Category: Curriculum

Books to Promote Diversity in Young Children: Part 4

The IPS blog will highlight books on diversity that are age-appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners over the next few weeks.   The following post is #4 in the series.

At The International Preschools, celebrating diversity and an awareness of how we are all different, yet we are all alike, is the cornerstone of our play-based learning philosophy.  Children as young as age 2 are able to pick up on differences…and the acceptance and reactions of adults around them.

Books are an instrumental way to foster learning and to use as a springboard for discussions, in even our smallest students.  Here are a few books, appropriate for preschoolers, that promote diversity in a tangible, understandable way.  These books also celebrate traditions and everyday activities that look different, yet alike, in each family’s household.

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Books to Promote Diversity for Young Children: Part 3

The IPS blog will highlight books on diversity that are age-appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners over the next few weeks.   The following post is #3 in the series.

At The International Preschools, celebrating diversity and an awareness of how we are all different, yet we are all alike, is the cornerstone of our play-based learning philosophy.  Children as young as age 2 are able to pick up on differences…and the acceptance and reactions of adults around them.

Books are an instrumental way to foster learning and to use as a springboard for discussions, in even our smallest students.  Here are a few books, appropriate for preschoolers, that promote diversity in a tangible, understandable way.  These books also celebrate traditions and everyday activities that look different, yet alike, in each family’s household.

Continue reading →

Books to Promote Diversity for Young Children: Part 2

The IPS blog will highlight books on diversity that are age-appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners over the next few weeks.   The following post is #2 in the series.

At The International Preschools, celebrating diversity and an awareness of how we are all different, yet we are all alike, is the cornerstone of our play-based learning philosophy.  Children as young as age 2 are able to pick up on differences…and the acceptance and reactions of adults around them.

Books are an instrumental way to foster learning and to use as a springboard for discussions, in even our smallest students.  Here are a few books, appropriate for preschoolers, that promote diversity in a tangible, understandable way.  These books also celebrate traditions and everyday activities that look different, yet alike, in each family’s household.

Continue reading →

Books Promoting Diversity for Young Children: Part 1

At The International Preschools, celebrating diversity and an awareness of how we are all different, yet we are all alike, is the cornerstone of our play-based learning philosophy.  Children as young as age 2 are able to pick up on differences…and the acceptance and reactions of adults around them.

Books are an instrumental way to foster learning and to use as a springboard for discussions, in even our smallest students.  Here are a few books, appropriate for preschoolers, that promote diversity in a tangible, understandable way.  These books also celebrate traditions and everyday activities that look different, yet alike, in each family’s household.

Continue reading →

Caterpillars to Butterflies at IPS

Creating butterflies with coffee filters in Pre-K 1!

A spring curriculum tradition at The International Preschools is to learn about life cycles.  Every year, IPS teachers receive caterpillars and/or ladybug larvae and, through observation, watch these tiny animals transform into butterflies and ladybugs respectively.  Although COVID-19 has prevented us from maintaining this tradition in person, our crafty teachers were able to still take part in this amazing unit via Zoom (and their homes)!

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Inside a (Remote Learning) Classroom at IPS

A Pre-K class created the letter R (their “letter of the week”) using play dough during a recent Zoom session.

The International Preschools has entered its third week of remote learning.  Upon entering the classrooms, one might feel as if they are actually visiting a “brick and mortar” version of what you’d find at the 76th Street and 86th Street locations.  Our faculty has done a spectacular job of transmitting their teaching styles through technological devices while still keeping the student/teacher connections that make IPS so special.

When you enter an IPS remote learning classroom, you might see…

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IPS Remote Learning: Our (New) Adventure Begins!

Greetings via Zoom from 86th Street!

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our play-based learning environment has taken on a new look.  After a two-week spring break, The International Preschools reopened on Monday, March 30th…online!  Every day, our Red (2s), Green (3s), Pre-K (4s), and Junior K (4s/5s) Rooms are logging into their technical devices and bringing the IPS curriculum into our (currently socially distant) homes.

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IPS Book Fairs: Promoting Literacy and Community

Shopping at the IPS 86th Street Book Fair!

As a child, one of my favorite events of the school year was our annual book fair.  I loved going to the fair with my class, choosing my own books, and taking those treasures home to read and add to my ever-expanding home library, much of which I still have and share with my own children today.

As a teacher (and now administrator), the annual IPS Book Fair is still one of my favorite school year occasions.  I had the opportunity to attend the book fairs at both our 76th Street and 86th Street locations this year, and both featured extended shopping hours, large selections of books, helpful volunteers from the IPS parent community, and special guests!

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Fathers and Special Friends Read-Aloud: Winter 2020

Fathers and Special Friends Read-Aloud in a classroom at our 76th Street location.

The International Preschools is in the middle of its annual Fathers and Special Friends Read-Aloud.  For this event, male relatives and friends of our students are invited into the classrooms to read to the children.  This person can be a father, brother, grandfather, cousin, uncle, or special friend.

While the program was originally founded many years ago to identify male figures as reading role models for young boys, it has evolved simply into a wonderful opportunity for cherished caregivers and loved ones to provide a literacy-based activity for our preschoolers.

 

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Celebrating the New Year at The International Preschools

86th Street children dance with scarves to honor the Lunar New Year.

Throughout the school year, the children at The International Preschools celebrate holidays from around the world.  Each child’s family is invited to visit IPS and teach about a special tradition or family that he/she participates in at home.  As a result, IPS children acquire a lot of information about world holidays and festivals!

One universal commemoration is the arrival of the new year.  IPS students learned that there are several common themes among the new year celebrations around the world:  eating certain foods, wearing new or specific types of clothing, and making noise via fireworks and noisemakers to scare away “evil spirits” to ensure a good year.  This month, children at both IPS locations became well-versed on how we honor the new year here in our home of New York City, as well as how the Lunar New Year is observed both here and around the world.

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