Tag: culture

Flags, Families, and Ourselves: October Curriculum at IPS

A Green Room (3s) class paints the planet Earth using blue and green puffy paint. This activity helped introduce our school-wide theme of celebrating each other’s cultures from around the world.

Learning about ourselves, families, and flags is an ongoing unit throughout the school year.  At The International Preschools, the children familiarize themselves with the flags that represent their families in the fall.  The children will play flag matching games, recreate flags at the art table, and explore flags from around the world at the discovery center.  In many classrooms, each child’s family flags are present on his/her snack time placemat.  Our play-based learning philosophy and thematic units allow for even the youngest children in our school to grasp this concept in honor of United Nations Day, and for use throughout the school year.  

Green Room (3s) students create replicas of the flags that represent his/her family. The children use contact paper and tissue paper while viewing flags as a reference.

In addition to our study of flags, common themes for the month of October include “All About Me” and “We Are Different, But We Are The Same.” For both of these topics, children notice and identify characteristics that make them unique, while acknowledging that though we may have different colored hair, skin, or eyes, we are still the same on the inside. We all have families. We all eat food and drink water. We all have feelings.

Many students are also familiar with the official United Nations flag!

The celebration of United Nations Day, in conjunction with these units of study, help kick off our yearlong “Culture Share” theme. Here, families are invited to “visit” school (in person during previous years; virtually this year) to share a family tradition, holiday, or cultural aspect (music, dance, books, activities).

Be sure to return to the IPS blog next week, where we will post photos from our United Nations Day celebrations!

IPS has an amazing virtual admissions process so that you can really get a feel for our school. For more information, click here: https://www.ipsnyc.org/admissions-process/

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.

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Celebrating Lunar New Year at The International Preschools

Lion dancers (left and above) perform at IPS in honor of Lunar New Year.

The International Preschools welcomed some special visitors this week.  We celebrated Lunar New Year with a performance by lion dancers at all three of our locations on Friday, February 1st, to commemorate 2019 as the “Year of the Boar.”

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Winter Solstice 2018: Celebrations at The International Preschools

Families and children come together for a sing-along in honor of the Winter Solstice.

The Winter Solstice is observed each year at The International Preschools during the month of December.  The Winter Solstice is the day with the shortest amount of daylight/longest amount of darkness.  Because many of the international holidays during this time of year celebrate the concept of light, the commemoration of the Winter Solstice at our school acts as a way to collectively celebrate many family and holiday traditions.

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