Hands for Newsletter
The Medical Center Nursery School 
Volume 15, Issue 1
  
September 2014
  
In This Issue
From the Office
The Story Behind the Class Name Changes
The Observation Game
Events & School Closings
Birthdays

From the Office

 
Summertime pleasure, sailing on the Hudson River    
 

We want to welcome all new and returning families to the 2014 - 2015 academic year. As always summertime seems to be here and then gone in the blink of an eye. We usually savor and cherish the more relaxed and slower pace of summer. Nonetheless, there is something invigorating about the excitement of the start of a new school year in September. Beginnings, although sometimes challenging, can be opportunities for learning and growth.

 

We are delighted that you have chosen to enroll or re-enroll your children at MCNS and share them with us this year. If you are experiencing separation ambivalence, please try to relax and follow the advice of the teachers. They have been helping children adjust to school for years and years and are experts at helping children settle into their new environment. They are extremely knowledgeable about how to deal with difficulties with separation.

 

We want to remind you that a variety of coffee and tea options and hot chocolate are available in the kitchen throughout the day. Please note, though, that children are not permitted in the kitchen without a supervising adult and should never be allowed to "operate" the drinks machine.

We are grateful that you are submitting the required forms and documents in such a timely manner. If you have not already done so, however, please submit the forms as soon as you can.

 

Please note the user ID and password system for the parents' section of the website. Each ID is the child's first name (all lower case letters). There are two pairs of children with the same name; in their case the ID also includes the first letter of the last name. The password for each name is the child's birth day and month (zeros are included but no year, separation or slash between them, i.e., ddmm). The Parent Handbook is available in the parent section of the website. Please take the time to read it. The text may help to answer questions and give guidance about school expectations and policies as well as give you information about a number of topics relevant to life here at MCNS.   If you want a hard copy of the handbook, please stop by the office for one.

 

As most of you probably already know, the playground is closed through October. Every few years tall building facades have to be inspected and repaired to eliminate the possibility of danger from falling materials.   The repair phase currently is in process and is scheduled to be completed next month.   Obviously there could be delays; but we a hoping that we will be able to return to the playground in November. In the meantime, the older two groups (Trailblazers and Pathfinders) will be going frequently to the exciting playground at J. Hood Wright Park at 173rd Street, a relatively easy walk for the older children.

 

Some of you who will be applying to public or independent elementary schools for the 2015 - 2016 academic year have been meeting with us to discuss the process. If you have any questions about the general application process or are unsure of how to proceed, please feel free to make an appointment. Those of you who are affiliated with Columbia also may want to make use of the University's School Search Service. You can access the Service through the Work/Life website (www.worklife.columbia.edu).   Its office is on West 112th Street.

 

Again, we welcome you to the new school year.       

 

Howard & Linda



The Story Behind the New Class Name Changes

 

Words matter. Names matter. To young children who are absorbing an enormous number of new vocabulary words each day, words are really important. Calling someone a name can hurt him, in point of fact. And employing a "bad word" can get immediate attention from adults.

 

Many parents struggle with the task of naming their children. What does the name mean and how will that affect the child? Companies test market product names because they know that what something is called affects sales figures. Lawsuits challenge names that are offensive to some and protect names from being used by others.

 

For many years the MCNS staff has been thinking about the names of our four classroom groups. Many years ago, our groups had a different age makeup from what they do now. There was a group of 3's, another of 4's, a Kindergarten, and a mixed-age group that met in the afternoons.

 

hen the school started to get younger. Our Kindergarten class became a mixed group of 4's and 5's and eventually all 4's. The name Kindergarten no longer was accurate. We had a "Young Group." Should the former Kindergarten be renamed the "Old Group?" But that didn't seem quite right because, after all, they were only four, not eighty-four years old. So "Older Group" was chosen. That left the "Middle Group," middle as in the middle child in a family and the "Afternoon Group," afternoon describing the time of day it met rather than the group itself.

 

Time marched on and the age range in the school narrowed. The ages of the children in the groups overlapped. It was clear that the name "Older Group" had an unintended meaning to both children and parents. Older was somehow very desirable. Young children always want to be older. Older seems to signify more advanced, more academic activity to some parents, which is not an accurate description of our child-centered, hands-on curriculum. "Young" meant the "babies" to some children, and no one wants to be called a baby. Changing the names became a concern again.

 

Both Liege Motta, our Educational Consultant, and Howard did some research: What do other nursery schools call their groups? Some use colors, others numbers, animals or other miscellaneous flora and fauna. Liege, during her internet search, found some perfectly dreadful, inexplicable names. Can you imagine the behavior of a group called "Little Monsters?"

 

In one of the workshops during the NAEYC accreditation process, Howard, Liege, Linda and the teaching staff decided to work on this challenge and try to come up with better names for the groups. One idea that came out of this exercise was to connect the names with the spectacular location of our school on the Hudson River. This was left to percolate.

Finally last summer, Howard, Liege and Linda went back and reconsidered some of the names other schools use. They looked at all of the names that the teachers had considered which were tied to the location of the school: bridge; river; Hudson; park. None seemed right. But, why?

