Hogarth Country Day School
Established 1980
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What's Happens at Hogarth? |
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A child wants some kind of undisrupted routine or rhythm. Abraham Maslow
What Does A Typical Day at HCDS Look Like?
Children need consistency in their day-to-day lives. A schedule and routine upon which they can rely decreases stress and avoids confusion. This is not to say that children need unbending rigidity day in and day out. Spontaneity can add a bit of spice and tons of fun, and the teachers are always ready to follow the children down an interesting path.
Here is a typical day at HCDS:
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EK, PK and CPG children wash up first thing.
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Next we move into our circle time-type activities. By 8:20 a.m. for EK, 12:05 p.m. for PK, and 8:35 a.m. for CPG, we are singing our greeting song, Hello, Little Friends, which is followed by Pocket Chart Attendance. Beginning in October, immediately following Pocket Chart Attendance, EK and PK children work with The Message and CPG children work with The CPG Notes. (Arriving within the designated drop-off time is SO important. Children who are consistently late for school miss this most important part of the HCDS curriculum.) Starting in March 2010, the Messages and CPG Notes will be posted on the Blog page in advance of the school week. This allows parents to ask their little one informed questions about his or her day in school. Here's a sample set of CPG Notes, with related questions:
Who was The Picker (or Mystery Kid)? What color highlighter did The Picker (or Mystery Kid) choose today? Did you work on letter G yet? Did you name a wild animal yet? What shape did The Picker pick today? Which letter didn't belong? What story did you read today? What songs did you sing today? Who did you play with today? What did you play with today? Did you get a chance to do everything you wanted to do today? What do you want to do next time you go to school? Who would you like to play with next time you go to school? You could even sit down at the computer with your child and enlarge the Message or Notes to look at together.
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Beginning in October, EK children conduct daily Weather Observations and work with a daily Calendar. PK children work with a Countdown Sheet starting in the spring.
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During the course of the EK, PK or CPG class, the group comes together for more singing and story time. EK and PK children work with our 100 Book Party activities.
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Children in all classes will have a snack in either small groups, or with the entire group, depending on our activities that day.
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Children in all classes have the opportunity for self-directed and/or teacher-selected playtime activities.
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Your child may do work sheets to reinforce concepts introduced during circle time or playtime. (Skills are never taught in isolation through worksheets.) The paper work your child completes in school typically carries an explanation box at the bottom of the page. Don't forget to scan down to see what skills were reinforced through these seemingly simple pages.
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Depending on the weather and our scheduled activities, the children may play on the playground during the fall, early winter, and spring months. Please keep in mind that HCDS is NOT a daycare situation with children in attendance for 8+ hours 5 days a week. If that was the case, the children would be outside for big chunks of time everyday the weather allowed. The children are in attendance between 5 and 9 hours a week. In order for the teachers to complete an art project, or work 1-on-1 with all 14 children in attendance, there will be many good-weather days when your child does not make it out to the playground. Rest assured that all of the children have ample opportunity to play in the classroom, and are not being deprived of that most important of all preschool pastimes, free play.
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Classes end with our departure song, So Long, Little Friends.