Tag: IPS

Summer Camp at The International Preschools: Olympics 2021

Egg-on-a-spoon individual event at the 86th Street Olympics!

Our camp season was derailed in summer 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but The International Preschools is back for three weeks of summer camp in 2021!

Lighting the Olympic torch from the Olympic cauldron at 76th Street!

The theme for this year’s summer camp season is the Olympics, in honor of the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The Olympics are a perfect theme for IPS Summer Camp, as it not only puts gross motor skills to the forefront, but also embraces countries and cultures from all around the world coming together, which is the founding principle of The International Preschools.

Individual event focusing on balancing at 86th Street!

To open up the 2021 camp season, our two IPS locations celebrated the Olympics with some fun activities. At 86th Street, campers participated in individual events in the gym such as egg-on-a-spoon and other balancing activities. At 76th Street, the campers welcomed the season with a torch lighting ceremony, where the children practiced lighting the Olympic torch from the Olympic cauldron. Then, they had a turn to march around the room as the Olympic theme played in the background. The Goldfish at 76th Street also made their own flags out of stickers, as part of the groups’ “Parade of Nations” (similar to what takes place during the actual Olympics).

Marching with our Olympic torches at 76th Street!

Be sure to return to the blog next week for more IPS Summer Camp fun!

Want to learn more about IPS Summer Camp? Though it’s only open to current and incoming students, you can read about our program on our website.

Ready for your child(ren) to become an incoming student? It’s easy! Apply online here.

End-Of-Year Memories from The International Preschools

Last week’s blog spoke about the end-of-the-year celebrations that were occurring (or about to occur) at The International Preschools. Many classrooms initiated the first (and only!) in-person celebrations to happen all year long, all of which took place outdoors at nearby Central Park or Carl Schurz Park. Please enjoy some photos from the end-of-school festivities!

  • Congratulations IPS Class of 2021!
  • Parents, caregivers, and children unite for the Red Room’s end-of-year celebration!
  • The Red Room at 76th Street gathers for a photo op on the last day of school.
  • 76 Pre-K 3 at their in-school Zoom graduation ceremony.
  • Green 1 teachers at 76th Street celebrate their students at Central Park.
  • Parents and caregivers picnicked at Central Park with special snacks and blankets.
  • Green 1 students at 86th Street spend time with their beloved teacher on the last day of school.
  • Lunching together with 76 Green 2 at Central Park.
  • Current and former IPS students (and brothers!) commemorate a great year!
  • Spending time with good friends at Central Park.
  • 86th Street’s Red Room gathers on a parachute in the park for their end-of-year festivities.
  • 86 Green 3 says cheers to a job well done with a pizza party!
  • Park time for the Green 2 class at 86th Street!
  • The Red Room’s students and teachers play “Guess Who?” with baby photos at Central Park.

Thank you for a great year!

Be sure to visit the blog in the coming weeks for more IPS fun, including a look at IPS Summer Camp!

Wishing your child was a member of the IPS community? He/she can be! Apply online today!

Celebrating the 2020-2021 School Year

What a year! Nine months ago, in September 2020, the teachers, students, and administration of The International Preschools entered the school year with a mixture of feelings, from hope to excitement to uncertainty. A lengthy list of protocols allowed for our school to remain open five days a week, for the entire school year.

The 76th Street Red Room’s “butterflies” enjoy some time together in Central Park before “flying off” to the Green Room!

And what a success it has been! With copious amounts of hand washing, sanitizing of materials, and the wearing of masks, IPS students were able to come to school safely to play, learn, and socialize. With support and trust from the IPS parent community, we were able to remain open during an uncertain time. With hard work and dedication from the IPS teachers and staff, an environment as similar as possible to the one that IPS children had known pre-pandemic came to be.

The Junior Kindergarten class at 86th Street strolls through nearby Carl Schurz Park, enjoying the time together…and the great outdoors of NYC!

As the last days of school come and go, many classes are commemorating the end of school with something that hasn’t happened all year: an in-person picnic for families, students, and teachers at Central Park (for the West 76th Street location) and Carl Schurz Park (for the East 86th Street location). For other classes, “Zoom parties” have been scheduled, so that parents, families, teachers, and students can come together to mark the end of a wonderful (albeit different) school year.

