The Brick Experience
We value play as the work of children. We recognize how children benefit from engaging with concrete materials during hands-on learning experiences. We are committed to providing each student with meaningful, age-appropriate learning opportunities in a program that balances open-ended, child-led experiences with explicit instruction and teacher-directed activities.
Every aspect of our educational program is designed to attain this balance and provide children with play-based learning opportunities to further their growth and development in all areas, foster their love of learning, and help them reach their highest potential. We are ever mindful of individual children’s needs and the different learning styles present in the classroom.
Our program integrates the areas of math, literacy, science, social studies and more into the classroom curriculum, as well as our Specials, to ensure all children move on from Brick ready for success in kindergarten and beyond.
The Story of Us​
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The Story of Us is a central, foundational part of the Brick experience for all age groups. Brick recognizes that first and foremost, the curricular experiences we create and the programming we develop must honor and center the most essential human need in all of us- the need for connection and community. The Story of Us is a classroom exploration grounded in the following three questions:
Who Am I?
Who Are You?
Who Are We?
The Story of Us is directly linked to our commitment “to provide an excellent early childhood education, nourishing children’s emotional, social, intellectual, physical, ethical, and spiritual well-being . . . in an atmosphere of warmth and mutual respect.” It embodies our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as we encourage children to develop and demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities. We want each child to express comfort and joy with human diversity and to develop deep, caring human connections. We encourage our students to discuss the differences they see in people in (and outside) of their classrooms in respectful ways. In our classrooms, children develop curiosity about others, an openness to multiple perspectives, and utilize critical thinking skills.
As we implement The Story of Us, we are mindful of Rudine Bishop Sims’ language of Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors, which she first coined in the context of children’s literature. In her landmark article, Sims writes:
Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience.
Sims goes on to discuss the importance of children having windows and mirrors in the classroom. At Brick we embrace this premise, which is described in our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, not just in the context of literature but classroom materials and curricula more broadly.
Parent and family engagement is essential to The Story of Us. Welcoming families into the classroom as we explore Who Am I? Who Are You? Who Are We? enriches the experience of all children and deepens the sense of connection and community we seek to foster. Families are encouraged to share traditions, (such as how they celebrate a holiday or prepare a certain food), that are culturally or otherwise meaningful in their child’s homelife.
Reggio-Emilia Approach at Brick
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The Brick Experience is enriched by the ideals espoused in the Reggio Emilia Approach to early childhood education. When we talk about engaging in project work based on the children’s interests, we are referring to a model of emergent curriculum that is inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach that empowers children, giving them great agency in their learning. Many members of Brick’s faculty and administration have had the opportunity to study this approach at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
The following five principles of the Reggio Emilia Approach provide inspiration in our classrooms.
View of The Child - Possessing “A Hundred Languages”
Children are active protagonists in their learning with myriad capabilities and extraordinary potential. They are competent and capable learners whose knowledge, ideas, and questions are deserving of respect and consideration.
View of the Family - “First Teacher”
Parents are children’s first teachers. They are essential to the learning process and are important collaborators in children’s education whose active participation in the school experience is sought and valued.
View of the Early Childhood Educator - the “Second Teacher”
Educators serve as researchers, observing the children, asking questions, and designing thought-provoking opportunities upon which learning can be scaffolded. This does not mean they are passive observers, rather, teachers are active participants, engaging children in meaningful experiences.
View of The Classroom - the “Third Teacher”
The classroom environment is carefully curated to invite exploration and facilitate learning. Natural and open-ended materials are used whenever possible to engage children in warm, uncluttered, and aesthetically pleasing spaces with opportunities for exploration of elements such as light and shadow.
Documentation
Documentation makes the process of learning visible for children and adults, allowing for reflection and discussion while creating a lasting record of the experience. It reflects how the learning process is valued over any specific finished product.
To read more about the Reggio Emilia Approach to early childhood education, please click here.
Chapel
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Children in our 3’s, Young 4’s, and 4’s/5’s classes gather as a community for the School’s weekly Chapel service. The children and teachers enter while the Music Teacher plays “Enter, Rejoice and Come In.” Children are greeted by the Senior Pastor and School Director as they make their way into the Chapel and settle on the rug. The Senior Pastor leads the highly participatory service, which includes singing and praying, as well as opportunities for individual children to take turns doing special jobs such as bell ringer, candle lighter, prayer helper, and candle snuffer.
