Physical Education
The overall objective of the Physical Education program is to provide students with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to make active living a way of life. Cooperation, fair play, sportsmanship, communication, and respect are emphasized in all forms of our activities and sports.
Approach
Every year, we begin with Cooperative Games and Problem Solving Activities. In these activities, the group confronts a specific scenario or problem to solve (a sinking ship to escape, a poisonous or toxic swamp to cross, an electric fence to get over, or a minefield to get a blindfolded partner through safely). The focus of these activities is fostering cooperation, encouraging strategic and supportive dialogue, listening to a different opinion than your own, and having fun at the same time. Some groups spend just a few classes on cooperative activities, while others spend a lot more time and do a wider variety of them. This depends on what each group needs and how well they are working together. The activities also develop collaboration, communication, cooperation, respect, teamwork, and problem solving skills — all skills necessary for the success of any physical activity, game, or sport that involves more than one person.
At Miquon, we believe that working with others enhances children’s growth in every domain.
Recently, our Kindergarten and 1st grade students practiced collaboration through a building challenge. Each member of the group contributed to a shared structure, requiring them to plan together, adapt their ideas, solve problems, and truly listen to one another.
These are skills that will carry across subjects and continue to grow with them for years to come.
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Come join us for Spring Open House on Wednesday, May 6 from 9-11 AM for an up-close view of what makes Miquon so unique.
Chat with our Head of School, teachers, and current families, and explore campus from the creek to the classroom. You will learn more about how our Progressive program celebrates childhood as a time of wonder, inquiry, resilience, and joy.
RSVP at the link in our bio. We hope to see you there!
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We recently celebrated the 100th Day of School by coming together for one of our favorite traditions: the 100th Day Obstacle Course, hosted by the ¾ groups and founded by beloved Miquon teacher, Sherry Moman. 💕
Groups also marked the milestone in their own creative ways: counting with 100 materials, building with 100 objects, designing their own 100th Day activity centers, stringing 100 Cheerios into stylish necklaces, and even coming up with 100 movements for the group to try! Children also reflected on their favorite memories from the first 100 days.
Cheers to the first 100 days—and here’s to a great rest of the year! 🎉
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🚨Proud alumni moment! 🚨 From speaking at graduation to speaking at the most recent Board of Education meeting—Naveh `25 and Evan `24 continue to use their voices with courage and conviction.
Now students in the School District of Philadelphia, they recently spoke out against the proposed closure of their middle school.
Bravo to them both for advocating for themselves, each other, and the world!
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🍁 Sap season is our favorite season! 🍁
Each year, our K/1 students engage in the beloved tradition of tapping maple trees on campus.
Through this process, children learn by doing. They observe the first drip of sap, ask questions, share ideas, and discover together how sap becomes syrup. Along the way, they build not just knowledge of the steps, but deeper understandings of scientific inquiry, research, and how to represent their learning.
The best part? A tasty treat at the end, of course! ✨
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👀 Sneak Peek Alert!
Our 5/6 has been planning, creating, and documenting their Personal Projects for weeks. Today is the big reveal!
Before the fair begins, here’s a preview of the work happening at home:
🎵 Writing, recording, and layering an original song on electric guitar and drums
🚀 Designing a model rocket using CAD and bringing it to life with a 3D printer
🎂 Baking a different cake each week while learning to measure, prep, level layers — and taste test (with neighbors happily benefiting!)
We can’t wait to celebrate their curiosity, commitment, and creativity at today’s Personal Project Fair.
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At last night’s Curriculum Night, families stepped into the role of learners and experienced math the way our students do every day.
In small groups, they rotated through classrooms, engaging in hands-on number sense activities at each stage. Parents worked with materials, collaborated with one another, and learned alongside our teachers--bravely diving into math themselves.
By the end, families saw how we intentionally build number sense and deep understanding from Nursery through 6th grade.
We’re grateful to our teachers and families for making this night happen! 💛
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Our 3/4 is diving deeply into PA history through their theme study this year, with a special focus on the Lenape people, the original inhabitants of this region.
The children have built a rich understanding of Lenape life through research and hands-on experiences. They visited the recreated Lenape village at Churchville Nature Center and hosted Chief Bluejay of the Lenape Nation of PA, who shared Lenape stories, customs, Unami words and traditional games. We were also lucky to welcome musician Krista Nelson, who has been studying indigenous musical traditions. She brought wooden flutes to play and told an interactive folktale about how the Lenape imagined the invention of the first flute by the woodland creatures.
Now, the 3/4 is bringing bringing this knowledge into a historical fiction writing unit. Each child is creating a character and crafting a story set in a Lenape village long ago, using research to ensure their writing is thoughtful, vivid, and historically grounded. From imagining seasonal work and winter preparations to picturing what this land looked like 500 years ago, students are blending research, imagination, and empathy as young historians and authors.
We are proud of the 3/4’s dedication to this meaningful work!
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After the initial Cooperation and Problem Solving unit, we move onto eye-hand coordination skills and activities that combine the eye-hand coordination skills with cooperation. From there, activities that are in line with the Society of Health and Physical Educators National Standards Scope and Sequence are introduced to students as part of a larger lesson plan. For example, if the students are working on throwing at targets, we usually teach the skill cues first (e.g., jumping jack, muscle man, point, step, throw, follow through). Next, the children practice individually, throwing at targets (paper plates on walls or various objects to throw at). Then, we play a partnered game (“p-i-g” or “t-i-g-e-r” or whatever they decide) which is followed by a larger or whole group game.
PE Blog
Want to learn more about the latest happenings in Miquon’s Physical Education program? Check out pictures and teacher commentary posted to the PE Blog.
Curriculum Report
The curriculum report is the teachers’ review of the entire year, looking back and making observations after their plans, projects, problems, and revelations are long over. One of the distinguishing features of this report is the great extent to which each teacher’s style, focus, and personality come through in this retrospective narrative. Check out the PE Curriculum Report.
