Articles
“Morning Meeting” at Bennett Day School
Cognitive growth and achievement are strongly influenced by social interaction. As young children develop an emerging sense of self, we must provide them a time to socially engage with peers in a community environment within the classroom. Modeled after the principles of the Responsive Classroom approach, Bennett Day School will have daily Morning Meetings in which all…
Literacy in Early Childhood
Literacy means more than just learning to read. It encompasses reading of course, but writing and speaking are equally important components. We all know that the wonderful sounds babies make are early attempts to communicate with us. We nurture those sounds as children grow so that they develop a vocabulary and eventually meaningful conversation. Few…
Social-Emotional Learning at Bennett Day School
We live in a global society, and today’s students will inherit a world that doesn’t yet exist. Social-emotional learning is vital in children being able to first and foremost understand themselves and then meaningfully relate to others—whether in their Kindergarten classroom or half way around the world. By integrating social-emotional and academic learning through literature,…
Saying Goodbye (For Now): How Parents Can Prepare For Separation from a Child
“Mommy, please don’t go!” As you kneel down to give her one last hug, your heart starts to break. For a young child, whether or not it is her first time separating from a parent or parents, going to school brings about many emotions. A new environment, new teachers, new classmates, new cubbies, the list…
Bennett Day School is Now On YouTube
Social media lovers: Bennett Day School is now on YouTube! Follow us to be the first to see brand new video content from the BDS team and to learn more about the great opportunities your child will have as a part of our community.
Bennett Day School Curriculum Design Approach
In building a program from the ground up, Bennett Day School has the extraordinary opportunity to develop our curriculum with intention and joy, unconstrained by “what we’ve always done.” In order to ensure our objectives, assessments, and assignments remain relevant, we adhere to a curriculum design framework called backward design. This framework allows us to focus…
What We Learned at Namaste Charter School
In early May, the Bennett Day School founding team participated in Namaste Charter School’s Learning the Namaste Way: Educators Starting a New School workshop. We learned about Namaste’s core values and how they infuse their classrooms, hallways, and school culture with these values and resultant goals. Shuchi and I attended a breakout session on parent involvement where we took…
Bennett Day School Attends More Than Milk Mothers Day Event
On May 12, Bennett Day School participated in More Than Milk’s Mother’s Day Brunch for New Moms, Inc. Our focus was on activities for young children using primarily found materials. In addition to our founding team, we had education team support and student volunteers on hand to facilitate learning and participation in the four activities on hand. The…
Inside the TinkerLab
In our last post, we told you a little about the philosophy behind the Bennett Day School TinkerLabs. This week, we’d like to give you a clearer picture of what these incredible learning spaces offer children and the role they play in the greater learning experience. Modeled after Malaguzzi’s aquarium, these spaces will be full…
Space: The Final Frontier of Education
How Bennett Day School’s TinkerLabs are peeling back the walls of the traditional classroom What does your child’s classroom do to improve the learning experience? What comes to mind when you picture a classroom? If you went to a traditional American school, you’re likely picturing a space that contains neat rows of desks, a…