RPDS ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER

e-RPDS 11/11/2016

Letter from the Director

Dear Redeemer Community,

Research tells us that 90% of brain development occurs by the age of five, and the factors that are the most influential are a child's relationships, experiences and environment. That means that preschool is a really important place. Our job is big, and we know it.

The number one reason we are here is our students, and it is our mission to ensure they have the highest quality foundation that we can provide. We strive to create a vibrant learning environment where it's not just ok, but it is encouraged to think outside the box, explore with freedom, and take risks. We know that a little mess and a little noise are the sights and sounds of learning. Redeemer provides a safe and secure setting that encourages creativity, mistake making, problem solving, independence, and the time and space to develop positive interpersonal relationships with one another.

More than most, we recognize the importance of early childhood education and its lifelong impact. A lot is expected of us, and we embrace the challenge. Part of meeting those expectations is consistent self-evaluation. Last year we spent a great deal of time and effort developing our "social choreography curriculum", or how we interact with one another. We see the positive benefits of that work on a daily basis.

Last Friday the faculty and I attended the Mid-Atlantic Episcopal Schools Early Childhood conference, which was comprised of a collection of workshops with titles like "A Brain-Based Cycle of Instruction for the Classroom", "Using Musical Elements in Children's Literature", "Creating Spaces for Art and Creativity", and "Learning Through Play the Reggio Way", among others. The conference was intended as a springboard to a yearlong process to evaluate our curriculum across all age levels, subject areas, and learning modalities. We know that our 21st century learners will be part of a very global, innovative, and collaborative environment as adults. That knowledge motivates our planning. We can't wait to get started. After all, it's a vote for our future!

Best regards,

Mary

Classroom Updates:

All About Specials

Art:

Redeemer artists are encouraged to explore and experiment with a variety of art mediums, techniques and tools. By fostering each child's natural curiosity and creativity we focus on the process of creating art versus the end product. Throughout the year we have fun investigating all of the elements of art: line, shape, color, texture and form. Please stop by and see what's happening in the art room!

Chapel:

Wednesday mornings at 11:00 am are a special time at our school, when we all gather in the church for Chapel. We sing special songs, say special prayers, give out birthday cross necklaces, and collect chapel food for our hungry neighbors in Baltimore. We also enjoy a short story highlighting the "Value of the Week", like "respect" or "compassion". When the weather is nice, we love having Chapel outside by the rain garden! Here is one of the prayers we pray together: "Thank you God for all I have. Keep and bless all those I love. Help me always God to do just as you would wish me to. Amen." It is a joy to be in Chapel with your children every Wednesday!

Love, Mother P.

Gym:

With our wonderful new equipment, our gym classes have been off to a great start this year! Thanks so much to the Parent Council for their fundraising efforts that have provided the coated foam balls perfect for small hands to catch and throw, an abundance of bean bags, enough sturdy hula hoops for each child in a class, new parachute, a 30 inch cage ball and more. These new additions have helped expand our repertoire of games and activities immensely.

We like to start off our classes with a warm up, followed by an obstacle course using our new equipment. We sometimes work on skills including throwing, catching and kicking, as well as traveling and locomotor skills. The younger classes have been learning various tag type games, while the older groups have started some team games like soccer and kickball. All of the classes love the parachute activities. We have been fortunate with the nice fall weather that has allowed us to have class outdoors with plenty of room to move and play!

Music:

After working diligently on our wonderful holiday programs, we are excited about exploring different rhythm band instruments. We will be learning to recognize the sounds and names of various rhythm instruments and how they are used and played. Then we will explore and have fun playing them in the context of a song or in a story, creating an auditory setting for them to develop their already creative imaginations! The children are so much fun to teach! They respond and participate in such a wonderful way.

Library:

Beginning in the second semester of our 3 year old programs, students visit the library on a weekly basis. As most of you know, our library program is unique in that is run by our wonderful parent volunteers. It is an opportunity for students to listen to favorite stories and chose a special book that belongs to them for the week. Our students have the autonomy to chose for themselves, care for the books, and re-shelf them upon return, teaching both independence and responsibility. Most of all, our library program fosters a love of literature and reading!

Science:

Through interactive hands-on exploration, our science program engages our students' curiosity to make discoveries about the world around us.

