AppleTree Public Charter preschool - candid opinions please.
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Anonymous
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Meant to also quote the academic part of the article, whih sounds like AT's program. Nothing against it; if that is what is hat is best for your child, then great. But it does not seem play-based and child-directed, een though the teacher makes the learning fun.
Academic Alternatively, there are academic programs, considered didactic, “teacher-directed,” “teacher-managed.” In these classrooms, teachers lead the children in a more structured way, planning the activities, then guiding the children in doing them. This design is aimed at preparing kids for the kindergarten setting. For the most part, classroom time is devoted to learning letters and sounds, distinguishing shapes and colors, telling time, and other skills. Although parents may take comfort in knowing their child is in a more academic setting, some say this only makes a difference in the short term. “A lot of people put children in Montessori, for example, because they want them to learn academics early. Research shows that’s true only up to a certain point,” Wana says. “Preschool is time to learn social and emotional skills so you are ready to learn those academic skills later on.” |
Anonymous
| (Sorry for the typos; trying to do this on my phone) |
Anonymous
| Appletree is actually a mix of styles then. The classrooms are organized around centers as described in the play based description. The kids have child directed center time in both the morning and afternoon. One of the centers is "teachers center " which is teacher directed learning for about 10 minutes per group. Each child goes to teachers center when called. The morning meeting and closing circle are also teacher directed. The teacher directed portions focus on literacy, math skills and the unit (such as space, dinosaurs, our community, etc.). The centers are truly play based learning and change with each theme. For example, during dinosaurs, the library will have picture books about dinosaurs, the dramatic play center will be pretending to be archeologists, the art center will be dinosaur projects, etc. the structure of the day is very similar to most preschools, there is just more teacher directed learning of (particularly) literacy skills included. |
Anonymous
| Yup, that ^^ is the routine in my DC's AppleTree classroom. |
Anonymous
Again, you have misunderstood AppleTree. That description very accurately describes the AppleTree class room. Sure, that's not ALL they do all day, but the classroom is absolutely set up exactly as you describe, the kids decide if they want to go to construction zone, "art studio", or dramatic play or the "library" (book nook) etc (taking turns if one area is full). At AppleTree they call this "centers" time and it takes place twice a day for an hour each time. So, no, it's not the entire day. They also go outside to play and run around, eat lunch, have "small group" time, take a nap etc. |
Anonymous
Great description! Thanks. My son loves telling me what he did in "dramatic play" each day. When they were working on "DC and community" he and his friends pretended they were on the metro and looking at the Washington Monument. Now they are doing "archeology and paleontology" (cracks me up that my 3 year old says that instead of dinosaurs and fossils) he plays at being a paleontologist (yep, he says that too!) at the Natural History Museum. The dramatic play nook has a pictures of dinosaur skeletons on the wall and other toys and dinosaurs around to help facilitate play along those themes. With other topics there are sometimes hats or dress up clothes. |
Anonymous
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Still on the fence about my decision and would love some additional feedback on Apple Tree. Did any parents out there find the Apple Tree curriculum to be too rigorous or rigid for their child? I know there's been speculation from other non-AT parents, but I would love to hear from those who have actually been through the program. I have a very active little boy, and I worry about the day being too structured and demanding for him.
Also wondering if anyone else was turned off by the physical space at Apple Tree CH? I just found the building kind of off-putting and strange. It struck me as odd that the school was operating right next to a few random apartments where people are living. I saw a wreath on a door during our tour and was like, "What the heck?" One last thing. The weekly homework folder. Would love some feedback on this from Apple Tree parents. Seems like a bit much for a 3-year-old to have weekly homework. Any feedback is much appreciated! Thank you! |
Anonymous
1) The school is in its own space with locked doors to the space and a rigorous sign in policy. Random people do not live in the school. In any event, the space is not ideal but it was fine. The classrooms are bright, well decorated and well supplied which partially offsets the lack of windows. 2) my very active little boy did great in the program. I've always found with my son that he does better with a schedule to his day and expectations about how to behave - he gets wilder and more out of control when he is just left to his own devices and not guided at all. His teachers were very kind and caring in helping him with his first school experience. It also helped that he loved what they were learning - it's easier to sit still in circle time and focus on the various centers when they are all focused on dinosaurs (etc.). I think it can be a good fit for active kids but you need to assess whether it would be for your child based on what you know about him. 3) The weekly homework is a single assignment tied to the weeks theme. Generally it is along the lines of "this week we read the book A Snowy Day (describes plot of book for parents). Draw a picture of what adventures you would like to have on a snowy day." My impression was that the homework was part of the school readiness component of the cirriculum - to get kids and parents used to the idea of homework before starting "real" school. There was also a packet for spring break and winter break and those were longer with more letter and number tracing and counting as well as coloring and drawing. My son liked to do his weekly homework and it took 5 minutes. |
Anonymous
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Ditto all the above. I'm also at CH and although I was bummed out by the basement classrooms at first, it quickly amazed me how bustling, fun and engaging the classrooms always are and how at home the kids are. And even in those smallish rooms, it also amazes me how much variation there is in the play/learning centers and how quickly the kids familiarize themselves with their choices.
