Lower School Afternoon Enrichment Program (AEP)
Lower School Afternoon Enrichment Program (AEP) Overviews
Please note, when an activity is offered for Kindergarten through IInd Form, these activities are split by age group (older/younger) and occur on different days as noted on the signup form.
Activities
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Soccer (Kindies–IInd Form): Students will begin each practice stretching and learning about the basic skills of the game: dribbling, passing, shooting, trapping, and field positioning. Students will then engage in game-like situations where good sportsmanship and skills are taught through game-play. Players need a water bottle and sneakers (no cleats, please).
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Nature Nuts with the Pratt Nature Center (Kindies–IInd Form): What could be better than spending the afternoon exploring the natural areas of campus with the Pratt Nature Center? In this play-based AEP activity, students’ afternoons will be filled with activities guided by nature and their “natural” interests. Students will be found balancing over logs, stacking and skipping stones, catching frogs, studying bugs, creating crowns of wildflowers, building shelters and boats, and jumping in mud puddles. Students will get wet and muddy so they need to come dressed for the fun! The total cost of this activity is $30, which will be billed to your child’s account.
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Paint the Campus! (Kindies–Primes): In this activity, students will learn how to “see” our campus and surrounding landscape as shapes and values, creating abstract landscape paintings from different viewpoints all over campus. Watercolor and tempera paint will be used primarily, but students will also make their paints out of a variety of exciting ingredients.
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Treasure Island Adventures (Kindies–Primes): What could be better than spending the afternoon exploring the natural areas of Treasure Island (our on-campus riverside classroom/recreational area) with your buddies? In this AEP activity, students’ afternoons will be filled with activities guided by nature and their “natural” interests. Students will be found balancing over logs, stacking and skipping stones, catching frogs, studying bugs, creating crowns of wildflowers, building shelters and boats, and jumping in mud puddles. Students will get wet and muddy, so they need to come dressed for the fun.
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Capture the Flag & GaGa Ball (Primes–IInd Form): Join your friends each week in this much loved Lower School activity and work as a team to capture the opposing team’s flag and cross the border into safety. Capture the Flag locations will vary as will the versions students play. This term, we’ve also added GaGa Ball - each week, a mixed group of students will head to the GaGa pit instead of playing capture the flag.
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Mother Nature Repeats Herself—An Artistic Study of Nature’s Patterns!:(Primes–IInd Form): Have you ever noticed all the designs and patterns on trees, flowers, and other natural items and wondered how they got there? This activity will explore the ways that we can find patterns in the natural world and use our artist’s eye to capture what we see.
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Sportsmania (Kindies–IInd Form): Each week, this group will be introduced to a new sport such as floor hockey, frisbee golf, rock climbing, soccer, baseball, basketball, and field hockey. Sportsmania is a great activity for children interested in trying a variety of sports.
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Introduction to Fiber Arts (Kindies–Primes): In this activity, students will learn a variety of techniques for working with fabric and textiles. Traditional and experimental materials will be used to explore such techniques as finger weaving, felt creations, off-loom weaving, and natural fabric dyeing techniques.
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Backyard Games (Kindies–IInd Form ): Students that take part in this activity will explore a variety of classic neighborhood games. Activities will range from tag and duck-duck-goose to whiffle ball, four-square, and kick the can. The options are endless, and fun abounds. Sneakers and water bottles are all that will be needed.
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Tang Soo Do (Kindies–IInd Form): USA Martial Arts will offer a balanced martial arts training program by incorporating Cheezic Tang Soo Do forms (kata), kicks and hand techniques, self-defense, and conditioning into an all-encompassing program that will train your total mind and body. A concentration on discipline, focus, and self-confidence are incorporated into each class. Through various karate drills and techniques, students will learn respect and to respect others. The goal is to have the children embrace the fundamentals of Tang Soo Do while having fun. The total cost of this activity is $30, which will be billed to your child’s account.
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Magical, Mysterious, Mammoth Sculptures (Primes–IInd Form): In this activity, we will learn about the art of Danish recycled-materials artist Thomas Dambo and use his work as an inspiration for a giant art installation somewhere in the woods of our campus. Come ready with lots of energy, a spirit of teamwork, and a magical, mammoth imagination!
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Private Piano, Guitar, or Ukelele Lessons with Kristin Richards (Primes–IInd Form): In this 30-minute private lesson, students will learn fundamental skills on the piano, including proper technique, music notation, music theory, sight-reading, and general musicality. Randall and Nancy Faber’s Piano Adventures series will be the textbook for the class. Each level includes Theory, Performance, Technique & Artistry, and Popular Repertoire. Students will rotate between lessons and Study Club where appropriate. Students should have a piano, keyboard, guitar, or ukelele at home on which to practice. The cost of this five-class session is $190 plus a one-time book cost billed to your child’s account.
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Study Club (Ist–IInd Form): Is your schedule too busy? Do you want to have more free time at home? Study Club is your chance to get your homework done before you leave the school campus. Teachers provide a quiet atmosphere; you provide the brainpower. The supervising teacher is always there to help.
- Fridays in the Neighborhood (Kindies–IInd Form/Not Divided into Groups): As part of our whole-child approach, Lower School students have additional free play and exploration time on Fridays from 3 to 4:30 p.m. This allows students unstructured time to enjoy the company of friends at the end of a busy week while at the same providing opportunities to develop new friendships across grade levels. When the weather is cooperating, students will be outside playing with one another (field games, playground time, arts at the tables, sledding, boot skating, ice skating, etc.). When the weather is not cooperating, students will head inside in cohorts to do free art and play board games with their friends. Families do not need to sign up for Fridays in the Neighborhood as all are welcome to stay as often as they like.