The Pre-k students follow a science alphabet that gives the children exposure to a variety of science topics and tools. This week for the letter "I" we made ice cream. We made careful measurements of the ingredients, observed changing states of matter from liquid to solid, used thermometers to check the temperature, and most importantly had a taste test!

The Kindergarten explores a different theme each month. We started the year with an "All about me" unit where we learned about systems of the body, followed by a chemistry unit where the students enjoyed testing acids and bases, cleaning pennies with different potions, and making a bubbling wizard brew. This month we are exploring food science and nutrition. Our new raised bed gardens have been a wonderful resource for this unit!

The Pre-first classes are based on the work of famous scientists. We finished our unit of engineers and inventors where we made and tested catapults, parachutes, kites, planes, Cartesian divers and much more. We are now learning about chemists and have investigated changing states of matter through melting and freezing and making our own crayons. Next we will study chemical reactions with student favorite experiments of making slime and super bouncy balls!

Spanish:

Hola! The kindergarten and pre-first students are having fun with Spanish! We are learning basic conversation, numbers, colors and singing a lot of fun songs! Ask them to sing you their favorite song. This past week we played color bingo and focused on the color Amarillo (yellow). They are becoming familiar with the new sounds and learning pronunciation. It may take them months and lots of repetition before they to start using the words with confidence. Click here for list of the words they have learned. Have fun with Spanish!

Values:

I t is my pleasure to help your children experience values at many different levels to make them their own. It is not enough to feel, experience and think about strong values; good social skills are also needed to be able incorporate them into everyday living. Our students are increasingly able to see the impact of their behavior and choices. Upcoming topics include, "I am sorry", compassion/empathy, Christmas giving, and needs versus wants. Thank you for your support at home. Be sure to check each edition of eRPDS for our current Value of the Week! They are always listed under the Quicklinks section.

World Cultures:

Every Friday afternoon, our kindergarten and pre-first students celebrate Friday Fun Day. Half the group spends 30 minutes playing old-fashioned games like UNO, Twister, checkers and Go Fish with their teachers and the other half spends 30 minutes exploring cultures from around the world with Mrs. Knott. After applying for and receiving passports they spend the rest of year learning about other countries through cooking, literature, and crafts. As we become a more global society, it is important that even at this young age our little ones begin to understand the world around them. Plus, it is so much fun! Oh the places we'll go!

Office Notes

Re-enrollment and Sibling Applications

In order to reserve a place for your child in our program, we must receive all re-enrollment and application forms by December 1. If we do not have the form by December 1, we cannot guarantee your child a spot. Please note that no money is due at this time. Click here for the Re-enrollment form. Click here for an application. If you have questions, please contact the school office.

Redeemer Gear

Redeemer gear can be purchased year round in the school office. The following items are available for purchase:

Under Armour hoodies and tee shirts (youth and adult sizes available)
Fleece blankets (great to keep in the car during cold weather or take on picnics)
car magnets
Tervis Tumblers
school tote bags

UPCOMING CALENDAR EVENTS:

Tuesday, November 22: 9:15 am- Thanksgiving Service- break begins after service- no afternoon programs.

Program Highlights:

PDS Professional Development Day

Last Friday the Redeemer teachers were up bright and early to board a bus to Falls Church, Virginia to attend a conference on early childhood education. At Redeemer we are dedicated to professional development and our mission as lifelong learners. Not only did we learn a tremendous amount, we enjoyed being together and sharing thoughts and ideas from our day. Thank you to the Redeemer teachers for the passion and dedication they bring to their positions!

Election Day at Redeemer

Our Redeemer students had an election of their own on Tuesday, November 8. To celebrate the spirit of Election Day and learn a little about our voting process, our students and teachers cast a ballot(or penny) for their favorite color: red, white or blue. Though it was close, blue came out the winner! We had a lot of fun and our students were able to experience for themselves a little about the voting process. Lots of great conversations and questions resulted from the process.

Boots for Baltimore

Boots for Baltimore was a huge success! All of the coins collected will go towards buying boots for homeless men and women in our community. Our students were able to see that every little bit counts and that even at this young age, they can make a difference. Thank you to Sophie Coates and Chrissy Levering for their help organizing this drive. A special thank you to the Pre-first for sorting and tallying the coins. Impressive work!

In This Issue

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!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR NEW SLIDESHOW

Fall Family Fun at Redeemer