News from our Elementary Vice Principal, Josh Doubleday
Dear GAA Community,
This week, during our Grade 1 and 2 Community Share, we had a real treat from the Arts Department as the students displayed the amazing work being done in Drama, Dance, Music and Art. As a former Art Specialist, I understand the important role the Arts play in a child’s development. By growing and developing one’s own ability to express one’s self in a variety of ways only makes our contribution to the world that much more dynamic and impactful. The Arts also play a significant role to those learning the English language as it gives these children more opportunities to be understood and “heard” in a sometimes non-verbal form of expression.
The PYP Exhibition will begin next week; running from May 20th and 21st. Please come by the gymnasium to see the amazing work our Grade 5 students have been up to and the various action they have been taking in order to make a difference in their community.
For parents of children in grades 2-5, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) results will be sent home today with your child. An email will accompany the results giving a little more background into the assessment itself. If you would like to learn more about MAP assessments, please join us for our Parent Information session on May 19th at 8:30am-9am in the Planetarium.
On another note, please ensure to send both a hat and water bottle to school with your child each day. As the weather heats up the need to drink more water and seek protection from the sun increases.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Sincerely,
Josh Doubleday
Elementary Vice Principal
This week, during our Grade 1 and 2 Community Share, we had a real treat from the Arts Department as the students displayed the amazing work being done in Drama, Dance, Music and Art. As a former Art Specialist, I understand the important role the Arts play in a child’s development. By growing and developing one’s own ability to express one’s self in a variety of ways only makes our contribution to the world that much more dynamic and impactful. The Arts also play a significant role to those learning the English language as it gives these children more opportunities to be understood and “heard” in a sometimes non-verbal form of expression.
The PYP Exhibition will begin next week; running from May 20th and 21st. Please come by the gymnasium to see the amazing work our Grade 5 students have been up to and the various action they have been taking in order to make a difference in their community.
For parents of children in grades 2-5, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) results will be sent home today with your child. An email will accompany the results giving a little more background into the assessment itself. If you would like to learn more about MAP assessments, please join us for our Parent Information session on May 19th at 8:30am-9am in the Planetarium.
On another note, please ensure to send both a hat and water bottle to school with your child each day. As the weather heats up the need to drink more water and seek protection from the sun increases.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Sincerely,
Josh Doubleday
Elementary Vice Principal
Hello wonderful, supportive GAA community,
Next Wednesday, May 20 and Thursday, May 21 you have the chance of a lifetime to witness the INAUGURAL GRADE 5 PYP EXHIBITION at GAA!
For the last 8 weeks, the student in Grade 5 have worked very hard to inquire into how COMMUNITIES CAN BE CHANGED THROUGH OUR ACTIONS and they would like as many people as possible to come and learn how.
So please, come to the gymnasium next week to question, view and listen to the students themselves as they share their learning. You can come:
Wednesday, May 20
8;:00 - 9:15
9:50 - 11:10
12:00- 2:30
Thursday, May 21
8:30 - 9:15
9:50 - 11:10
Next Wednesday, May 20 and Thursday, May 21 you have the chance of a lifetime to witness the INAUGURAL GRADE 5 PYP EXHIBITION at GAA!
For the last 8 weeks, the student in Grade 5 have worked very hard to inquire into how COMMUNITIES CAN BE CHANGED THROUGH OUR ACTIONS and they would like as many people as possible to come and learn how.
So please, come to the gymnasium next week to question, view and listen to the students themselves as they share their learning. You can come:
Wednesday, May 20
8;:00 - 9:15
9:50 - 11:10
12:00- 2:30
Thursday, May 21
8:30 - 9:15
9:50 - 11:10
Greetings!
We are in the G5 Exhibition group Motivating MYYJ and we need E-waste!
E-waste is old or new electronics. We need your E-waste so you do not throw them in the garbage and add to the Earth’s waste
problems. If you do put them in the garbage they will mix with water in the garbage in the landfill. iIt will then give off toxic gas that is bad for the environment.
But, if you give us your E-waste we will give them to the KGs and they can play with them, or we will give them to the older grades
so they can take them apart and see how they work.
Thank you for helping protect our environment and provide fun learning opportunities for the students at GAA.
We are in the G5 Exhibition group Motivating MYYJ and we need E-waste!
E-waste is old or new electronics. We need your E-waste so you do not throw them in the garbage and add to the Earth’s waste
problems. If you do put them in the garbage they will mix with water in the garbage in the landfill. iIt will then give off toxic gas that is bad for the environment.