Thank you to all of the members of the IPS community for your dedication and support of our school!

Interested in learning more about the IPS community? Read about our play-based learning curriculum on the IPS website.

Already know everything you need to know about IPS? Apply online today!

End-Of-The-Year Curriculum, Part 2: Growth

At 86th Street, a class keeps track of what skills each child has mastered (i.e. riding a bike) after reading All By Myself by Mercer Meyer.

After the butterflies have been set free and the life cycle curriculum comes to an end, the classrooms at The International Preschools concentrate their learning on the celebration of growth. The teachers and children reflect and reiterate on how much growth has happened in the nine months of the school year, as well as the growth that has occurred from the day that the children were born (which doesn’t feel like all that long ago, from a parent’s perspective!) to now, as a preschool-aged child.

In a Pre-K class at 76th Street, the classroom theme centered around future occupations, and what the children wanted to be when they grow up. These are jobs that the children chose and wanted to learn more about. Here, two students act out scenes from a nail salon in the dramatic play area.

For some classes, the observations of the children’s development focus on what they can do now as a three, four, or five-year-old, which they could not do as babies or toddlers. In other classes, growth is measured in inches (or in some cases, Unifix cubes!); the children track how tall they’ve gotten over the last nine months using various units of measurement. Many classes have enjoyed seeing photos (submitted by parents) of each student (and some teachers!) as a baby, and have excitedly tried to guess (using clues) what that baby looks like now.

A Green Room at 76th Street played “Guess Who?” where the teacher held up a baby photo and the children guessed who it was. Here, the “answers” to the guesses display their baby photos with pride!

Overall, these celebrations of growth assist in building confidence in our young students. We commemorate how far they’ve come, what they have learned, and how they now have the tools to be successful in kindergarten, in another preschool class, and beyond. Congratulations to all of our IPS students, as they “move up” to new classes and places in September 2021!

End-Of-Year Curriculum, Part One: Life Cycles

A three-year-old class at 86th Street sets their butterflies free!

During the month of May, classrooms at The International Preschools focus their curriculum on growth and transitions. We use several topics to assist the children in understanding the idea of growth and “moving on” (in terms of changing classrooms or schools, or transitioning into summer vacation and/or camp).

The Pre-K 1 class at 76th Street observes their caterpillars in the chrysalides stage.

One of these themes is studying life cycles of plants and animals. There is a correlation between the children “growing” and the plants/animals “growing”: for a time period (the school year), the children learn and grow in their classroom, much like the caterpillars, ladybugs, and plants do. The children are taken care of by their teachers; the caterpillars, ladybugs, and plants are taken care of by the children. Finally, when they are ready, the animals are “set free” to go out into nature and the plants are “sent home” with the children; the children, meanwhile, are also “set free” from their current classrooms, to go forth into summer vacation, summer camp, and the upcoming school year.

86th Street children add soil to their planting pots.

During April and May, IPS students will plant lima beans, grass seeds, and flower seeds. They will learn about the parts of a plant and/or flower, and learn what plants need in order to grow (i.e. water, food, air, sunlight). By participating in play-based, hands-on learning through caring for their plants, the children really share in the growth of their plants.

A Pre-K 3 student holds a butterfly before it flies away!

Continuing with the life cycles theme…all of the IPS students bear witness to the life cycle(s) of caterpillars and/or ladybug larvae. The process is similar to that of the plants: the children learn the specific parts of the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly (i.e. egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly) and observe the changes that occur each day. The children also take care of the butterflies, once hatched, by feeding them fruit and sugar water. Once the butterflies are ready to move on to the outside world, classes will travel to the school playground or a nearby park to release the butterflies into nature. For the ladybugs, once they are mature, children will guide the ladybugs onto outdoor plants for them to create their new homes.

Butterflies go free at Carl Schurz Park in New York City!

Next week, the blog will showcase the next part of IPS’ end-of-year curriculum: the growth of the children from babies to “big kids,” and how each class goes about its learning in different ways.

Ready to join the IPS community? Apply online today!

