News & Articles

Fostering Healthy Risk-Taking in Early Childhood

Encouraging risk-taking in early childhood sets the stage for a lifetime of curiosity, creativity, and adaptability. Written by: Meg Fitzgerald, Director of Early ChildhoodPosted: November 1, 2023 Risk-Taking is Essential in Early Childhood Development We believe that teaching our young learners to embrace risk in a supportive environment is crucial for their development and future…

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News & Articles

The Three “Teachers” in the Reggio Emilia Approach

We recognize parents/guardians as the first teacher, classroom teachers as the second, and the environment as the third.

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Summer Tips from Bennett’s Learning Services Team

With the end of the school year around the corner, our Learning Services Team wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the months ahead and share helpful tips for maintaining routines and learning practices while balancing flexibility in the summer. Below you will find some social and emotional recommendations from our Counseling Team as well…

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News & Articles

What is Growth Mindset?

Research shows that our ability to achieve our goals has much more to do with the mindset with which we approach them than the actual goals themselves. That’s why students and faculty at Bennett Day School subscribe to the “growth mindset,” which eschews “all or nothing”/”I succeeded/I failed” modes of thinking in favor of growth (however incremental) and resiliency. What is a growth mindset? Stanford…

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News & Articles

Summer Academics: Guest Blog by Senior Kindergarten Co-Lead Teachers, Katie Gertler and Julia DaSilva

Now that it’s summer, it’s important to ensure that your child is still receiving some type of academic consistency while on break. By no means does it need to be intensive or the main focus of the summer, but it is necessary to prevent what teachers call “The Summer Slide.”  This is when your child…

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News & Articles

What in the World is Executive Functioning? Why Should Parents and Teachers Care?

Here’s one for the messy kid who can never find two matching socks. The kid who says “nothing” when asked what they have to do tonight; who forgets what you asked them to do five seconds ago. The kid whose backpack is stuffed to the gills with wadded up pieces of paper and the remnants…

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News & Articles

Mentors Make All the Difference: A Reflection on Student-Teacher Relationships at High Tech High & Bennett Day Upper School

Bennett Day School is the only school in Illinois to receive the New School Creation Fellowship from High Tech High, the progressive, project-based school featured in the documentary “Most Likely to Succeed.” Representatives from Bennett Day Upper School spent a week at High Tech High in San Diego for the second phase of the fellowship….

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News & Articles

For Students Highly-Committed to Extracurriculars, Bennett Day Upper School Provides an Ideal Experience

Most high schools expect their students to sit through regimented class periods beginning strictly at 8am (or even earlier), participate in their after-school activities that can sometimes go well into the late evening hours, and then somehow manage to thoughtfully complete hours of homework and get a good night’s rest—all to do it again the…

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The Power of “Quiet”: Thoughts by Cameron Smith on Tomie dePaula’s Latest Picture Book

Quiet by Tomie dePaolaSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers I recently heard the NPR Author Interview about Tomie dePaola’s latest book, Quiet.  I listened to the three-minute interview around 5:45 am on my way to the gym.   And I turned off the radio. Immediately. Not exactly what NPR might have been going for, but…

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