But, if you give us your E-waste we will give them to the KGs and they can play with them, or we will give them to the older grades
so they can take them apart and see how they work.
Thank you for helping protect our environment and provide fun learning opportunities for the students at GAA.
Hello GAA parents, students and staff,
We are the Grade 5 PYP Exhibition group Community Cares and we would love to remind you about the donations our group is requesting of our kind, caring community. We are asking that you donate any clothing, shoes and bath stuff. These donations will given to the GAA support staff and they would love to see the effort you put in to making them happy. Donations are due before May 19. We will come to the class and collect the donations, the class with the most donations will earn a prize at the end of Exhibition.
Thank you for your kindness,
Community Cares
(Nondu, Reika, Samer and Ian)
We are the Grade 5 PYP Exhibition group Community Cares and we would love to remind you about the donations our group is requesting of our kind, caring community. We are asking that you donate any clothing, shoes and bath stuff. These donations will given to the GAA support staff and they would love to see the effort you put in to making them happy. Donations are due before May 19. We will come to the class and collect the donations, the class with the most donations will earn a prize at the end of Exhibition.
Thank you for your kindness,
Community Cares
(Nondu, Reika, Samer and Ian)
And in other news...
On Wednesday, May 13 the Grade 5 students went on a field trip to the Park Hyatt hotel on Saadiyat Island. The students viewed a wonderful presentation by a local marine biologist about the various marine life around in the local area. The children learned about dugongs, mollusks, marine flora and crabs but the highlight was information about the local Hawksbill Turtles nesting areas. The Hawksbill Turtle is critically endangered and there is a lot of local effort put towards trying to improve this status.
After the presentation, the students spent some time on the beach collecting trash to help keep the nesting areas clean to help prevent the possibility of baby turtles eating harmful materials.
After the presentation, the students spent some time on the beach collecting trash to help keep the nesting areas clean to help prevent the possibility of baby turtles eating harmful materials.
Elementary Music
We are excited to announce the Grade 2 - 3 end of the year concert, A Musical Journey, on Monday, June 1, 2015 from 4pm – 5:30pm in the GAA Auditorium. The students will present their work in music as a recital for family and friends. In keeping with the PYP and the Content Standards for Music outlined in the curriculum, the student’s attendance and participation is encouraged as this will give them the opportunity to share and enhance their performance skills.
Please put those dates on the family calendar! It is an elementary team effort. We appreciate your support in making this performance a priority in supporting your child and the Music Department at GAA!
Please put those dates on the family calendar! It is an elementary team effort. We appreciate your support in making this performance a priority in supporting your child and the Music Department at GAA!
Kindergarten Corner
This week the KG1’s have been busy constructing ramps for their cars as well as developing their skills with more challenging puzzles whilst have taken the time to enjoy reading in our quiet library space.
KG1H have been exploring our new unit of inquiry, Sharing the planet, by learning about and practicing the 3 R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle!
They have also been busy taking orders, coming up with recipes and menus, and making shopping lists in our classroom kitchen.
KG2A celebrating Earth Day by wearing green!
KG2B have been experimenting with how materials can change their properties.
Specialist
In Islamic after school activities KG 1 and KG 2 implemented and performed many hadiths of the Etiquette of before and after sleeping. Students showed enthusiasm during Islamic Studies.
In Islamic after school activities KG 1 and KG 2 implemented and performed many hadiths of the Etiquette of before and after sleeping. Students showed enthusiasm during Islamic Studies.
Early Academic Training Produces Long-Term Harm
Research reveals negative effects of academic preschools and kindergartens. Post published by Peter Gray on May 05, 2015 in Freedom to Learn
Many preschool and kindergarten teachers have told me that they are extremely upset—some to the point of being ready to resign—by the increased pressure on them to teach academic skills to little children and regularly test them on such skills. They can see firsthand the unhappiness generated, and they suspect that the children would be learning much more useful lessons through playing, exploring, and socializing, as they did in traditional nursery schools and kindergartens. Their suspicions are well validated by research studies.
A number of well-controlled studies have compared the effects of academically oriented early education classrooms with those of play-based classrooms (some of which are reviewed here (link is external), in an article by Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Geralyn McLaughlin,and Joan Almon).[1] The results are quite consistent from study to study: Early academic training somewhat increases children’s immediate scores on the specific tests that the training is aimed at (no surprise), but these initial gains wash out within 1 to 3 years and, at least in some studies, are eventually reversed. Perhaps more tragic than the lack of long-term academic advantage of early academic instruction is evidence that such instruction can produce long-term harm, especially in the realms of social and emotional development.