It occurred to them that maybe the problem was that they were focusing on the rooms, not the children themselves. So they decided to focus on the children. The more they thought about them, the more they wanted to try to connote the learning process and activities of the children, and how they progress and learn. Looking out at the river, they thought about Henry Hudson and the other explorers who came to our area. They had been exploring territory that was previously unknown to them. Well, isn't that what nursery school is all about?

 

Our 2's are making discoveries about a new world, things that they have never seen before, experiences they have never known. What if they were called "The Explorers?" The oldest children in the school are blazing the trail for the younger ones as they prepare to move out into the world. How about renaming the "Older Group" "The Trailblazers?" These names were feeling right. They described the children in the groups. Now on a roll, Howard, Linda and Liege turned to the remaining groups. "Pathfinders" seemed perfect for the "Middle Group." They are discovering ways to get from here to there, looking for patterns, finding connections. And, finally, the "Afternoon Group" who are acquiring the skills and working together to create and solve problems moving together cooperatively in their mixed age group, could become "The Navigators." It all fit together. They were descriptive, great words for the children to learn, and inspirational at that!

 

Finding the right names for our groups has been a long process, involving deep consideration of the nature of young children and the best words that could be found to describe them. As we begin a new academic year at MCNS, we are excited to find out where our Explorers, Pathfinders, Trailblazers and Navigators will take us all as they start out, discover, learn, and begin to find their way through our world.

 

 

Susan Milligan

 

The Observation Game

 

Whether you take a bus or the subway, walk together for many blocks, or take a car service and walk into the building, there are many observations you can make with your child and help them hone skills while you have fun together making the transition from home and family to school. The Observation Game can diminish children's desire to run ahead of you while at the same time help to ease any separation anxiety they might have by focusing their attention on playing a game. Getting from here to there becomes an exciting adventure.

 

Dr. Terry and I tried out the Observation Game as we walked from the parking garage on 176th and Haven Avenue to MCNS. Here's what we observed.

 

We found shapes all over, in the sidewalk, on the walls, doors and windows of buildings and on signs. We saw squares, triangles, circles, rectangles and diamonds.

 

We looked for types of vehicles: cars, vans, motorcycles, bicycles, tricycles, strollers, police cars, a cement mixer and a crane. We noted the colors of each one.

 

We saw living things: dogs, a cat, and pigeons. And plants growing everywhere, in window boxes, bushes in the ground, trees along the curb, in the park, and in planters. There were flowers and trees with fences around them and plants growing even between the cracks in the sidewalk.

 

For a while we counted numbers of things: grown-ups, children, hydrants, mailboxes. How many people were wearing hats? How many traffic cones did we pass? Then we looked for all of the letters of the alphabet and numbers on signs.

 

When we arrived at 60 Haven we tried a different observation game. What steps were involved in getting to our destination? What directions would we give to someone who had never been to our school before?

 

Open the door.

Walk across the mat.

Open the second door.

Walk through the lobby on the mats or the floor (your choice). You may want to count the skylights as you walk.

Walk past the reception desk, the benches and the machine that gives you money.

Turn right and walk down that hallway.

Turn left into the first vestibule and left again.

Open the door.

Walk up the stairs counting them as you go.

Open the door at the top of the stairs.

Walk down that hallway.

Turn left and open the gate.

You have arrived at your destination!

 

These are just a few of the observations you can make. You can compare numbers of things you see each day, for example. Yesterday we saw 3 red cars. How many will we see today? Will there be more red ones or more black ones? Make a prediction. Do your research. Was your hypothesis correct? You become research scientists and mathematicians. Make a map of your route. Make a graph. Tell a story about what you actually saw. Tell a story about what you wish you had seen. Make your own rules, use your imagination and have a great time together as you play The Observation Game.


 

Susan Milligan   




Events & School Closings

 

Please note the following dates of events and school closings in September and October:

 

Opening Day for the 2014-2015 Academic Year
Sept. 8    

 

Orientation Days for Half Day Sessions
Sept. 8 - Sept. 12
Orientation Days for Full Day Session (optional)
Sept. 15 -
Sept. 19
Fall Begins
Sept. 23
SCHOOL CLOSED - Rosh Hashanah
Sept. 25
Columbia University Early Childhood School Fair (Lerner Hall, Main Campus)
Sept. 30
Board of Trustees Meeting

Oct. 7
6:00 PM
SCHOOL CLOSED - Columbus Day (observed)
Oct. 13




 




Birthdays

 

 

 

The following members of the MCNS community celebrated or will celebrate birthdays in September: 

 

Eden Seifan - September 3   

Zachary Behr - September 5    

Samson Muldoon - September 6 

Emily Orlandi - September 9     

Kaja Senanayake - September 12 

Raja Senanayake - September 12    

Lina Hobert - September 13   

Lauren Robertson - September 18 

Kotoko Meece - September 20    

Isaac Bulow - September 23 

Max Miller - September 26  

 

 

Happy Birthday to ALL!

 

The Medical Center Nursery School 
Phone: 212.304.7040
Fax: 212.544.4243
Email: mcns@mcns.org
     MCNS NEWS Writers and Editors 
Howard Johnson
Susan Milligan
Terence Milligan
Liege Motta