Metamorphosis

During the month of September the children were able to observe the metamorphosis of the monarch caterpillar into the monarch butterfly.   The caterpillars were discovered in our outdoor environment and were released back into that environment after emerging from their chrysalis.  

Natural Beauty

 

Return to School and Our Blog

It is with great pleasure that we share with you our first blog post of this new school year! The purpose of this blog is to provide you with information about the learning opportunities available for all children at Woodside School. We will be chronicling our experiences with photos and weekly posts updating you on what is happening in our classrooms. We also plan to share information on timely parenting topics, Woodside community events and early childhood education.

During the month of September our focus has been on establishing routines, understanding safety rules and allowing families and children to become accustomed to new expectations. We began the month with shortened days and smaller groups to help families with this time of transition. As we develop relationships with the children they begin the process of transferring their trust from their families to their teachers. Children are learning how to interact in a larger group and what it means to be part of a classroom community. More detailed information regarding curriculum is always available and posted on the classroom bulletin boards.

We are looking forward to an exciting year together!

Woodside's First Annual 5K Walk/Run

We are grateful for all those who made the First Annual Woodside School 5k Walk/Run possible this year. This was a fun even that benefited the Woodside School community.

Pumpkins on Parade!

In late October the children in the kindergarten class worked on creating their own jack-o-lanterns. Much thought and effort went into this process. Ms. Recke carefully opened all the small pumpkins so that the children could remove the seeds and inside material to prepare the pumpkins for carving. When the pumpkins were ready the children brought their drawings and pumpkins to Ms. Recke who carved each pumpkin according to each child's specifications. The three day afternoon class saw all that was happening in the kindergarten and was quite intrigued. They were pleasantly surprised when visited by a pumpkin parade!

The past few weeks have been a busy time at Woodside School. The children were excited to share their Halloween adventures with friends and are already thinking about the upcoming holiday season. We welcomed a visit from the NAEYC during the last week of October. Classes have been observing the changes in our natural environment. Some of the classes enjoyed walks to the cranberry bogs and the kindergarten ventured out on their field trip to Plimoth Plantation. We also welcomed families and sponsors to our first annual 5K Walk/Run to begin the month of November. Please stay tuned for photos and more details about all that is happening at Woodside School!

Importance of Play

Today the current educational trend is to emphasize standardized testing and the preparation needed to ready children for these tests. This work has filtered all the way down to what are being called Pressure-cooker Kindergartens. At Woodside School we believe that a child’s work is play. Play in an enjoyable, voluntary, purposeful and spontaneously chosen activity. It is often creative, involving critical thinking and problem solving skills. Play is linked to growth in memory, self regulation (self-control), oral language and symbol recognition. Play also contributes to the development of literacy skills and academic capabilities in other areas such as math and scientific inquiry. Every decision about our daily routine and activities is made thoughtfully, with specific purpose and a focus on play based, developmentally appropriate learning objectives. Extensive information regarding curriculum is available in our resource room. We are also working on NAEYC Classroom Portfolio's that document all the learning opportunities available to children each day at Woodside School. Your children are learning so much every day!