One big, happy family

Ettie Zaklos, Founder & Director

September and October are busy months filled with learning for both our students and our parents. As our well-rounded, award-winning program really kicked into high gear in the classrooms, the evenings provided ample opportunity for educational and community-building events for our parent body. In late September, we hosted our annual Parent Curriculum Night — always a highlight on our school calendar — which served to strengthen the unique partnership between our talented POTA faculty and dedicated parent body.

The theme this year was “If You Give a Parent a Peek: A Night of Learning Adventures,” inspired by the classic childhood cause-and-effect sequence book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” This special community event was a tremendous success! Parents delved into their children’s daily educational experiences and collaborated on painting a circle that will grace the halls of POTA.

The night also featured a fundraiser to stock the STEAM Makerspace in our new building as parents sponsored exciting science- and technology-based equipment and materials that will bring our ambitious STEAM center to life. We were blown away by the parent response and cannot wait for the building to be ready so we can see the exciting plans become a reality!

Throughout the busy fall months, we also enjoyed preparing for and celebrating the Jewish holiday season with our students, marking special days and learning all about our beautiful traditions. The classrooms were filled with apples, honey, shofars and challahs as the children learned all about the symbols and customs of the holidays.

Our holiday curricula are always supported by classroom learning and are enhanced with our extensive “specials” programming, including music and performing arts, visual arts, sports, yoga, gardening, science, Spanish, and Shabbat celebrations. Each “special” is designed to maximize our school’s wonderful facilities and resources, such as our Nature Playscape, state-of-the-art playground, Marketplace, Garden of the Arts, and indoor and outdoor art studios.

On Rosh Hashanah, we are excited to host a bevy of exciting family-oriented activities, including the popular Shofar and Tashlich service at Lowdermilk Park. The outdoor event allows our families to gather in honor of the holiday and hear the Shofar blown on the special day. Children will be well entertained with many exciting and educational activities, including crafts and, of course, sweet holiday treats!

We were also honored to welcome our families for engaging adult services and offer a unique holiday program specifically geared to children. Spending Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with our extended Preschool of the Arts families is a very meaningful experience that sets the tone for an inspired and educational year ahead.

In keeping with the Jewish New Year theme, our school also welcomed a local beekeeper who brought in thousands of buzzing bees for an incredible hands-on experience that taught the children about bees’ habitats and honey-making ability. The children had a great time helping extract the honey from the beekeeper’s cylinder and collecting it in their very own jar of honey.

Aside from honey’s seasonal fun and delicious taste, it also has some scientific superpowers. Raw honey, which has not been processed in any way, is incredibly healthy and is full of minerals, vitamins, enzymes and powerful antioxidants. It was wonderful to see the children’s enthusiasm during the fun-filled lesson and the connections they made to the world of bees and honey that they had been exploring in their classroom centers. The exciting and educational visit brought classroom learning to life.

The fun continues as we celebrate the joyous holiday of Sukkot in midOctober. The holiday’s numerous themes and exciting traditions inspire much of our daily curriculum. In our classrooms, teachers will provide many opportunities for students to explore the different fall and harvest-inspired elements of Sukkot and discover the holiday for themselves. Handyman Seth will guide the children in using construction tools to build a real-life Sukkah, which they will then decorate. Our little engineers will practice their budding STEM skills as they measure and hammer away!

Our students will also enjoy delicious cereal at the Sukkah event. Enjoying a fun holiday meal while sitting outdoors in the Sukkah, which the children helped build with Handyman Seth, so beautifully decorated with their own artwork, makes us all feel like we are one big, happy family!

For more information about our award-winning preschool or to schedule a tour, please call 239- 263-2620 or email me at NaplesPreschoolofthearts@ gmail.com.