My DDs class went to the museum of Natural History on her class trip yesterday to close out their theme of dinosaurs and her class had a blast. |
Anonymous
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Really loving Appletree. Had our DC's 2nd to last parent-teacher conference for the year last week, and aside from the interesting information about where DC is on the measures, the "strengths" and "areas to work on" (or maybe it's called "areas for improvement", I can't remember) is so great. They had noticed some patterns of self-doubt in DC and it really helped to discuss how it was showing up to the teachers at the last conference, and then work on it at school and at home. We all notice a marked improvement, and less frustration/self-doubt on DC's part.
The main point about that for this thread, is we really feel like DC is "seen" there, not just another kid in a class. There is attention to several aspects of where DC is on many fronts, and efforts to keep moving in great directions. Feel very lucky to be there, wish it went past PK-4! |
Anonymous
| If choosing between Appletree CH and Appletree Lincoln Park, which would you choose and why? Any insight greatly appreciated. |
Anonymous
I'm PP and we're at CH, but I know nothin about LP so can't compare. I think I heard LP has a better playground, but I think most other aspects are the same. |
Anonymous
AppleTree is rigorous but that is what keeps in interesting for the kids. The kids learn so much it is amazing. They just finished a dinosaur unit in my son's class and he uses scientific terms that I cannot define for you. It is pretty outstanding. All the while, as he gets this amazing science curriculum which you don't even see in K-5 education anymore, he is learning so much about math and reading. He writes in a journal every day - what four year old does that? It is really the best program out there - and all their resources and research and development goes into what would be best for little kids. Some of these other schools like how they make 8,000 dollars per head on their preschool programs, but then all of that money is used on kids 3rd grade and up (TESTED grades...). I admit the homework folder part was surprising. The homework is one activity weekly. It is really more about giving the parents an activity to do at home with their kid. It is usually something very easy that can be a fun 10 minutes at home. It is not a big deal - and in my son's class they get rewards for being consistent with homework. Our principal told me part of it is also so that kids grow up always knowing about homework and getting into the habit early so that when they get older they do homework on their own. I hope he never gives me a headache about homework when he's in high school! |
Anonymous
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I have yet to hear a negative word from any Appletree parent, which speaks worlds to me--especially here on DCUM. We've accepted a slot at CH for next year, although we have a high WL# at our local elementary and are torn as to which we would choose. We went to the Appletree open house last week, and I admit I was a little put off by how ACADEMIC the place looked--everything on the walls seemed to be about reading and writing, including worksheets and fill in the blanks. I didn't see art anywhere, just lots and lots of white paper with words on it in various forms. I'll be thrilled when my kid learns to read, because I'm an avid reader myself. But I don't want it to come at the cost of everything else he does in school. Walking around, it felt like a mini kindergarten; I didn't see or hear about paints, or musical instruments or anything like that. With even the youngest grades in elementary becoming heavily focused on academics and testing--to the exclusion of so many extracurriculars--it troubled me to think my kid would be put onto that path two years sooner than he has to.
Can current parents comment? Since you've been part of the program much longer than my brief impression, can you share some insights? |
Anonymous
My son is at Lincoln Park and I'm surprised to hear your description of Columbia Heights. There is art work all over the walls in his class - all related to the current theme. They just switched from dinosaurs to farm animals. Previously in this thread there were discussions about how they do "centers" twice a day which includes art, construction, exploration (sand or for the farm theme its straw), dramatic play, library etc. Did you see how the day is typically structured? It's all through play. When they have done testing my son has told me that he has gone to play games with his teacher. He LOVES school. He ASKS for more homework every week. He does his in less than five minutes. A recent example was something like: We've been reading the book "Dinosaur in your back yard" (not sure if that's the exact title I'm not familiar with it). Draw a picture of a dinosaur living in your back yard. He got a bigger pack of homework for spring break (completely optional). It was about 10 pages long including worksheets to write letters and show the odd one out etc. He finished in in 20 minutes and asked for more. One other thing that I love about Appletree is that they really go out of their way to make it FUN and welcoming for the kids. For the first few weeks the principal and some of the other staff were at the door every single morning as the kids arrived and greeted every single one of them by name right from the first day. The teachers always say "we're so happy that you're here" - and in fact sing a good morning along those lines every day. I think the aim is to start the kids off right with a very positive experience with school -- it's working for my 3 year old! They also work very hard on discipline and class room behavior and it shows. The kids are very respectful of each other and really seem to have fun. |