ENRICHMENT
FAMILY CHAPEL
Children’s Chapel
The Children’s Chapel, consecrated on September 14, 2013, was built for worship by the youngest children in the St. Matthew’s parish. Every child in the church school contributed a stone that is incorporated into the stonework.
Thursday mornings at St. Matthew’s Preschool, you’ll find our two, three and Pre-K students making their way to our beautiful Children's Chapel. Lead by a member of our clergy, they enjoy 15-20 minutes of story, song and sharing that puts their lives within the greater context of Jesus' love for them and for all creation. The gathering is welcoming of all faith traditions and holds as its simple premise the belief that Jesus loves us, every one.
MUSIC DANCE LINE
MUSIC CLASS
Music is an important and integral part of Early Childhood learning. In the classroom, all of our teachers sing songs, teach finger-plays and help the children explore a variety of musical instruments. This year we pulled Don Hiller - Du Pont out of retirement so that he could bring his amazing gift of teaching music to children to SMP. Don taught music at Roaring Brook school in Chappaqua for 30 years. In addition to his amazing teaching skills, he and his husband Brian have written books for teachers on how to teach music to children.
WESTMORELAND REPTILES
WESTMORELAND VISITORS
SMP is very lucky to have Westmoreland Sanctuary as a partner in nature exploration and learning.
Once a month a Naturalist visits each class for 30-40 minutes. When the weather is nice, they take the children outside to look for signs of critters and changing seasons. Learning to be quiet observers, they spy bird’s nests both inhabited and abandoned, turn over rocks to see insects, listen to bird calls, and always keep their eyes out for signs and tracks. On inclement days, they settle into each classroom with critters, animal skins and stories to tell.
TEAM SPIRIT
Sports
This year, armed with fun movement activities, Christiaan Cacciotti brings his gym teaching skills to SMP. Targeting gross motor development, the children will be hopping, jumping, climbing through tunnels, running relay’s and winding their way through obstacle courses. If they seem particularly tired on Tuesdays, you will know why.