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Poland Presbyterian Preschool explores the night
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For a craft, the students painted a moon and stars that they glued onto a piece of construction paper. Connor Casey painted his with care.
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During free play before the students gathered for a story time, student Erika Casey made a unique hiding place in a folding book about stars and planets.
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Teacher Julie Simington brought her own print of Van Gough’s “Starry Night” to class to show her preschoolers an artful representation of stars and moons.
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A bit of teamwork also helped the students paint their stars and moons. Joanie McNally (left) had some words of encouragement for Lily Kiske during the art project.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Poland Presbyterian Preschool learned about night animals, and finished their unit with their PJ Day on Feb. 3. The preschoolers came to school in their pajamas, although student Joanie McNally (left) wisely came to school in snow boots, and with help from her mom Melissa, changed into slippers.
By SARAH FOOR
The students of Poland Presbyterian Preschool went to school on the morning of Feb. 3 only to find that their teacher Julie Simington had made their classroom into an exploration of the evening.
Simington and her assistant teacher Mary Lou Volchko welcomed their students as they arrived with the classroom’s lights turned down low. “We have to keep the lights off,” Simington explained to her students with a wink, “because it is evening, after all.”
The preschoolers came to school in their pajamas, and many changed into slippers from their snow boots once they entered their classroom. Simington decorated her space with comfortable areas of pillows, covers and stuffed animals, and displayed relaxing paintings like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.”
“This started as a unit on nighttime animals,” explained Simington of her event. “And I began to wonder what life would be like living during the night. Since our classes are during the day, I figured using our imagination would be a fun experiment.”
The students painted wooden stars and moons for a craft to remember their morning-evening, and during a relaxed story time, fought valiantly to stay awake.
Erika Casey felt right at home during the “night,” even making herself a fort in a large fold-out book about planets and stars.
“I’m really comfortable in the nighttime,” she said, before slipping back into her hiding place.