beginning of the school year, the friends in the Purple Room have been easing into their new classroom and school routines! They have been ...
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Un-Weaving a Found Basket
“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man ...
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Help the NY Public Library!
During a recent visit to the Hudson Park Library, the Orange Room learned about planned cuts to the ...
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Curriculum is a Funny Word
To a preschooler, curriculum can be a funny word. Maybe even a tongue twister, however to teachers and parents it seems to be a word we all take ...
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Small Group
Each small group consists of four-six children and one teacher. Small groups by their nature encourage
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Happy Spring
Spring is in the air! Upon returning from spring break, The Purple Unicorns revisited many fun activities and embarked on new and exciting ...
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Making Ice Cream with the Blue Room
Where does ice cream come from, and how was it made? Some of the students’ ...
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We Feel Loved!
Thank you for helping us celebrate Valentine’s Day! The children enjoyed filling the bags we decorated with our ...
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Rolling, rolling, rolling: Exploring with balls and ramps
Although I was a biologist in a former life, there’s nothing I enjoy exploring more with children than the physical world. I have always been ...
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Power, Big Body, and Rough & Tumble Play in the 3s/4s
We wanted to take an opportunity to share a quick recap about power play, big bodied play, and rough and tumble play: ...
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Making A Bear To Share
On Friday, Samson treated the Unicorn class to a story about a girl named Tiana and her bear, Bach. Tiana loved Bach ...
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Engineering and Imagination in Science
Listen to the mustn’ts ...
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Celebrating Artistic Expression
Each day the children participate in Open Time. This portion of the school day provides our “Unicorns” ...
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An Act of Kindness
“No Act of Kindness , No Matter How Small, Is ever Wasted” The Lion and the ...
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The Morning Message
This week we introduced our new morning message, which has become a permanent fixture in our morning routine and in ...
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ART: The CAVE 2023
We traditionally begin the second semester in the art room with the CAVE. It provides the kids with imaginary ...
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New Year, Old Routines
Happy New Year, Green Room Families! This week, as we settled back into classroom life, we took the time to revisit ...
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Our Yellow Room Community Curriculum
This fall, we launched a community-based curricular project to both broaden our understanding of
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Learning about Holidays at Barrow
With the Winter Holiday season already here, we wanted to shed some light on the ways Barrow teachers facilitate ...
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The Language of Hands
How do hands communicate? Think of some words you might use to describe your hands. For my own I think of my work as ...
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Our First Service Learning Project
The Super Powerful Kids have been exploring what it means to NEED something, and what it means to WANT. We kicked off ...
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Interviewers in Training…
As you know, for the past two weeks, we have been sharing your children’s name stories with the class! (Thank ...
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Yellow Room, You’ve Got Mail!
In late November, The Yellow Room got mail… from the Orange ...
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Curriculum Spotlight: Name Stories
Dear Green Room “Robot Dinosaur” ...
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The Science of Movement – Week 2
Kyleigh and I had the pleasure of co-teaching the science of movement for two weeks this fall. In the second week, we ...
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The Science of Movement – Week 1
Kyleigh and I had the pleasure of co-teaching the science of movement for two weeks this fall. In the first week, we ...
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Rules for School
Having officially taken on the name of The Super Lollipops, we turned our attention towards the next step in our ...
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Pajama Drive: Practicing Gratitude and Generosity
‘Tis the season for gratitude and giving! At Barrow, the Pajama Drive is a fun and accessible way for the whole family to participate in an act of ...
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Social Justice Storytime Recap!
For those who weren’t able to join us last week for our first Social Justice Storytime of the year, don’t worry! Here is a recap of some ...
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5 Reasons to Love Science…
It has been such a busy start to the year. Science with the 4/5s has been an ongoing adventure: the children have actively used their imagination, ...
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Growing Good Citizens at Barrow
For the past several weeks, many classrooms at Barrow have begun to engage in a yearly tradition that is near and dear to our community — ...
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A Day in the White Room
As children are settling into the routines of the White Room, they’re making this space their ...
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Green Room Back to School Night Notes
Children have come into this year already knowing a lot about school. They are familiar with the school spaces, they have a basic understanding of ...
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Introducing… The Super Powerful Kids!
You heard that right! The Red Room has chosen their new class name: THE SUPER POWERFUL KIDS! Here’s a little ...
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Why The Symbols?
As you have undoubtedly heard and seen, your children have something a little atypical about how their names are ...
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Art
Each year as the Fall begins, the art room starts to transform from a BLANK CANVAS (113 of them to be exact) into an ...
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The First Weeks
It is hard to believe we are already weeks into the school year. As we make our journey through the separation ...
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What We Learn on a Walk
The West Village is filled with local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities, and experiences that can be used as the foundation for all kinds ...
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Goodbyes, Hellos, and I-Always-Come-Backs
Much of the work we engaged in this week surrounded separation and saying goodbye. This lifelong practice of coming and going, being together and ...
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Spotlight on… Hello Meeting
A central party of each and every day is Hello Meeting. It is a key component in our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum and is essential to ...
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New Routine Alert: Morning Jobs
Today, we introduced the Orange Room friends to a new routine: Morning Jobs. Each morning upon arriving at school, they are tasked with completing ...
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Barrow
Hi folks! I’m Ari, Barrow’s new Diversity, Equity, and ...
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Our First Week of School!
It has been an exciting first week of school in the Yellow Room! These first connections are the origin from which a year’s worth of rich ...
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Pre-K Body Outline Fun
During a series of joint movement/science classes in the winter, the PreK students worked together to outline their bodies as one step in learning ...
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ART: 4/5’s Spring ’22 Blacklight Office Party
Highlighters and blacklight: two things that kids will get more familiar with as the go on in school, one probably being more fun than the other. ...
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Neighborhood Explorations
As part of a photography exploration, the Silver Room friends have been going on walking trips over the past few weeks to explore and document the ...
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Challenging Gender Stereotypes in the Red Room
Gender stereotypes are everywhere. They pop up through conversations, rolechoices in games, and activity preferences in the classroom. Have you ever ...
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Yellow Room Class Jobs
Recently, your children may have come home talking about their “jobs” at school. For the first half of the year, Nicki and I worked to set clear ...
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Letter Making with the Fish Sticks
Let’s take a closer look into our emergent letter writing curriculum in the Purple Room this ...
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West Village Pizza Tour!
The West Village Pizza Tour has commenced! As the weeks of our Cooking Study continued, one thing was clear: pizza was our favorite thing we have ...
