The Lower School is approaching BankStreet@Home with compassion, creativity, and flexibility. We know that many families are juggling child care, family needs, and professional demands, under the strain of uncertainty and stress. We hope resuming school will provide some semblance of normalcy where needed, and we look forward to doing what we love: helping children learn and grow.
For young children in the Lower School:
- Learning happens constantly, in all settings.
- Cognitive, academic, social, emotional, and physical learning inform each other.
- Learning is the work of the learner, guided by the teacher.
- A learner’s work is cultivated and motivated by the materials, ideas, and engagements that are presented to them, and by being given time to get involved with what is available to them.
- Learning is sometimes smooth and fun and sometimes rough and frustrating. Making mistakes, not succeeding at first, and re-doing at another time are key to learning.
- Learning is social. People learn in safe, secure relationships.
Beginning March 31, your children will get to dig into their materials packets (at least those who didn’t already!). We hope to have struck the right balance between hands-on activities and screen time learning. With creative and flexible thinking, we will find ways to stay true to the power of child-centered, engaged learning—knowing that children thrive when they are encouraged, challenged, and when the work they do is meaningful to them. Building on our strong understanding of children’s development and the primary role that family plays in young children’s lives, we will support you individually and in community in the coming weeks. While always vital to Lower School children’s growth, we recognize that our partnership with families plays a uniquely central role under these circumstances. We feel so fortunate to be on this journey with you.
To begin BankStreet@Home, we will:
- Gather information from families about children’s current settings and situations.
- Offer guidance about setting daily schedules and creating workspaces at home.
- Phase in to different ways of being with each other and “doing school” during week one.
- Re-establish teacher-child, child-child connections and classroom community.
- Use technology purposefully for relationship and interaction.
- Establish routines and expectations.
- Offer a mixture of non-screen and screen engagements and learning opportunities.
- Encourage children to look for what is the same and what is different.
- Provide reasons to appreciate and enjoy what is new.
Ongoing, we will:
- Adjust and refine our practices.
- Deepen our focus on connection and community.
- Offer an engaging curriculum.
- Build academic skills.
- Motivate all domains of development.
- Support families.