A Typical Day
Since hands-on learning and real life experiences are important parts of our curriculum, we often bring in volunteers from the community to teach a special unit, and we take lots of field trips to beaches, live theater, area museums, environmental centers, or just a walk around the neighborhood. At SunFlower we are able to modify our schedule to accommodate these wonderful opportunities so that our first priority is an exciting and learning filled day for each child.
Students gather in the morning meeting room for conversational Spanish with Senora Nidia.
After Spanish the students and teachers make announcements and discuss the day ahead. This is a forum for the children, with the guidance of the teachers, to respectfully and seriously identify and solve problems, make suggestions, plan new activities, and learn how to come together as a group.
Students almost always begin their day writing in their journals. Teachers introduce new concepts and reinforce skills in academic subjects during the morning.
Children take turns bringing in a healthy snack for the whole school. The children eat snack and play outdoors together.
This is a time for independent reading, children reading to each other, teachers reading out loud and generally fostering a love of reading. Each group walks to the Gulfport library regularly to enhance SunFlower's extensive library.
Children may work on special projects such as art, cooking, science or social studies reports, research and observations. Individual students may receive academic coaching from their teacher while the rest of the class works independently on an activity. This is also a chance to finish class work that was begun earlier in the morning.
The children bring their own lunches. They are given the option to buy pizza one time a week. After eating at picnic tables, the children play outdoors.
During this time, children have a choice of activities. They may play chess, put on an impromptu play or exercise their creativity in other ways, use the classroom computers for educational games, do an art project, or build with blocks. In the afternoons, we also schedule special events such as a recorder concert for parents.
At SunFlower children are encouraged to take responsibility for their own environment, beginning with their classroom. They are responsible for neatening their classrooms and getting them ready them for the next day's learning.
