KIdTown Comes Alive in 1st Grade

As part of the first-grade study of neighborhood communities, each class created and designed a community out of boxes and other construction materials. The completed "buildings" were later assembled to represent a 3-D model of a town. The children discussed the placement of the buildings, needs of a community, and added details like road signs and power lines to make them complete.

Parents and siblings were invited to visit the classrooms to view the neighborhoods. One child commented, "I wouldn't want to live in that town. They do not have a fire station." Yikes!

Learning about the people, places and purpose of a community are important lessons in educating and growing good citizens.  Assignments such as these also set the stage for more in depth social science study that lies ahead in future grades.  Cooperative play, planning and strategic thinking are engaged, as well as the development of imagination and visual-spacial intelligence.
   
~Beth Brennan, Lower School Head