Category Archives: Primary

Finger Knitting

Kindergarteners have been working on finger knitting in Art Studio. This will set them up nicely when they learn to knit with knitting needles in Middle School. Working on fine motor skills can be tricky so they had plenty of … Continue reading

Posted in art, Primary

Celebration of Learning

For many McGuffey students, Celebration of Learning is their favorite day of the year. Parents and grandparents visit after school to see their child’s classroom and get a peek into what they’ve been working on. The day of Celebration of … Continue reading

Posted in community, Lower Elementary, Middle School, Primary, Uncategorized, Upper Elementary

Thanksgiving Partners

Upper Elementary spent time with their Primary partners to get ready for Thanksgiving. By combining old-school hand turkeys with our Peace curriculum, we ended up with a fun exercise in gratitude. Younger students stuck with hand-turkeys and older students drew other … Continue reading

Posted in Primary, Upper Elementary

Care of the Environment

Care of the environment means students take care of their classroom. Visitors will find students sweeping, watering plants, doing dishes, taking out the trash, and dusting as ways to take care of their environment. Preschoolers and Kindergarteners recently cleaned out … Continue reading

Posted in Primary

Time Travel to the 1800s

Primary and Lower Elementary classes went back in time, taking a trip to the early 1800s when most of the modern conveniences we enjoy today hadn’t been invented. Throughout the day, students had a chance to experience a different kind … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Elementary, Primary

SOAR

SOAR has begun! SOAR, Students Outside Active and Running, is a Physical Education activity that promotes walking, running and goal setting. Students set a goal for their own mileage and then run or walk during recess for two weeks. They … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Elementary, Middle School, physical education, Primary, Upper Elementary

Bread

Both the Primary and Lower Elementary classrooms made bread. Primary students are studying solids, liquids and gas. Talking about how bread rises is a perfect and delicious way to learn. Students also worked together making butter to eat with their … Continue reading

Posted in cooking, Lower Elementary, Primary, science

Studying Italy

As part of their exploration of Europe, Primary has been studying Italy. To celebrate, they made gelato. Ingredients were poured for Italy’s tasty ice cream into the machine at morning meeting. By the time afternoon enrichment rolled around, their gelato was … Continue reading

Posted in cooking, Primary, social studies

Leaves

Thanks to friends in the Lower Elementary classroom, Primary students were gifted more leaves than usual. An entire day (and still going!) was spent in sensory play with the leaves. Sensory play is a crucial educational component promoting curiosity, problem … Continue reading

Posted in outside, preschool, Primary

Walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day

Walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day was a huge success! We estimate McGuffey had 65–70% participation, especially impressive for a slightly drizzly day. A lot of our staff walked or biked, too, including our head of school, Nancy! Students … Continue reading

Posted in community, Lower Elementary, Middle School, Primary, Staff, upper unit