Fostering Friendship
The first full week in January was a week dedicated to friendship. We had a lot of fun learning and talking about friends and the things we do to become better friends. Our teachers designed collaborative group art projects, activities and games to facilitate collaboration, communication and teamwork. Three legged races, passing scoops of ice cream, and team-building puzzles were just some of the ways students practiced these skills in the classrooms. The importance of friends in early childhood cannot be overstated. Newport is where our students cultivate social and emotional skills. We not only learn to share and keep our hands to ourselves, but children are taught self advocacy, problem solving and build confidence in themselves by being part of the school community.
STEM at Newport
Toddlers are the quintessential scientists, their open minds and little bodies eagerly exploring, observing and experimenting with, well, everything. Starting in January, toddlers and two-year olds have added STEM activities to their classroom curriculum. Through STEM, Newport teachers are engaging and encouraging these natural instincts and cultivate them across all ages. Conducting experiments, practicing early math skills, constructing, engineering and using technology allows Newport students of all ages to ask and answer questions for themselves. Just this month, classes learned about blubber and explored its benefits in icy water, measured and charted students’ heights, tasted and smelled during Five Senses week, and explored how sound travels through water. Our STEM program is just one aspect of our curriculum that encourages creative and methodical approaches to problem-solving and we are so excited to broaden its reach.