Helping Your Child Manage BIG Emotions

There’s been a lot of changes for kids and adults alike over the last fourteen months! From being in “lockdown” during the height of the pandemic, to social distancing, to being apart from friends and family…to schools being completely remote, then hybrid, and now, for many children, going back to full-time, in-person learning…it’s been a wild ride!

Our Green 1 children display their “happy” emotion during snack (and a mask break!) at the 76th Street location.

My daughter returned to in-person learning in March, and she has been so happy going back to school. Much of her first year in elementary school has been filled with stops and starts (including a fourteen-day quarantine in the fall due to COVID exposure). Yet, despite the excitement and happiness about being in school, the love she has for her amazing teachers, and playing in-person with her friends, the return to full-time learning has been hard on her. She doesn’t have the stamina she had in previous years of being in school to last a six hour day, and meltdowns have occurred. Her kindergarten teacher assured me that this was normal, and that every child in the class has reacted to the full-time, in-person learning in different ways. Some are clingier to parents than they once were; others are frustrated easily; some are completely wiped out from the longer day; and others are just overwhelmed with starting anew…again…in March, no less, after doing this a mere six months ago in September.

We can’t see their (whole) faces, but we can guess that the Pre-K Room at 86th Street is feeling happy while on a trip to Carl Schurz Park!

In my travels and research for IPS curriculum, I’ve come across several interesting articles with effective options that I’d like to share with you. I hope you find them helpful! Additionally, our Developmental Specialist, Jaya Misra, recently wrote a fantastic newsletter on limit setting, the concept of which goes hand-in-hand with children sharing big emotions. If you are a member of the IPS community, be sure to read that newsletter as well!

Managing Emotions (from PBS Kids for Parents)

Parents.com – Handling Emotions

Teaching Children About Emotions (from the Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation)

Interested in becoming a member of the IPS community? Apply online by visiting our website. We are still accepting students for the 2021-2022 school year!

Summer Camp Returns to The International Preschools!

Camp is back! Although COVID-19 derailed the summer camp season in 2020, the IPS community is happily welcoming our fun-filled summer session back to its students and teachers in June 2021.

Camp is back for Summer 2021!

Here’s what to expect from IPS Summer Camp 2021, and why you should sign your child(ren) up immediately…

Water play and the sprinklers are a highlight of IPS Summer Camp!
  • Transitions:  Camp provides a relaxed environment for children new to IPS.  It’s a great way for incoming IPS students to get used to our school prior to the start of the new year.  For children transitioning from half-day to full-day, the easygoing setting allows for students to become accustomed to the longer school day, which in the afternoon provides outlets for increasing self-help skills (i.e. taking out and cleaning up after lunch, setting up rest mats, etc.).
  • Friendships:  Current and incoming IPS students will have the opportunity to make new friends and foster old friendships.  For our Pre-K students, camp provides the chance to be in “class” with peers that will be in different classes in the fall.  It’s also a great way for exiting IPS students to spend one last summer in a loving, nurturing, comfortable environment.
  • Gross Motor Activities:  Let’s get moving!  Half-day campers will receive one hour each day of indoor (gym) and outdoor (backyard) play, depending upon the weather.  Full-day campers will receive two hours of free play; one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
  • Sensory Activities and Water Play:  All campers of all ages will engage in a variety of sensory-stimulating activities, from sand tables to water tables to sprinkler time!
  • Flexible Schedules:  Camp is being offered for three weeks this summer, from June 14th through July 2nd.  You can choose to sign your child(ren) up for one, two, or three weeks.  The best part is, the weeks do not have to be consecutive; you can sign up for whichever weeks fit your summer schedule.  It’s a win-win!
  • Special Days and Camp Themes: In keeping with IPS’ play-based learning philosophy, our camp will boast an Olympics theme. The sports, flags, and international theme of the Summer Olympics will play a role in many parts of the camp day, from art to games to books!
  • IPS Teachers and Staff: The camp is staffed with current IPS teachers and administration…all familiar faces to our current students, and faces that will become familiar to our incoming students!
The Olympics are coming to IPS Summer Camp!

We are looking forward to seeing you this June at IPS Summer Camp!

To sign up for IPS Summer Camp, visit our website today!

Not a member of the IPS school community, but would like to be? Apply online so your child(ren) can come to IPS Summer Camp as well!

