Special Areas

Our Special Area program is unique to Advent. Each week, children visit five special areas: Music and Movement, Science, Cooking, Art and Chapel. Each special area has a dedicated teacher who is a “subject matter expert”.

Art
In Art, Ms. Tami Jewell introduces each unit through an artist. We start with “Brown Bear” (Eric Carle) as this is familiar to almost all our students. From Monet’s lily pads to Michelangelo’s Sistene Chapel, our little artists produce masterpieces all while learning about historical artists. Ms. Tami scaffolds projects for each age group and uses different mediums, from our fingers to paints and crayons, to balloons used as stampers! So many of our developmental muscles are used participating in art. We are using cooperation during projects for social development, practicing lots of fine motor skills for physical development, and developing our language skills by expressing our ideas and feelings while creating art.

Music and Movement
Jan McLaughlin is our Music and Movement teacher. If you have met Ms. Jan, you know her energy radiates to all of the children. From yoga to dance to hula hoops, our students are moving and developing their gross motor skills all while having a great time. In music, Ms. Jan projects the words on the wall so that children are getting an awareness of print even before they are ready to read.

Advent holds two programs per year, our Christmas Program which features the vocal stylings of the children, and the Art and Movement show, which showcases the movement program as well as the art work the children have produced over the course of the year. Each class has their own program in the Parish Hall, so you are able to see your superstar.

Cooking
Cooking is always a favorite of our children. Ms. Kim Foltz, our cooking teacher, shows a recipe for each tasty snack the children make. Just in cooking, children are working on sequencing, math, reading, and fine motor skills. Through our recipe pictures, we may not know exactly what a third of a cup is, but we learn that a third is less than a half, and other fraction skills. We also are learning to take our turn and try new foods. Our cooking class is entirely “nut free”.

Science
Science is always an adventure! Ms. Tammie Dawkins, our science teacher, works closely with the classroom teachers to develop lessons based on their units. From nature walks to volcano experiments to our earth worm habitats, our time in the lab is full of exploration. We learn a lot about hypothesizing and making predictions, and learn that it’s okay to not always know the right answer. Our lab is also home to some feathered and furry friends. We have birds, gerbils and fish!

Chapel
Each classroom participates in weekly chapel taught by our Head of School, Ms. Katie Clark. Chapel takes place in the big church. We sing and learn different bible stories. The most important lesson we share with our children is that God always loves them and that they are never alone! Our lessons are nondenominational so that each child can participate and feel welcome while learning the fundamentals of the bible.