Exploring Through Experiential Learning
Episcopal helps children build a love and excitement for learning through exploration. Children are encouraged to discover new topics and information through hands-on, experiential learning tailored to meet the specific learning needs of each child. In each classroom, teachers bring curriculum to life in interactive and immersive ways.
This month, Group Four expanded their doctors unit with first-hand stories from multiple parent visitors in the profession. Combined with age-appropriate curriculum, students used these experiences to guide them in their own pop-up play clinic. Donning white medical coats, play stethoscopes, and stuffed animal patients, children were able to explore what they had been learning in a new hands-on way.
During their restaurant unit, Group Three transformed their classroom into the Flower Café. Other classes and faculty members who reserved tables were greeted by children in Episcopal aprons and escorted to their seats. Using what they learned together, the student servers took each guest’s order and brought them treats, all prepared by their student chef team. With chef hats and jackets on, children scooped and plated snacks before sending them out for service. Later in the month, Group Three will take a field trip to a local restaurant to experience the workings of the food industry in-person and expand upon what they have learned.
In Group Five’s art unit, children are stepping into the shoes of artist Henri Matisse. After learning how Matisse focused on paper cut-outs in the last decade of his career, children had the opportunity to try their own collaging. Similar to Matisse, they began with painting the paper one color. Once dry, they used fine-motor skills to trace shapes and cut them out before assembling their own personal collages, bringing the lesson to life through their art.
Group Seven is currently discovering architecture through the study of iconic New York buildings. Children are being introduced to blueprints, building stories, and fun facts relating to famous structures in their own backyard including the Flatiron, Brooklyn Bridge, the Highline, and even the Episcopal School. Together, children experimented with building structures using cups and popsicle sticks to trial-and-error the architectural process alongside their peers. During free play, they explored architecture through different hands-on activities including Lego building, wooden railway blocks, popsicle stick art, and cutting out their own New York City skylines.
In Group Five’s art unit, children are stepping into the shoes of artist Henri Matisse. After learning how Matisse focused on paper cut-outs in the last decade of his career, children had the opportunity to try their own collaging. Similar to Matisse, they began with painting the paper one color. Once dry, they used fine-motor skills to trace shapes and cut them out before assembling their own personal collages, bringing the lesson to life through their art. Each classroom is utilizing experiential learning in different ways, helping foster a school full of excited learners and creating long-lasting memories.
