The Story of Us, Exploring Families in the Fours

After the holiday break, the children were excited to reconnect with their peers and share stories about their time with families and loved ones. This connected beautifully with the Story of Us Curriculum. Reading a variety of books on family resulted in rich discussions during large group meeting times. In small groups, children were prompted to draw a picture of something they love to do with their family. Their words were copied by their teachers and written underneath their pictures. They also thought about families by graphing “How many people are in your family?” during morning meeting. During this activity, the children worked on a variety of math concepts such as more and less, number recognition, and counting. The curriculum also made its way into the children's play. While a few children were building with pandas and bamboo blocks, they created panda homes. A student announced, “Watch out, the cousin boat is coming this way,” driving their structure filled with panda “cousins” over to the panda family home.

Winter Study in the Twos

During their study of Winter, the children in the Twos classes collaborated in creating an Arctic mural landscape using recyclable materials they collected. They helped the teachers place and glue the materials on a large piece of cardboard. Children painted the structure in white and varying shades of blue to make it look like glaciers in the Arctic. They had to move around, leaning in or moving their bodies sideways, to make sure they painted over every corner of the mural. Children happily narrated as they worked: “I want to paint the tunnel!”, “Look! I did the TV!” (while painting the large triangle), “Let’s paint it this way!”

The Power of Singing, Music Class

Our Christmas Chapels were beautiful. Through song, the children were able to act as leaders of the service and the confidence and determination they showed were impressive. Preschoolers love to sing just for the sake of singing! At this age they are not self conscious about the sound of their voice and most are eager to sing out loud and strong. Some favorite songs at Brick are This Little Light of Mine, Love Grows, Skinnamarink and We’re Going Up. All of these songs include hand motions which help the children build on their fine and gross motor skills, coordination, body awareness and rhythmic proficiency. Singing as part of a group also promotes self-regulation, self confidence and leadership skills!

Farewell to Nancy Trush: Celebrating 30 Years at Brick

Do your memories of Brick include a Teddy Bear Picnic?  A hunt for dinosaur eggs and bones?  A transformation from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly taking place right before your eyes?  If so, you might be one of the many lucky children to have called Mrs. Trush your teacher.  For 30 years, the Brick Church School has received so much from Nancy Trush, through her teaching of children, her partnership with parents, her collaboration with her colleagues, and her dedication to the entire Brick community.  As she prepares to retire in June, we are grateful for the opportunity to express our gratitude for all Mrs. Trush has done for our school!

In Mrs. Trush’s classroom, every child is loved and respected as an individual.  Children know they are seen, heard and cared for, which allows them to comfortably explore, try new things, and express their feelings.  Children learn the importance of appreciating each other's differences and showing kindness to all.  For Mrs. Trush, it is always a priority to ensure every child loves coming to school each and every day.  Her goal is to instill in her students a lifelong love of learning and for them to leave her class feeling confident and capable, ready to take on whatever challenge or opportunity comes next.

For Mrs. Trush, her next opportunity will be to spend more time at her beloved Daniel’s Music Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by the Trush family in 2006 to empower individuals with developmental and physical disabilities through music.  She looks forward to having more time to support DMF’s amazing staff and community members and grow the foundation’s Disability Awareness Program, including The Danny Awards, a global awards show highlighting the musical talents of individuals with disabilities. 

As we prepare to say Happy Retirement to Mrs. Trush, we know it is not goodbye.  Brick will always have a special place in her heart, and she in ours, and she will forever be part of the Brick family.  The entire Brick community has benefitted from Mrs. Trush’s kindness, generosity, and passion for teaching. Please join us as we share our gratitude and joyful wishes for the future to a truly wonderful and extraordinary teacher, colleague, and friend.

To share a message of well wishes or gratitude to Mrs. Trush, click here.