Earth Day is Every Day: Honoring Our Planet at The International Preschools

Children at both locations learn that the Earth’s two main colors are green (land) and blue (water). Many “free art” projects center around these two colors to help reinforce the students’ learning about the Earth. This is a concept that even our youngest children can understand.

Curriculum at The International Preschools (IPS) in April often centers around planet Earth and, ultimately, Earth Day, which falls on April 22nd. Children in every age group, from the Red Rooms (2s) to the Junior Kindergarten (4s/5s), learn about the topography of the Earth, as well as what we can do to help keep the Earth safe and clean for plants, animals, and people.

The 76th Street Green Room children practiced working at a recycling center by sorting paper items from plastic items during a fun game.

At our 76th Street location, a special in-class celebration was held for Earth Day. The Red (2s) and Green (3s) Rooms learned about recycling by playing a sorting game; the children had to find plastic and paper from around the classroom and place the items in the appropriate boxes. The Pre-K (4s) Rooms repurposed cardboard boxes from packages to create toys and buildings to play and build with. Everyone gained a new understanding of the importance of recycling for our planet!

One of our Pre-K classes at 76th Street display their “reused items” project, where the children repurposed cardboard boxes as building materials.

At our 86th Street location, individual classrooms approached the topic of Earth Day in different ways. Some classes collected cardboard boxes, paper, and plastic and used it to create magnificent art projects. In the Junior Kindergarten (4s/5s), children are learning about the solar system, to help determine the Earth’s place in space.

A student at 86th Street reuses boxes, cartons, and bottle caps to create a project of his own!

Happy Earth Day to all!

Want to learn more about IPS’ play-based learning approach? Visit the curriculum section of our website.

Ready to join the IPS community? Apply online today!

Observing (And Learning!) About The World Around Us

Red Room children use magnifying glasses to closely observe the parts of a flower.

The changing of seasons helps children embark on a learning adventure by employing their five senses. From the Red Room (2s) to the Junior Kindergarten (4s/5s), the children in every classroom are asked questions about what they see, feel, hear, smell, and taste when introducing a new season.

At our 86th Street location, some classes have started learning about the caterpillar-to-butterfly life cycle! Here, a child observes the caterpillars, as well as a life cycle chart.

Now that the spring season has arrived, the students are applying their senses to learn about what changes have occurred. How does the weather feel when you go outside? Do you need a heavy coat, or a light jacket? What do the trees look like? Are there leaves on the trees? What else do you see (flowers, animals, green grass)? What do you hear when you are outside (i.e. birds chirping)? Thinking about, and utilizing, the five senses helps children make connections between the world around them and the themes that they are learning about in the classroom.

In the Green Room, students observe the life cycle of plants by using a special translucent container. This way, the changes underneath the soil’s surface, such as the forming of roots, can be seen.

The next time you are out and about with your child, be sure to ask them some questions about what they are seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and tasting. It will open up a world of learning, as well as provide a prompt for meaningful conversation!

Want to learn more about The International Preschools? Take a look inside an IPS classroom on our website.

Ready to join the IPS community? Apply online today!

Welcome Spring! What’s Ahead at The International Preschools

Spring means…more time playing outside!

After a restful and relaxing spring break, the students and teachers are back at The International Preschools for the final stretch of the 2020-2021 school year!

Spring means…learning about topics such as birds and nests!

In the classrooms, spring will bring about a variety of new topics: gardening, planting, recycling, trees, birds, insects, and more! We will spend time learning about Earth Day, and why it is so important to take care of the planet that we live on.

Spring means…learning about the parts of a flower, and creating representational flower paintings using a “live” model!

Our Parents’ Association is hard at work in putting together our annual Spring Benefit, which will take place virtually on Wednesday, April 28th. An online auction will include contributions from each classroom from both locations. One of the many items to bid on or buy include an “Almost Sleepover,” where a few lucky guests will join their teachers in wearing pajamas, making a craft, watching a movie, and enjoying a meal right here at IPS!

Happy Spring to all!

Learn more about the 2021 Virtual Spring Benefit on our website.

Not a member of The International Preschools’ community, but would like to be? Apply online on our website today!