Reply to AppleTree Open Houses: Did you attend today (or earlier this year)?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I attended the Appletree Lincoln Park open house today.

I was impressed by the tour but quickly saw that the school was not for us. Although they certainly have their act together and seem to know exactly what they're doing, the kill and drill philosophy was not what we want.

When we went into a classroom, one teacher was showing flash cards to a child sitting her herself and the kid had to say the word of the object. Then, the kids had to read word cards.

In another class, a teacher wrote on a white board "cat" "dog" etc and the kid had to read the word. One kid had his head in his hand and had a look of "do I have to do this?"

The results (reading) are impressive, but again not what we're looking for.

This would however work for some families. If you're looking for an academic, teacher-led curriculum, I don't think you can do better than Appletree.[/quote]

Huh?  Are you sure this was APpletree LIncoln Park?  My child goes there and that does not sound like a description of that school at all.  I have never seen flash cards there.[/quote]

Yes. All classes had flash cards or small white boards. In the 4s room, there was a girl sitting across from a teacher who held up picture cards (only to the girl). The girl named the photo cards. There were also word cards sitting on the table. If this is 't common perhaps it was an assessment. Teachers in every room were working one-on-one with children in this fashion.

I saw very little free play during my visit.[/quote]

Which room was this in?  (Which floor?)  I'm really intrigued.  They are not doing assessments right now so it can't be that, though they do have a vocab assessment (I think that one is just at the beginning and end of the year though) which involves identifying pictures.  The way the school day is structured is very similar to practically every other school we have toured.  You were likely there during "centers" where the kids are all rotating around the various centers where they do have "free play" but there are themes to follow.  E.g. right now they are looking at the planet earth, pollution, recycling, healthy food, and the dramatic play center is set up like a farmers market.  While the kids are circulating around the centers (their choice, so long as a spot is open) some of them will be taken aside for "small group" time.  This is almost never one on one (unless it's an assessment), but generally with 3-4 kids.  I don't understand why they would do it differently during the open house.

They have white boards and the white board normally includes things like the question of the day which each student answers as they arrive at school.  [/quote]

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