Both of the Goddard Schools near Redmond are opening their doors Saturday morning for the community as part of a nationwide outreach event.
The private preschool, which has locations on Redmond Ridge and another off of Redmond-Fall City Road across the street from Alcott Elementary School, will host the annual Goddard Community Games Day Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Redmond Ridge school is located at 10611 Redmond Ridge Drive N.E. and the Goddard School near Alcott Elementary is at 4200 228th Ave. N.E.
“We are reaching out to the community,” said Shauna Barison, who owns both schools, along with her husband, Jeff. “We are going to have a fun day on Saturday of learning through play.”
Shauna operates the Redmond Ridge location, while Jeff is in charge of the other location. The Redmond schools, which serve children from six weeks to 6 years old, are two of nearly 400 nationwide Goddard School hosting the community outreach event.
Saturday’s event will include a myriad of activities for children and families, such as face painting, arts and crafts and dancing, selected from the Goddard School enrichment curriculum. Each of the schools’ classrooms will host a different activity as the event will expose the community to Goddard’s interactive, anti-bullying learning philosophy.
“Instead of an adult saying this is how you will learn, we basically took the science of how children are apt to learn,” Jeff said. “Kids are exploring through play, through imaginations and through discovery. … We are feeding their curiosity, their imagination and then building a curriculum around that so that they are ready for school when they leave here.”
The Redmond Goddard Schools have been doing a variety of events in the classrooms this week leading up to Saturday’s big event. The schools have also provided tours to prospective families throughout the week. On Saturday, any family in the community can bring their children and join in on the festivities, according to Lynda Clements, the education director at the Redmond Ridge location.
“Children learn through active interaction with their environment, so we create these fun environments for the kids to come and enjoy,” Clements said. “Parents can see how creative (their children) can be and see how much they express themselves in these open-ended activities. It’s really going to be a fun day.”
Earlier this week, children at both schools created postcards for armed forces overseas as part of Goddard Cares Day. Redmond firefighters visited the Goddard School location near Alcott Wednesday morning as part of Community Hero Day. Students at the Redmond Ridge location created a community banner with all of their handprints on it as part of Community Friendship Day.
Families who attend Saturday’s event at the Redmond Ridge Goddard School are encouraged to bring a can of food to be donated to Northwest Harvest as part of a food drive. At the Goddard School near Alcott Elementary, families can bring donations, such as baby clothing, diapers and bottles, for Eastside Baby Corner.
At the Goddard Schools, playful and interactive activities are planned by teachers, directed by students and designed to nurture self-confidence for each of the kids, according to Clements. One of the driving philosophies for the schools is the FLEX — Fun, Learning and Experience — curriculum, which is focused on play-based learning as well as friendship. The planned activities at the schools focus on teaching children about playing well with other and accepting each other’s differences.
“It teaches kids how to talk with each other, use kind works, to respect each other’s ideas,” Clements said.
The program is also effective for children who can’t talk yet, she said.
“We also believe if children are having fun and engaged in the environment, they don’t have very much time to be off bullying someone,” she said. “We have a very enriched environment.”