Each week the Senior Pastor shares an age-appropriate message of God’s love and the importance of caring for one another and the planet. Chapel is one way that the School lives its mission to nourish children’s spiritual well-being and guide them to become “happy, self-confident global citizens, mindful of God’s love, accepting of themselves and others, filled with curiosity and joy in learning.” Chapel time ends with a blessing, which the children hear each week all year. “God be with you, God go with you, this day and always.”
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Three times a year, children’s families are invited to join us for a special Chapel time in the Sanctuary of the Church: Christmas Chapel in December, Grandparents/Special Friends Visiting Day Chapel in April, and End of the Year Chapel in May.
Cognitive Development​​
Cognitive development is fostered at Brick through both open-ended, exploratory activities and teacher-directed explicit work on specific skills. Children learn to inquire, pursue information, and problem solve, testing their theories and modifying their efforts to try for a different outcome. They learn about the properties of matter through science and cooking activities, and about balance, symmetry and scale through block building. They listen to and discuss stories, strengthening their ability to predict, retell in sequence, and make associations from text to text and from text to experiences they have had. They invent their own characters and stories and apply logic as well as creativity to their plots.
Through project work, children’s interests are explored starting with central questions such as, “what do I already know about this topic?” and “what do I want to learn that I don’t know yet about this topic?” Teachers carefully tailor the opportunities and materials that are available to engage children as researchers who are empowered and confident learners. As layer upon layer of research is added, classes determine a culminating project to demonstrate all they’ve learned and invite others in the school community to share in their learning. Project work is rich with opportunities for learning in all areas, while fostering agency and love of learning.
While plenty of skill development happens during project work, teachers also provide direct instruction for essential skills in areas such as math, literacy and more. Children work with Stern blocks, complete puzzles, follow and create patterns, sort and categorize by different attributes, to name just a few. They build phonological awareness through rhyming, segmenting words, isolating and manipulating initial consonant sounds, and establish sound-symbol associations needed to encode and decode words. Our oldest classes engage in small group skill work during what we call Dot Time. 4’s/5’s classes have Dot Time 4 days a week, and each dot corresponds with a specific area: Red: Literacy; Yellow: Fine Motor; Blue: Math; Green: Science/Social Studies/other.
Language Development​​
Language development is central to every aspect of our program at Brick. Expressive language skills allow children to make their needs and wants known, share knowledge and experiences, ask questions about and show interest in the world around them. Receptive language skills allow children to understand requests, information, stories, and directions given in the classroom. Together, expressive and receptive language skills allow children to successfully engage in conversations with teachers and peers. Strong language skills are essential to developing interpersonal relationships, working collaboratively with others, brainstorming and problem solving. They help children identify and label their emotions and appropriately manage challenging feelings like frustration and anger. They also help children express empathy and offer comfort and kindness to others.
In our classrooms teachers model the use of language, introduce vocabulary, provide prompts and facilitate the expansion of children’s contributions to conversations and more. They read aloud from our ever-expanding library of children’s literature and foster meaningful discussions about what was read, as well as providing opportunities for children to dictate their own stories. Children are supported and set up for success so that they will grow in confidence in an environment were everyone can comfortably express themselves in front of their classmates. By fostering expressive and receptive language development, we not only help children grow in this area, but also ensure they have the strong language skills needed to support growth in all developmental areas.
Physical Development​​
Gross motor skills are strengthened throughout the day at Brick. During outdoor play, opportunities to run, jump, throw and catch balls, climb, slide, and ride tricycles abound. Children use the stairs regularly to move throughout the building. Movement and music classes engage children in a range of games and activities that develop balance, agility, core strength and coordination. Young children are wired for and delight in movement, and we ensure they have ample opportunity to get up and move throughout the day.
Fine motor skill development starts in our younger classes with building hand strength through materials like clay and play dough, and use of tools such as tongs and large tweezers. Building upon hand strength, additional tools are introduced, including chalk and other drawing implements, and activities are introduced to develop the pincer grasp, such as beading, lacing, peg boards and more. Children move on to working with staplers and hole punchers, which require significant hand strength, and scissors, learning to cut pointing away from their bodies with their thumbs up. Fun and engaging opportunities to work with manipulatives are part of children’s daily experience at Brick.