A Study in Germany that Changed Educational Policy There
For example, in the 1970s, the German government sponsored a large-scale comparison in which the graduates of 50 play-based kindergartens were compared, over time, with the graduates of 50 academic direct-instruction-based kindergartens.[2] Despite the initial academic gains of direct instruction, by grade four the children from the direct-instruction kindergartens performed significantly worse than those from the play-based kindergartens on every measure that was used. In particular, they were less advanced in reading and mathematics and less well adjusted socially and emotionally. At the time of the study, Germany was gradually making a switch from traditional play-based kindergartens to academic ones. At least partly as a result of the study, Germany reversed that trend; they went back to play-based kindergartens. Apparently, German educational authorities, at least at that time, unlike American authorities today, actually paid attention to educational research and used it to inform educational practice.
A Large-Scale Study of Children from Poverty in the United States
Similar studies in the United States have produced comparable results. One study, directed by Rebecca Marcon, focused on mostly African American children from high-poverty families.[3] As expected, she found—in her sample of 343 students--that those who attended preschools centered on academic training showed initial academic advantages over those who attended play-based preschools; but, by the end of fourth grade, these initial advantages were reversed: The children from the play-based preschools were now performing better, getting significantly higher school grades, than were those from the academic preschools, This study included no assessment of social and emotional development.
An Experiment in Which Chidren from Poverty Were Followed up to Age 23
In a well-controlled experiment, begun by David Weikart and his colleagues in 1967, sixty eight high-poverty children living in Ypsilanti, Michigan, were assigned to one of three types of nursery schools: Traditional (play-based), High/Scope (which was like the traditional but involved more adult guidance), and Direct Instruction (where the focus was on teaching reading, writing, and math, using worksheets and tests). The assignment was done in a semi-random way, designed to ensure that the three groups were initially matched on all available measures. In addition to the daily preschool experiences, the experiment also included a home visit every two weeks, aimed at instructing parents in how to help their children. These visits focused on the same sorts of methods as did the preschool classrooms. Thus, home visits from the Traditional classrooms focused on the value of play and socialization while those from the Direct-Instruction classrooms focused on academic skills, worksheets, and the like.
The initial results of this experiment were similar to those of other such studies. Those in the direct-instruction group showed early academic gains, which soon vanished. This study, however, also included follow-up research when the participants were 15 years old and again when they were 23 years old. At these ages there were no significant differences among the groups in academic achievement, but large, highly significant differences in social and emotional characteristics.
By age 15 those in the Direct Instruction group had committed, on average, more than twice as many “acts of misconduct” than had those in the other two groups. At age 23, as young adults, the differences were even more dramatic. Those in the Direct Instruction group had more instances of friction with other people, were more likely to have shown evidence of emotional impairment, were less likely to be married and living with their spouse, and were far more likely to have committed a crime than were those in the other two groups. In fact, by age 23, 39% of those in the Direct Instruction group had felony arrest records compared to an average of 13.5% in the other two groups; and 19% of the Direct Instruction group had been cited for assault with a dangerous weapon compared with 0% in the other two groups.[4]
What might account for such dramatic long-term effects of type of preschool attended? One possibility is that the initial school experience sets the stage for later behavior. Those in classrooms where they learned to plan their own activities, to play with others, and to negotiate differences may have developed lifelong patterns of personal responsibility and pro-social behavior that served them well throughout their childhood and early adulthood. Those in classrooms that emphasized academic performance may have developed lifelong patterns aimed at achievement, and getting ahead, which—especially in the context of poverty—could lead to friction with others and even to crime (as a misguided means of getting ahead).
I suspect that the biweekly home visits played a meaningful role. The parents of those in the classrooms that focused on play, socialization, and student initiative may have developed parenting styles that continued to reinforce those values and skills as the children were growing up, and the parents of those in the academic training group may have developed parenting styles more focused on personal achievement (narrowly defined) and self-centered values—values that did not bode well for real-world success.
