It being September, it seemed like a perfect time to examine how our faculty is transitioning into the new year. Like most classrooms, SEEC is busy getting to know their new students and families, and helping children get accustomed to new routines and expectations. I hope you enjoy reading about some of their unique approaches.

Getting to Know Each Other

Our threes and fours devoted an entire day getting to know each other. They kicked things off when the PreK-4 class received a photo of a friend in the PreK-3 class and were asked to match the person to their photo. Once they found a match, the two classes practiced walking on trains. At SEEC, our classrooms walk, holding hands with a partner and positioning teachers in the front and back — like a train. They chose the National Gallery Sculpture Garden as an outdoor space to play team building games with a long, stretchy rope. After which, they read a book about friendship. The PreK-4 classes ended the day by giving their younger friends thank you cards.

Team Building and Classroom Culture

 In keeping with our emergent curriculum, another PreK-4 class decided to work as a team and spent the morning discussing school year expectations. The educators were careful to record the children’s thoughts as well as their own. They plan to use this discussion as a permanent part of the classroom and the foundation for a successful school year. My personal favorite part of this lesson was that they solidified this idea of teamwork by visiting an exhibit at the American History Museum illustrating how to make a circuit. Students had to make a

connection with their bodies between two metal poles to complete the circuit.

Getting to Know Ourselves

The toddler class began their second week of school by exploring their hands and feet. Not only was this an important way to learn about their own bodies, but it was a way to underscore their classroom routines. In this case, the teaching team emphasized hand-washing (a new independent activity for the toddlers) and walking on trains. It was also an opportunity for the class to practice using their “walking feet” in the museums and on the sidewalks.

Routines

SEEC is lucky to have both an art and music educator and the first few weeks of school are always spent getting to know our newest students in the infants classrooms. This allows the children to acclimate to their daily routines and slowly get to know and build relationships with our enrichment staff.

Community

To get an overview of the Smithsonian community, kindergarten visited the Castle where there are small displays from most of the museums.

Our kindergarten class, which often includes students new to our school, spent some of their first days getting to know their community. While we are lucky to have such a large campus to explore at SEEC, I know that is not the case for every school. However, I love the idea of learning about one’s community both inside and outside of the school walls. Such an exploration opens up opportunities to explore natural surroundings, get to know people who work at the school, to visit nearby businesses, or to observe the roads and vehicles nearby.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about some of our approaches to launching a new school year. Hopefully your year is off to a good start too. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas here.

Originally posted September 2017.