Archive for September 2006

By Christina Davis, Teacher
Difficult situations have a tendency to bring out the best and the worst in people—offering an opportunity to rise to the challenge or succumb to the difficulties. Children are no different. Studies have long shown that older children (5th graders) have a tendency to…

By Emma O’Hanlon, Teacher
When psychologist Laura Carstensen, PhD, watches children at play, she sees future senior citizens. At winter quarter’s staff development day in February, she encouraged teachers to see children from her perspective, at least for a little while…

By Michelle Allison, Teacher
Take with a grain of salt anything that is said by a professional,” Rick Lloyd, MD, a Palo Alto Medical Foundation pediatrician and father of five, told Bing parents and other members of the Bing community at the 17th annual Kindergarten Information Night, in January…

By Chia-wa Yeh, Research Coordinator and Head Teacher
Stanford psychology student Andrei Cimpian spends much of his time at Bing Nursery School. He can often be seen reading stories at snack time and pushing children on the swings…

By Neely Zangenehzadeh, Assistant Teacher
Have you ever felt like you didn’t know the right thing to say when helping a child in a challenging situation? Here’s the good news: There is no single right answer. As explained at the parent seminar held April 19, there are many effective ways of hand…

By Janessa Morriss, Assistant Teacher
With easel paintings filling the drying racks and music filling the yards, Bing Nursery School presents each child numerous opportunities for creative expression each day. On Wednesday, April 26th, the Bing community gathered to learn more…

By Amy Blasberg, Assistant Teacher
The third seminar in this spring’s parent seminar series, “Fostering Literacy in Young Children,” delved into the fundamentals of literacy, how Bing teachers promote literacy and strategies for “taking it home.”…

By Parul Chandra, Head Teacher
Young children are fascinated by the living things they encounter. They study them like naturalists. This study takes place over days and weeks, thus building their ability to sustain an interest…

By Nancy Howe, Head Teacher
Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot We’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather Whether we like it or not. At Bing we don’t weather the weather, we welcome it…

By Beth Wise, Head Teacher and Music Resource Specialist
The multi purpose room was transformed into a recording studio for two weeks in July as we recorded songs performed by children, parents, teachers and staff members. Over 40 songs were recorded in 10 different languages…

By Beverley Hartman, Head Teacher
John Dewey, the founding father of the developmental movement in education wrote in The School and Society, “There is the instinct of making—the constructive impulse. The child’s impulse to do finds expression first in play…

By Sarah Wright, Head Teacher
It is often thought that learning to read begins by being read to. This is a crucial stage in the reading process, as it enables children to realize that the squiggles on the page capture language that can be comprehended,…

By Tom Limbert, Head Teacher
Step into a classroom at Bing Nursery School when children are present and you are bound to see a child creating with classroom materials and describing her work to a nearby teacher. The school has designed its environment to inspire children…

By Peckie Peters, Head Teacher
Watching a group of seven children run a “chocolate factory” in the sand one day, I observe a clear illustration of the significance of play in children’s lives. Some children are “loaders,” using shovels to load sand onto a gutter…

By Kitti Pecka, Head Teacher
Two year olds entering school in the fall work hard to adjust to a new, enlarged world. Getting used to the unfamiliar books, materials, people and environment takes time. To aid their adjustment, we sing many familiar songs…

By Mary Munday, Teacher
In the past decade, brain research has proven that music is more than frivolous fun. It’s an important part of young children’s education…

By Jennifer Winters, Assistant Director
In an effort to promote and share knowledge and experience amongst the community of early childhood educators, the Peninsula Association for the Education of Young Children held a mini conference in February…

By Meghan Olsen, Teacher
This year’s major California conference for preschool educators included a number of excellent presentations, but three talks—focusing on emotional validation, neurological development and national academic standards—were especially interesting…

By Karen Robinette, Head Teacher
How do young children benefit from having an art studio in their school—and how can they get more out of it? This spring, four Bing Nursery School teachers attended a conference to explore this question…

By Rinna Sanchez-Baluyut, Teacher
In October 2005, a group of Bing teachers ventured to the beautiful city of San Francisco to attend a daylong seminar with Carlina Rinaldi, a leader of the renowned early childhood education program run by the city of Reggio Emilia, Italy…

By Svetlana Stanislavskaya, Enrollment Administrator
In 1993 a group of Bing teachers attended a symposium in Washington, D.C., and visited the Model Early Learning Center (MELC), located above the Capital Children’s Museum. In 1994, Child magazine had selected MELC, along with Bing Nursery School, as one of the 10 best nursery schools in the United States…

By Jennifer Winters, Assistant Director Last fall’s annual Harvest Moon Auction was a sensational event, which raised a record-breaking $320,000 for the Bing Nursery School Scholarship Fund. The auction was the kick-off celebration for the 40th anniversary of Bing. The new Arrillaga Family Recreat... [ Read More ]