The Papillons class recently created their own “perfume” as part of their exploration of the five senses. After a trip to the grocery store to choose a bouquet, the children picked and washed each petal before simmering them in distilled water and letting the mixture percolate overnight. They proudly bottled their finished perfume to take home, closing out the month with a joyful, multisensory celebration of scent, touch, sight, and discovery.

We decorated pumpkins in the spirit of Halloween! We love this season and had much fun celebrating Halloween through art.

• La Petite Colline practices a whole-child teaching approach influenced by Reggio Emilia & Montessori Methods with emphasis on learning practical life skills, bilingualism, and creativity. 
• What does Reggio Emilia mean at La Petite Colline?:
  • Reggio Emilia is a child- and inquiry-based teaching and learning philosophy that constructs meaning from the natural environment, the inherent inquisitiveness of young children, and the belief that children are deeply capable.
  • The Reggio Emilia teaching style is process-driven and follows children’s interests, encouraging them to make meaningful connections and deepen their curiosity. Embracing this style of enabling children to construct their own learning from the roots of their own interests primes children for a joyful ongoing relationship with information seeking, knowledge and skill building, and living and learning in a curious and intentional way. 
• What else does our staff have to say about Reggio Emilia?:
  • “Such an important part of Reggio is the idea of ‘the classroom as the third teacher’ – emphasizing the environment in which children can learn!”
  • “Artwork – see the learning on the walls!”
  • “Reggio is a more organic way of learning with the children. It fills in the gaps created when the focus is purely on academic learning. It teaches them real life skills!”
  • “Children are SO capable!”

Our 2023 Halloween parade was magical! All children were dressed up and we all walked to Fort Green Park to meet up with our families for our annual La Petite Colline Halloween Parade. It was a day full of laughters, funny and creative costumes, and happy memories!

Click here to check out our mention in French Morning’s article about bilingual French preschools in NYC. We’re thrilled!

The Artist Class challenged themselves this month to try to grow crystals in the refrigerator. We took Epsom salt, warm water, and food coloring and put this experiment to the test. After dissolving the salt into the warm water and adding our food coloring to help the crystals stand out, we put the jars into the refrigerator and waited a day for the crystals to grow. More salt can dissolve in hot water than cold, so that is why it is easier to start off with the warm water to dissolve the salt. Then, when the hot water cools in the refrigerator, the Epsom salts create crystals on the side of the cup. This is because the cold environment is not conducive for the salt to remain dissolved in the water, it only has one option: to form crystalline structures. The unique shape of Epsom salt molecules makes them form long crystals that almost look like needles!

With “construction” as their theme, Les Inventeurs received a large mystery box in the mail. After guessing what might be hiding in it, they opened it and found all the pieces to a small table and two chairs, fully dissemble. By following the illustrated instructions, they used their fine motors skills to attach the right pieces together to build their very own art center! The children were very proud of their work and quickly busied themselves creating masterpieces in their new special classroom space!

Keith Haring, renown Pop artist, had the spotlight as our Artist of the Month for February! Keith Haring developed a love for drawing at a very early age, learning basic cartooning skills from his father and from the popular culture around him, such as Dr. Seuss and Walt Disney. This development of artistic skill at a young age was something that we wanted to share with our younger friends, who are beginning to develop their own artistic talent as they grow and learn. Though reading books about Haring’s life, displaying pictures of Haring’s work at eye level, and helping friends recognize the key elements of Haring’s style, we were able to interpret Haring’s work in every classroom. We wanted students to feel a connection to the artist they are studying at school, and with Haring’s easily recognizable shapes, bright colors, and repeated themes of movement, animals, and love, we were able to solidify an understanding of the artist and his body of work. Furthermore, we chose Haring because of the lessons that his work leaves us with: be open, care and act, find strength in number, and be inspired and be inspiring. These are lessons that we hope will stay with our friends for the rest of their lives, as they grow and learn more about the art and life of Keith Haring, an artist that made such an impact in the world.