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Letter from the Director
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Dear Redeemer Community,
Last week I experienced an extraordinary moment in the most ordinary of circumstances. Jen Barta was on a school visit so I was to cover her class for the first 45 minutes of the day. Her students arrived, ready for their morning routine. They each began to work on a morning math paper. We got out straw bundles and manipulatives, and combined with the use of number lines and plain old fashioned counting, they worked diligently. While each one had a different approach and method of comprehension, they all eventually solved the problems.
It was quickly apparent, though, that their number one priority in ensuring that I did a suitable job as their substitute teacher was to make certain that I understood that their morning paper was always followed with a period of play. They couldn't wait to play. One of the students asked me to join in a "coloring project" which I agreed to do after everyone had completed their work.
By the time I arrived to the play area, they were well on their way, busy with drawings, planning and building; they were creating a store. I was immediately put in charge of constructing paper cupcakes for the display. Each child had a role - from writing the words for signage to setting up the dessert shelves to counting the appropriate amount of candies, desserts and cakes. Every time someone spoke it began like this, "Guys, how about ...?" They were negotiating, problem solving, planning, designing, and executing all while developing essential language, math and social skills. Stretching themselves cognitively, they were thinking creatively and collaboratively.
Jen had left sub plans, but I did exactly what I knew she would want me to do. I ignored them. No pre-set plans, instruction manual or even the most talented of teachers could orchestrate what was happening at that very moment. It was driven by the children's most natural of tendencies - their desire to play. Using limited materials, they were creating and developing something far more fascinating than a store. They were developing themselves.
Since its inception in 1951, Redeemer has emphasized a balance of play and academics. We hear time and time again how prepared our students are for wherever they go after us. It is our goal to promote strong social and cognitive growth in young children, and that involves learning through play. We have never lost sight of that.
Please enjoy the following the following article.
Best regards,
Mary Knott
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Classroom Updates:
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Hanna 2s:
The Hanna Twos have settled nicely into their new routine. They have begun learning about circles, the color orange, and Autumn. They enjoyed listening to My Jack-o'-Lantern by Nancy Skarmeas during circle time, exploring miniature pumpkins, and painting with orange. Over the next couple of weeks, the children will "stuff" their own pumpkin and add a face to it. They will listen to Mouse's First Fall (a great read-aloud book that celebrates the season and easily transfers to outdoor fun with leaves), and we will go on a leaf hunt. Mrs. Doherty and I will teach them the hand motions to Five Little Pumpkins, and we will all snack on orange, crunchy carrots. Yum!
Wyatt 2s:
The Wyatt Twos have successfully completed a full month of school! With the start of October, we are now focusing on circles, the color orange, and the fall season. We made ears of corn for our classroom bulletin board by painting bubble wrap to make the kernels. We also made a new placemat with a handprint witch. During Circle Time, we have been working on an AB pattern on our calendar, and we are learning a song about pumpkins using Jack-O-Lantern puppets. With the change in the season, our playground mornings are getting a little chillier. Please check your children's cubbies to make sure they have an appropriate change of clothing. Thank you for all of your support!
Hooper 3s:
The 3 Day 3's have started their Fall/Halloween Counting Book #1-5. Each page will have an artful creation and a poem to go with it! We are practicing lots of rhyming in the 3 Day 3's as we work on our reading readiness! Our counting skills are practiced each day as well with weather and calendar work! Orange triangle placements are "set" at snack time as we continue working on name recognition....you can reinforce this at home by playing "I SPY" with CAPITAL letters! Looking forward to seeing you all at the Fall Fair next Saturday! Thank you for providing a delicious lunch!
The five day 3s are happy to see the sun and get outside to play after a rainy few days. We are working on learning about the color orange and the shape of a triangle. Our new nursery rhyme is Peter pumpkin eater. The children find this one to be very funny. We are starting our fall counting books and making Halloween decorations to make our classroom festive. We have started working on filling up our values bucket. We are working on being good friends and students to earn a special party. Hopefully you hear them saying they "earned a bean for the bucket". It's a very exciting time of year for us.
Our pre-k class is headed into the busy season where we are studying our letter of the week as well as trying to fit in Fall and Halloween activities. This week has been filled with delightful D projects including dot to dots, making donuts, dice games and dancing. Next week brings plenty of eggs, elephants and exit sign hunts. We have been correcting pencil and scissors grips but it is early in the year and many children are still switching hands as they work! Popular free choices recently with both boys and girls include playing with the doll house and building with the wooden blocks. We do our best to keep track of sweaters and jackets as children move all around the school and playground so please help us by putting names or initials in them! Thanks for reviewing informally at home the letters we have studied so far.
