Creativity and Expression
We believe that creative expression is a basic human need and we are dedicated to connecting children with their ability to create and to express themselves. Through helping children access their innate creativity and expression, we believe they will become intrinsically motivated to learn and more fully engaged in life. (Read more)
We believe that children's physical environment has a great impact on their creative development. We have taken great care in creating physical spaces designed to awaken the senses and inspire the imagination. Each classroom is a multi-purpose, multi-sensory environment that at different times will be filled with diverse materials, luminescent colors, gooey tactile elements, resonant sounds, interesting projections, theatrical set pieces, thought-provoking books, engaging technology or clean simplicity. In each case, the purpose is to create a fertile environment for creativity and self-expression.
Our teachers will be highly trained in arts education and gifted at engaging children in creative explorations and activities. They are skilled in documentation techniques that help children think more penetratingly about their own creative processes. Our guest-artist program will draw upon the skills and talents of our parents and from within the Blue Man Group organization to bring additional breadth and depth to our program's creative experiences.
We believe that the principles of creative thinking apply to all subjects, not just the arts. We want to encourage our students to have lots of ideas and to use their imaginations, no matter what subject is being taught. We believe that children who are adept at brainstorming and creative problem solving will bring extra resourcefulness to all of their pursuits.
We are also excited about incorporating ideas put forth by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his seminal work on creativity, "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience." Specifically, we are interested in creating classroom conditions that are conducive to the mental state of "flow," which Csikszentmihalyi describes as characterized by "energized and focused immersion in tasks that are challenging yet within the reach of a person's skill set." We believe that helping children learn how to access this kind of creative mind frame will help them become intrinsically motivated in their quest for knowledge, liberated in their ability to express themselves and fully engaged in life.
Family and Community Connection
We believe that children flourish when deep human connections permeate all aspects of their lives and our program supports and nurtures positive connections both within families and at Blue School. (Read more)
We want to help children build the kinds of social skills that will allow them to thrive in the relationships they form throughout their lives. Our educational approach creates opportunities for children to practice mutual respect, cooperation, leadership, mentoring, listening, personal integrity, valuing differences, conflict resolution and other important social skills.
We invite parents and teachers alike to bring their own passions and interests to the program, with the understanding that everyone involved is on a journey of growth and development. Experience has shown us that this makes the process more enriching for the parents, while the children benefit by seeing adults collaborating and demonstrating the kind of lifelong "love of learning" that our program strives to instill. Likewise, we invite parents to continue some of our classroom explorations at home with their children, building a bridge between home and school.
Our program is uniquely supportive of families who travel. By working closely with parents, our teachers keep children connected to our curricula and community while they are away.
Global and Environmental Exploration
Our program helps children become aware of and respect the world in which they live. From their connection to the environment to their relationships with different cultures, students are given opportunities to discover who they are in New York and to stand in other children’s shoes to better understand the impact they have on a global level. (Read more)
We believe that helping children connect with nature, in all of its beauty, complexity and fragility, contributes greatly to their creative, intellectual and emotional development. We also believe that global citizens in the 21st century have an unprecedented responsibility to be actively engaged in the effort to protect the environment. Therefore, we present students with numerous ways to explore our planet's ecosystems and see how humans influence them. Children explore nature and environmental themes through organic gardening, field trips, science experiments, art projects and other tactile experiences. Recycling initiatives are embedded into all aspects of our program. Children explore the concepts of conservation and sustainability and have opportunities to make choices that positively impact our program's "ecological footprint."
As children get older, their environmental explorations will become more sophisticated and they will design projects that take sustainable practices beyond the classroom and into the world at large.
Learning about the world takes place both in the classroom and beyond. We take advantage of New York's rich cultural heritage and diversity by making numerous excursions to different neighborhoods, museums and events throughout the city. Our program supports families who have the opportunity to travel, and encourages them to become "investigators at large" so that their cultural explorations and discoveries can be brought back to the classroom and woven into the curriculum.
We help children broaden their worldview by teaching them foreign languages at an early age, when they learn them most naturally. Starting with our 2s program, children are exposed to different languages through songs, stories and conversations. As they move through the elementary program, our students will become proficient in at least one foreign language. We believe that this ability will enrich and extend children's global reach throughout their lives.
Multiple Perspectives and Differentiated Learning Styles
We carefully observe and assess each child's individual interests and needs then use this information to guide our teaching. We believe intellectual development flows most naturally and effectively when the children are the protagonists of this endeavor and when teachers can adapt their instruction to the learning styles of each child. (Read more)
Our educational approach is based on the premise that intellectual development flows most naturally and effectively when the children are the protagonists of this endeavor. Of course, not all aspects of the curriculum will be determined by children's specific interests, but elements of an "emergent," child-centered approach are incorporated throughout the program.
Our teachers also carefully consider the individual needs, learning styles, backgrounds, strengths and vulnerabilities of each child. We believe that students learn in different ways and move through developmental stages at different rates, and should be supported accordingly. We think that standardized evaluative measures of intelligence are too narrow, and may sometimes fail to detect a child's true gifts . In keeping with this, our teachers seek out varied approaches and diverse points of entry into subjects, engaging the students by using the modes and styles of learning that suit them best.
We want to ensure that, as we challenge children to stretch and grow in new directions, we also help them stay connected to the things about which they are passionate. In building this program, we have heeded the advice that mythology scholar Joseph Campbell gave to all of his students. It is a phrase that we now pass on to all of our students: "Follow your bliss."
Playfulness, Exuberance, and Fun
We believe children construct some of their most important learning through play. Our program is brimming with fun, spontaneity and inter-generational silliness. In doing so, we provide an environment that maintains a strong connection to the simple joy of being alive. (Read more)
Our program draws inspiration from the educational philosophies that assert that children construct some of their most important learning through play. We believe that a program brimming with fun, spontaneity and inter-generational silliness is more effective and engaging than one that is overly pressured and stressful. Through play and appropriately drawing out children’s inner "trickster," we encourage each child to learn to question, engage and think critically about possibilities.
Self-Awareness and Well-Being
Children in our program are aware of how their bodies and thought processes connect to a personal sense of health, efficacy and resilience. Our program supports children in developing a mind-body connection through an environment dedicated to physical activity, emotional processing, and healthy life habits. Our aim is to instill a passion for wellness that lasts a lifetime. (Read more)
We believe that helping children stay connected to their bodies and to a sense of well being also means developing their awareness of emotions and thought processes. We are aligned with a movement in education that seeks to integrate the principles and practices of "Emotional Intelligence" into school curricula. To this end, we work with our students to help them develop emotional competencies such as patience, perseverance, tolerance and impulse control that will empower them to meet the demands of daily life. We offer opportunities to help build emotional capacities such as empathy, compassion and personal authenticity. Our teachers look for ways to help children identify, process and express their emotions in healthy and productive ways. We recognize the powerful role that emotions can play in the creative process; as a result, we want to help children learn how to mine their feelings and channel them into various forms of artistic expression.
The school environment is the perfect place to expose children to healthy and satisfying eating experiences. All food brought into the classroom is held to the highest standards of health and safety. Learning about nutrition, and how different foods can affect one's health, is actively incorporated into the curriculum. We also believe that, in an age when advertising, sponsorships and product placements permeate so much of our lives, children need to be armed with the ability to recognize when unhealthy products are being promoted.
