Beginners Students Join P.E. Circus

The Beginners had a chance to play alongside first grade experts, who offered the 2- and 3-year-olds a lesson from the circus unit of their daily physical education class.

The circus unit provides a playful exploration of a variety of gross motor skills. First graders demonstrated how to juggle scarves, spin plates, walk on “stilts,” and balance feathers on the tips of their fingers. The Beginners loved their visit to the gymnasium and time spent with their first grade buddies!

This is one of many opportunities that early childhood students have to forge bonds with and learn from students in the lower school and upper division. Thursdays each month, the school holds “Community Day,” where older classes buddy up with younger groups in different classes. Earlier this year, seventh graders joined the junior kindergarten music class to sing and play music together. In the gym, first graders and eighth graders jumped rope together. At Christmas time, nursery students built gingerbread houses with the help of their eighth grade buddies. 

“One of the benefits of attending an early childhood program at an ongoing school is the chance to interact with older students,” says Lower Division Director Emily Holt. “You can't underestimate what it means to be part of something bigger.”