Loeb Pre-k:
October and the hint of fall are here. Thank goodness the rain is gone for a while, and we can enjoy this lovely weather! We have been busy with the letter "D", making new placemats, making doughnut holes for our cooking class, and digging in the dirt to plant our bulbs. The children are already looking forward to Halloween, but Mrs. Loeb told them they can't talk about it until they see....... The Ghost! Thank you to all our Library readers! You all have done a wonderful job!
KIndergarten:
Kindergarten had fun with the color unit. We painted, colored, read and practiced writing our colors after reading many wonderful books. These color words were also reinforced in other subject areas such as spanish and art. We will continue with our color words throughout the year in other units. In the coming weeks we are looking forward to exploring fall and the changes it brings all around us. Apples and pumpkins will be a focus in this unit while also discussing what we see on the farm before, during and after our field trip. In Language Arts we continue practicing our letters and phonemic awareness, and have begun discussing what good readers do while reading. In Writer's Workshop, not only are we illustrating our stories, but are including labels and sounding out words for our pictures. In Math, we continue counting objects, writing numerals and discussing number stories while using a ten frame model. This tool allows students to visualize their numbers which is an important foundational math skill. Ask about the games we have played such as "Gotcha", Top It and Dot Memory. Playing games and reading together on a regular basis is the best way for children in this age group to improve their reading and math skills. Thank you for all of your support with your children. We truly enjoy working with them every day.
Pre-first:
The Pre-first children thoroughly enjoyed watching and participating in the hatching process of the baby chicks. We incorporated many writing activities around the chicks and even wrote and illustrated our own books in conjunction with the book, Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins. We continue to practice our phonemic awareness skills by blending, reading, segmenting and spelling three-sound short vowel words as well as sentence procedures such as capitalization and punctuation. Next week, we will begin our unit on the farm and in social studies we will be working on our map skills.
The Pre-first children have been collaborating very well together these past two weeks. They created a garden out of our unit blocks and then went a step further and have now built a candy/flower shop. Each child has a role in the shop (ex: candy maker, flower creator, or cashier.) It has been so fun to watch the creativity from each child!
Lunch Bunch is feeling spooky! We have already started to make and hang Halloween decorations. We are planning many fun and spirited projects for the month of October which include making oreo spiders, glitter webs, glowing necklaces and many pumpkins! Please remember if you pack Halloween candy in your child's Lunch to make sure that it is nut free.
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Office Notes
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UPCOMING CALENDAR EVENTS
Friday, October 9-
ALL SCHOOL DISMISSAL 11:45 - (Faculty Meeting)
Monday, October 12- NO SCHOOL- Columbus Day
Saturday, October 17th- Fall Family Festival
* New this year PONY RIDES & PETTING ZOO!
Click here for Advance Ticket Sales.
Thursday, October 22nd 9am- Pre-first Sneak Peek (for Kindergarten Parents)
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Program Highlights:
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Quiver Farm Project
Redeemer students played the role of Mother Hen last week, taking care of our eggs. Their hard work and diligence paid off with the arrival of all 12 baby chicks.Both our classes and science program benefited from this project. They were peepin' and a cheepin' - both the chicks and our students!
Episcopal Schools Service
Our kindergarten and pre-first classes hosted friends from St. David's and Good Shepherd schools to celebrate a special chapel service and our Episcopal school community. This longstanding tradition is something we all look forward to each year.
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In preschool we recognize the privilege, responsibility and joy of educating our youngest students. Alongside their parents, we work diligently at building the foundation for their ongoing and lifelong learning. Be sure to click on the link below found in every issue to see our wonderful students in action. Enjoy!
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The Church of the Redeemer
RPDS WEEKLY VALUE:
TRUSTWORTHINESS
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Community News
Babysitting Fundraiser
Do you need a night out?
Help the Journey to Adulthood Sunday School class raise money for their trip to the Dominican Republic. A monthly babysitting service here at the Church of the Redeemer. Our teens (along with an adult supervisor) will care for your children (ages 3-11) from 5:45-8:30 pm on the following Saturdays:
October 10, 2015
November 14, 2015
December 12, 2015
We'll have pizza, play games, make crafts, and watch a movie while you enjoy an evening to yourselves. Suggested donation is $10/hour/child, but all donations welcomed.
Email erin.hagar@gmail.com to sign-up.
Oliver Latry
Titular Organist
Cathedral of Notre-Dame
Paris
Sunday, October 25
5:00 PM
Church of the Redeemer
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Contact Us
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Redeemer Parish Day School
5603 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21210
410-435-9510
Mary Knott, Director mknott@redeemeronline.com
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