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We're looking for rare individuals. Teachers with degrees in early childhood or environmental education and a fire in the belly to make a difference. Administrators with a head for business and a heart for helping children reach their full potential. People who are so invested that they'll stay with us for years, growing and developing our educational community. Is that you?
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Kids learn through play, but what about the grown ups? The Grove School is a playground for everyone. Join the fun!
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Two students draw upside, using the underside of a table.

HOW DO YOU LIKE TO DRAW?

That simple question turned into a fun activity for students in Ms Katie’s and Ms. Shonda’s Early Preschool class at our school.  Students identified ways they liked to draw and took turns experiencing all the different methods.  They then voted by placing their picture underneath their favorite way to draw.  You can see by the chart (photo below) that they preferred drawing while upside down.

Enjoy the photos below.

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Students at The Grove School of Cary had a special night Feb. 17 when they invited their dads, grandfathers or another special man in their lives to participate in the Man in My Life event.  The students led their special guests in fun classroom activities.  Students read with their guest and also had a tower building contest where the teams used recycled products to build a tower as high as they could.

Enjoy the video montage below highlighting some of the night’s events.

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A Grove dad works with his son during an activity at the school.

On Thursday, Feb. 17 we are hosting a special night of events at The Grove School of Cary.  The first event is the “Man in My Life” activity for students of the school and a significant man in their lives, like a dad, a granddad, or someone else special.  This special time starts at 5pm and ends at 6pm. The children will be doing a special activity with their invited guest.

The next activity on the same night is an OPEN HOUSE that will go from 6pm to 7pm.  This time of the evening is for families who are looking for a preschool for either now or the summer or fall.

The OPEN HOUSE is for everyone. We will provide tours of our green and eco-friendly facility, provide curriculum demonstrations and have an opportunity to meet our world-class staff.

Please feel free to invite friends and families that you know.

As you know, NOW is the time to reserve your spots for summer and fall. Don’t delay!

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During the school day, students in each of our classes have the opportunity to participate in one of our five strands classes. The strands that we provide for them are music, art, drama, Healthy-Me (physical fitness) and Eco Friends (science-based).  They rotate through the strands each week.

Each class participates in the strands for 30 minutes each day.  Ms. Tanya is the strands teachers and she utilizes her creativity and imagination to integrate the strands one with another.  For instance, while studying about the life cycle of a plant in their Eco-Friends strand class, they used theatrical play to reenact a seed sprouting.  (See above left photo.)

The photos included here show students working in each of the five strands.  Please click on the photos to see them larger and to read a description.

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A display of evidence of learning from EPS

I realized the other day that  my children spend a significant amount of time with people other than me.  A large part of their day is spent engulfed in experiences in which I am not directly involved. That can sometimes scare me.

My four year old came home from school on Friday and wanted to play “Show and Tell”. The whole family communed on the carpet with a chair for the presenter and we each had to pick something to “Show and Tell”. At the point that we were all finally seated, he told us, “Please put your ‘Show and Tell’ behind your back so you won’t disturb your friends”, which was quickly followed by, “And wait your turn to ask questions.” It was so cute, yet so telling. He has learned in just three weeks of PreKindergarten the art of organizing a group which also includes what we should be doing with ourselves.

The thought then occurred to me: I have no idea what his actual experiences are, and from here to the end of my days, that will only get worse.

So, how do I know what my little guy is doing? How do I stay connected? How do I, as a parent, continue to be the major influence in his life, passing on my values and still supporting his social and academic development?

Obviously VERY carefully picking where my child will be most of the day is important. It is important to me that the people my child encounters during his day are also able to communicate effectively.

During the month of January at The Grove School our staff is devoted to making evidence of learning an experience. We decided that parents need to see, hear, and experience, as if they are here all the time, what their children are doing. In order to do so, we are developing evidence of learning showcases. These are inspired spaces throughout our hallways and classrooms that reflect, summarize, and highlight amazing learning events that take place each day in our school.

We are emphasizing the work of our students and the process that they have experienced by creating displays that remind them of what they are learning. We are displaying whole class events where each child contributes and the teacher leads the way. We are engaging children in discussions that allow them to organize their thoughts into basic charts and graphs. Simply put, we are decorating our building with authentic masterpieces of learning in such a way that every parent will know what their child is doing.

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Today I stopped into Ms. Sue’s Art Appreciation class, one of our after school enrichment classes, and a snapped a few photos of a preschool class engaged in crayon and paint art.  I thought I would share a few of the photos here with you.

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Pretty and Yummy Too!

The Grove School family celebrated its first birthday Jan. 18th.  Below is a photo of the cake and below that are photos and videos from the celebration.  Click on the thumbnails to see the complete photo.

We had dinosaur activities, special theatrical performances and healthy fruits and veggies.  And yes, we also had some not-so-healthy-but-not-as-bad-as-most birthday cake.

Below is a video from one of the student performances.

Here are some scenes from the night…

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The "clean" tomato soup

Students in Ms. Sue’s Pre-K class conducted a science experiment recently.  They used cotton swabs to go around their room to collect germs.  Then they placed the soiled swabs into a plate of tomato soup to “infect” the soup with the collected germs.

After five days, a mold developed in the soup.  As scientists do, they recorded their observations by drawing what they saw in the moldy soup.

The photos below show the process of learning for the students.  They swabbed, they infected, they waited and then they observed.

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Ms. Tanya's class marches in a musical parade at the "Carnival"

I had the pleasure of observing Ms. Tanya’s music class this week.  While I was in there, she was teaching a group of Early Preschool students music.  They are in the middle of their Carnival unit.  So during the class, they marched in a parade, played a game of ball toss, and “rode” on a merry-go-round.

We are so fortunate to have such a strong strands program for our students.  In addition to music, Ms. Tanya also teaches them art, fine arts, dramatic play, eco-friends (a science curriculum) and healthy fit (health and physical fitness).  Our students attend these strands everyday as part of the school day.

Enjoy the video below.

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Reading Center

I tried a little experiment today.  I visited a Pre-K classroom with my cellphone camera and took 30 seconds to capture what was going on in the classroom.  You can see the photos below.  I was quite pleased to see all the different learning activities going on at the same time.

There was vibrant activity in each of the classroom’s learning centers.  Another of the observations that I could not adequately capture in 30 seconds with my camera was the independent nature of the children’s work.  The teacher was fully engaged with the students, but the students were clearly leading their learning.  It was amazing to watch, even for 30 seconds.

During this time, I observed students reading along with a book in the reading center, students creating a police station in the block center, students working in the computer center, one making lego creations, a student dressing up in dramatic play, one student self-selecting a new center and another completing a writing project in the writing center.  The photos below represent this.

And all of it was done in 30 seconds.

I enjoyed it so much, I think I will make it a routine to do so in all of the classes here.  I think it will be insightful for the students, teachers and families of our school.

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