In addition to fine and gross motor development, children’s sensory needs are also a priority. A range of tactile experiences are offered in the classroom. Sensory tables provide opportunities to explore a range of materials such as sand, soil, water, and gravel. Children work with their hands using fingerpaint, shaving cream, clay, paper mache and more. These activities not only help children learn about the world and the properties of matter, but can help with self-regulation, attention, and flexibility.
Social-Emotional Development​​
Our students’ social-emotional wellbeing and development is paramount at Brick. Understanding how they themselves and others are feeling is a part of the daily experience. Classrooms display visuals showing different feelings and children learn to identify and name those feelings. Upon arrival each day, four and five year old students indicate on a feelings chart how they are feeling, and during daily Meeting, children in all age groups have a chance to check in about how they are feeling that day. Children work on recognizing their feelings and healthy and appropriate ways to express them, including how to seek help or take action to address challenging or negative feelings. As children develop understanding and take ownership of their own feelings, they also build their ability to experience empathy and care for others.
Our teachers establish a strong sense of community from the very start of the school year, establishing age-appropriate classroom agreements from ideas generated by the children about how they will care for their classroom and one another. Classroom agreements provide clear expectations and a sense of security that is essential for students to feel safe and confident. In this environment children develop the skills they need to share, take turns, problem solve, invent and create, work collaboratively, and build strong friendships. They develop a strong sense of self, which in turn allows them to connect meaningfully with others.
Service Learning​​
Service Learning is one of many ways we strive to live our Mission, as Brick, “seeks to be a place in which children, their families, and educators care for others in their classrooms, city, and world.” Even very young children are able to meaningfully participate in efforts to help others, and these experiences help develop empathy and help children feel empowered to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Several service learning projects are highlighted in Chapel throughout the year.
In the fall, the entire Brick community is invited to support African Dream Academy in Liberia by filling a “Red Bag” with gifts and school supplies for a child in Liberia. In Chapel Ms. Wendy, Pastor Tom’s wife, showed the children where Liberia is on a globe and talked about how we can make a difference in the lives of the children who live there and attend African Dream Academy. In the winter, each child has the opportunity to bring a box of cereal to donate to the New York Common Pantry. Children carried their boxes into Chapel where they were all piled up, class after class. Ms. Bills spoke about how when we all contribute in a small way, the results can be enormous, as shown by the tower of cereal boxes. In the spring, the call goes out to donate gently-used clothing, toys and books. In Chapel, Ms. Fabian talked about how we can help others not just by shopping, but also by sharing some of our belongings. She asked the children to think about things from their closets or drawers or shelves that they might want to give to other children.
In each of these examples, the children’s ability to understand and desire to help others is not only heartwarming but also reminds us how important it is to provide opportunities for service learning from the youngest of ages!
children develop curiosity about others, an openness to multiple perspectives, and utilize critical thinking skills.
Kindergarten Readiness​​
When Brick students move on to kindergarten they are well prepared for successful participation in their next schools. In addition to strong skills in all the developmental domains, they leave us with excellent preparation in classroom skills essential to kindergarten readiness. Children are able to independently navigate the classroom and manage their belongings, follow multistep directions, handle transitions, learn and follow classroom routines, and participate fully in all the classroom has to offer. They know how to make friends and work collaboratively with others. They are also able to work independently, remain focused on tasks, and work to completion. They can comfortably express their ideas and knowledge in front of the group and know how to ask questions or for clarication when needed. They are conscientious classroom citizens who take responsibility for helping others and caring or their community. Above all, they are confident in their abilities and see themselves as capable students, ready to take risks and meet challenges.
Brick teachers are trained in two complementary programs that support children's writing and reading readiness: Sounds in Motion and Handwriting Without Tears.
The Sounds in Motion (SIM) program promotes literacy skills based upon the extensive research underpinning the Orton-Gillingham approach. SIM is a fun and engaging multisensory program that establishes strong phonemic awareness, giving children foundational understanding of sound-symbol relationships that are the basis for reading and writing.
Handwriting Without Tears (HWT), part of the Learning Without Tears curriculum, is a research based, developmentally-appropriate, multisensory program for teaching letter and number formation. Through HWT students develop proper technique and good habits for letter formation. HWT works in conjunction with SIM and together they provide essential skills that students need as they learn to read and write.
Brick has close relationships with the ongoing schools where our graduates most often enroll and receive regular feedback from them about our students' preparedness for kindergarten. Our teachers also visit K classrooms at these schools to remain current on evolving expectations.