A number of well-controlled studies have compared the effects of academically oriented early education classrooms with those of play-based classrooms (some of which are reviewed here (link is external), in an article by Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Geralyn McLaughlin,and Joan Almon).[1] The results are quite consistent from study to study: Early academic training somewhat increases children’s immediate scores on the specific tests that the training is aimed at (no surprise), but these initial gains wash out within 1 to 3 years and, at least in some studies, are eventually reversed. Perhaps more tragic than the lack of long-term academic advantage of early academic instruction is evidence that such instruction can produce long-term harm, especially in the realms of social and emotional development.
A Study in Germany that Changed Educational Policy There
For example, in the 1970s, the German government sponsored a large-scale comparison in which the graduates of 50 play-based kindergartens were compared, over time, with the graduates of 50 academic direct-instruction-based kindergartens.[2] Despite the initial academic gains of direct instruction, by grade four the children from the direct-instruction kindergartens performed significantly worse than those from the play-based kindergartens on every measure that was used. In particular, they were less advanced in reading and mathematics and less well adjusted socially and emotionally. At the time of the study, Germany was gradually making a switch from traditional play-based kindergartens to academic ones. At least partly as a result of the study, Germany reversed that trend; they went back to play-based kindergartens. Apparently, German educational authorities, at least at that time, unlike American authorities today, actually paid attention to educational research and used it to inform educational practice.
A Large-Scale Study of Children from Poverty in the United States
Similar studies in the United States have produced comparable results. One study, directed by Rebecca Marcon, focused on mostly African American children from high-poverty families.[3] As expected, she found—in her sample of 343 students--that those who attended preschools centered on academic training showed initial academic advantages over those who attended play-based preschools; but, by the end of fourth grade, these initial advantages were reversed: The children from the play-based preschools were now performing better, getting significantly higher school grades, than were those from the academic preschools, This study included no assessment of social and emotional development.
An Experiment in Which Chidren from Poverty Were Followed up to Age 23
In a well-controlled experiment, begun by David Weikart and his colleagues in 1967, sixty eight high-poverty children living in Ypsilanti, Michigan, were assigned to one of three types of nursery schools: Traditional (play-based), High/Scope (which was like the traditional but involved more adult guidance), and Direct Instruction (where the focus was on teaching reading, writing, and math, using worksheets and tests). The assignment was done in a semi-random way, designed to ensure that the three groups were initially matched on all available measures. In addition to the daily preschool experiences, the experiment also included a home visit every two weeks, aimed at instructing parents in how to help their children. These visits focused on the same sorts of methods as did the preschool classrooms. Thus, home visits from the Traditional classrooms focused on the value of play and socialization while those from the Direct-Instruction classrooms focused on academic skills, worksheets, and the like.
The initial results of this experiment were similar to those of other such studies. Those in the direct-instruction group showed early academic gains, which soon vanished. This study, however, also included follow-up research when the participants were 15 years old and again when they were 23 years old. At these ages there were no significant differences among the groups in academic achievement, but large, highly significant differences in social and emotional characteristics.
By age 15 those in the Direct Instruction group had committed, on average, more than twice as many “acts of misconduct” than had those in the other two groups. At age 23, as young adults, the differences were even more dramatic. Those in the Direct Instruction group had more instances of friction with other people, were more likely to have shown evidence of emotional impairment, were less likely to be married and living with their spouse, and were far more likely to have committed a crime than were those in the other two groups. In fact, by age 23, 39% of those in the Direct Instruction group had felony arrest records compared to an average of 13.5% in the other two groups; and 19% of the Direct Instruction group had been cited for assault with a dangerous weapon compared with 0% in the other two groups.[4]
What might account for such dramatic long-term effects of type of preschool attended? One possibility is that the initial school experience sets the stage for later behavior. Those in classrooms where they learned to plan their own activities, to play with others, and to negotiate differences may have developed lifelong patterns of personal responsibility and pro-social behavior that served them well throughout their childhood and early adulthood. Those in classrooms that emphasized academic performance may have developed lifelong patterns aimed at achievement, and getting ahead, which—especially in the context of poverty—could lead to friction with others and even to crime (as a misguided means of getting ahead).
I suspect that the biweekly home visits played a meaningful role. The parents of those in the classrooms that focused on play, socialization, and student initiative may have developed parenting styles that continued to reinforce those values and skills as the children were growing up, and the parents of those in the academic training group may have developed parenting styles more focused on personal achievement (narrowly defined) and self-centered values—values that did not bode well for real-world success.
*A gentle reminder that for safety and security reasons children are not allowed in the classrooms after school. We appreciate parents assistance with this and thank you for your continuous help and support.