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.
Hey PA, it’s Election Day!
The 5/6’s theme this year is voting rights. The group is using their newly acquired knowledge of the electoral system to design a school-wide process for electing the very best…. DOUGHNUT!
The 5/6 is still in the primary election phase, but you can glimpse at their process. Today, they were busy filming campaign ads.
Stay tuned for a winner: Will it be Cinnamon Sugar? Will the Stuffed Doughnut Party prevail with Creme Filled Powder? Or will our electorate turn saccharine this year and vote for Fruity Pebbles Chocolate?
The heart of Miquon has been restored. Our library is open!
As has been true for quite a while, many children identify the library as their happy place on campus. Thank you to our librarian, Sarah, for the hard work of simultaneously showing our children new worlds through story and providing them with this serene, loving place right here at home.
Here`s to many years of reading books, asking questions, seeking answers, making meaning, and lounging in cozy nooks!
Join us this Saturday, November 2 at 10:00 a.m. Meet our head of school, teachers, and current families. We can`t wait to show you how we celebrate childhood from the creek to the classroom.
THE WAIT IS OVER. Our third and fourth graders were finally able to move into their new classrooms last week!
It takes a village to raise a building, we have found. We are so grateful for our little village here in the woods.
Thank you to the many Heart of Miquon donors who made this new building possible. Additionally, thank you to the many hands of teachers, staff, family members, and children who pitched in to move the everyone in.
(Update on the library-section of the building to come next week. For now, check out our 3/4!)
Each fall, our art room is filled with fresh supplies and butterflies!
Our art teacher, Nicole, explains, “Butterflies are an exciting (and magical) resource to practice our skills of observation. We take time to notice their colors, shapes, patterns, and habits, as we grow our understanding of their importance to our ecosystem.”
After observing butterflies and reading “The Life Cycle of a Butterfly,” by Robin Bernard, young artists created a multi-medium work of art that showcased the life cycle of a monarch.
While this project may be complete, one of Nicole`s goals is aimed at something that goes beyond this work: “In time, our collective care, understanding, and appreciation will help [the monarch butterfly] rebuild their populations and come off of the endangered species list.” Important work for our young artists and change agents!
"We take care of ourselves, each other and our environment." This community agreement is found in Miquon rooms from Nursery through the 5/6.
Though our Meadow Nursery friends may be too young to sign their names onto the agreement they collaboratively created, they can still pledge their commitment with... handprints! Very official indeed, I say.
A huge thanks to all of our families who postcarded their neighborhoods to advertise for our Nov. 2 Open House! We appreciate you helping us get the word out about Miquon to new families.
Check out our stories in the next week or so for a related mini-contest. Stay tuned.
Save the date! Join us on Saturday, November 2 at 10:00 a.m. Meet our head of school, teachers, and current families. We can`t wait to show you how we celebrate childhood from the creek to the classroom.
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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.