Finding Our Rhythm

9/19/25

Our first full week of school was full of fun, friends, and figuring things out! We thank you for your patience and your support as we settle into the routines and rhythms of a new school year. The Downstairs students have wowed us this week with their flexibility and engagement, and we are excited for the adventures that await us this year. We began this year as we begin every year, by choosing a special name for this cohort's Downstairs group. First, we had a big brainstorm session where we wrote down all our ideas. Then, we narrowed down our dieas by eliminating those that had been used by previous groups. We also read each name aloud, raising our hands for the ones we liked; everyone was able to "vote" as many times as they liked, and we crossed off or starred names depending on how many hands were raised. Finally, we chose three names to vote on with our "face magnets." With a tie between two names, we discussed our options and came to the consensus that we are The Sunnies! Many sunfish species are commonly found in the Hudson Valley, and we also connected our name to the Randolph symbol of the sun. In addition to our class name, we also chose our name stamps. Each child chooses an animal to represent themselves and keeps this symbol throughout the entire year. Since children are in varying developmental stages of reading and writing, these symbols allow every child to independently mark work as "theirs" as well as "read" their peers' name. We added name stamps to cubbies and sketchbooks, and they are available each day as we work. Associating a symbol with a concept is an important pre-literacy skill, and name stamps help us practice!

Our Daily Rhythm

As we shared at Curriculum Night, our curriculum is infused into every part of our day! Anchored by our school values and school-wide themes, the curriculum of each year emerges with attention to children's developmental needs, observations of the current group's interests, as well as teacher interest and enthusiasm. As children experience themes year after year, they can engage in the material in new ways, with background knowledge, life experience, and developmental understanding. Our daily rhythm is the underpinning of our curriculum, as these rituals and routines form the foundation of living and learning together.

Arrival

Students say good-bye to their families and meet on the "Sunnie" blanket. They have the options of looking at books, playing with small manipulatives, and chatting with friends and teachers. This is a time to align our energies, whether we need support "perking up" or "settling in." When the majority of our class is present, we make our way down the driveway, through the side gate, and to our "home base" lean-to to hang up our backpacks, stopping at the "water bottle wagon" to drop off our water bottles. We reconvene at the gathering (log) circle to begin our day together.

Morning Gathering

We start our day with the same order of events, singing "When _______ Wake up in the Morning" to begin our Gathering, as we pull three animals from the morning song bag, ending with the "sunnie" as our fourth animal. Then, we use the sunnie to count around the circle to see how many Sunnies are at school, sending love to any Sunnies who are absent. Next, we read the Morning Message, which often invites us to engage in a thinking exercise, whether we are answering a question, brainstorming ideas, exploring sounds and quantities, or problem-solving. Morning Gathering is a time to connect with each other, discuss community issues, preview the day ahead, sing songs, and read books. During our first few weeks, we introduced the song bag, which holds symbols that represent all the songs we have learned together so far this year, as well as hosted a special guest, Ricky the Raccoon! Find out out the songs we've been singing here - we will continue adding songs as we learn them.

Choice Time & Fruit Café

Choice time offers different spaces and materials for students to explore, with the lean-to(s) continuing to serve as our home base. In the first few days of school, we have had familiar spaces and choices available, including the sandbox, dinosaurs, duplos, watercolors, play dough, and books. As children quickly develop familiarity with our spaces and choices, we open up new play areas (such as the Den and introduce new options. This week, our "mini me's" made their debut in our dollhouses! Fruit Café is also a choice, so children can be responsive to their own hunger signals. Read more about the thinking behind Fruit Café here and sign-up to host a week here!

Clean-Up & Midday Gathering

Cleaning up is an important part of our day! We give a two to five minute reminder, letting the students know they have a few minutes to find a stopping point in their play. Then, we work together to tidy and pack up our spaces so our materials will stay safe and clean until the next day. After we clean up, we gather together again at the log circle to recenter ourselves before lunch. We often collect ourselves by singing one of the songs we are learning. Midday gathering includes different activities, such as reading books in small groups, sharing news from choice time, and exploring teacher-observed themes from play.

B.E.A.M. Time (Mondays through Thursdays)

Four days a week, we divide the Sunnies into half groups and each group goes with a Downstairs teacher and a B.E.A.M. teacher. On Monday and Tuesday, we have Library and Music, and on Wednesday and Thursday, we have Art and Ecology. Working in small groups allows us to dive deeper into different subjects, drawing links and making connections in various disciplines. This week, we checked out books for the first time with Siobhan, moved our bodies to the rhythm with Michael, explored lines with Nina, and farmed in the garden with evan.

Lunch & Transitions

After washing our hands, we gather on the patio for lunch. Teachers assist children in choosing a spot to sit that supports their ability to eat as well as fosters social connections. We have a large table as well as several smaller picnic tables. Lunch is a social time, where we catch up on our day and chat about any and all topics! We also encourage children to fuel their bodies with food and water, listening to their own signals of fullness. When children finish, they pack up their lunches, take their lunchbox into the cubby room where they zip it inside their backpack, and then use the bathroom. As we are waiting for other friends to finish eating, children look at books on the story blanket together and with a teacher.

Playground

While our day is all outdoors right now, playground time is when the equipment and structures are open: the climber, the rope bridge, the tires, etc. The sandbox and mud kitchen are also open. This week, we have been working on space boundaries (where a teacher can see you and keep you safe) as well as how to use our playground safely, like checking to see if the slide is "clear" before you take a turn. Last Friday, we worked together to move our crate building area to the stage near the rope bridge to clear the way for new playground equipment. On Monday, we had a special choice time that revolved around exploring our new structures, instead of playing in our usual space around our "home base." We are excited to personalize the equipment and discover all its possibilities together!

Afternoon Gathering

At the end of the day, we gather for one final time for Afternoon Gathering. We brainstorm different memories of the day, choosing one or two unique memories to write down on our memory chain; we also choose symbols that represent the memories of the day. There are many opportunities during this time to practice skills such as recall, description, organization of one's thoughts, public speaking, listening, vocabulary building, etc. Then, we add that day's memory to the previous ones and count how many days of school we have had. Our final activity is singing "See You Later" with our animal signs. Then it's time to go home or head to Later Gators, our after school program.

Fridays & Special Events

Fridays have their own unique flavor, while echoing the general rhythm of our Monday through Thursday schedule. Friday mornings often involve choice time with another group, whether we have an all-schools Links Choice or are working with our Buddies in the Lower Carriage House. We also have special in-school celebrations on Fridays, including Masquerade Parade and Harvest Feast, where we come together as a school community. Flexibility in our schedule allows us to pivot when an opportunity presents itself, whether we are feeding Fruit Café scraps to the chickens, heading down to check out the creek, or watching a dump truck deliver sand to our playground.

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