Summer Camp at the Goddard School

To succeed in school and life, children and young adults need ongoing opportunities to learn and practice essential skills. This is especially true during the summer months. Summer is an opportunity for kids to have fun and relax – but the learning must go on! Summer camp is a place where kids can have fun, meet new friends, try new things, and continue learning new things.

Utilizing the concepts of the F.L.EX. Learning Program, our Summer Camp at Goddard blends fun, adventure and learning. Children love our unique summer activities where play and educational opportunities combine! The Goddard School goes far beyond just summer camp fun. Our Program combines songs, stories, exploration, physical activities and learning adventures in a safe, nurturing environment.

At Goddard Summer Camp, science and nature, arts and crafts, manners, computers and technology, literature and language, music and movement, sports and games, cooking and drama are all brought to life. We ensure your child has a memorable summer all the while, preparing them for the upcoming school year.

It’s going to be a fun summer at Goddard this year! Our Summer Camp theme is Mysterious Minds. The children will use problem solving and creative thinking to solve mysteries and preform science experiments.  There will be lots of manipulative play and hands-on art this summer.

Every Tuesday and Wednesday are water days; we will have water activities set up for the kids so they can cool off from the heat. Every Friday Amazing Athletes come to get the kids on their feet and playing sports. Each Friday will feature a different sport. All summer long we will be having special visitors come to school who will be supporting the Mysterious Minds theme. 

On March 14^th from 6:30pm – 8:30pm we are having a Summer Camp sneak-peak open house here at the Goddard School of Wall. Come take a tour of our school and meet some of the teachers who will be here for the summer. Learn more about our Mysterious Minds theme and find out what the kids will be learning this summer. We will have lots of delicious food, snacks, games, activities, and fun - so bring the whole family and invite some friends or neighbors. For all the mothers, we will have a representative here from Babies R Us raffling away a basket filled with all sorts of goodies!

To find out more about our Summer Camp program or our open house in March, please contact our Education Director, Samantha Calabrese, at (732) 974- 8314.

Goddard of Wall Seeks to Raise Money for 25th Birthday Celebration

This February is the 25^th Birthday of the Goddard School! We will have a week-long celebration February 4^th – Saturday, February 9^th. The Goddard School Birthday Party is more than a party – it is a national educational event celebrating 25 years of learning through play.

To kickoff this milestone event, the Goddard School has formed a partnership with the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). The Goddard School of Wall is seeking to raise $577 to contribute to the country-wide Goddard goal of $250,000. This money will be donated to the RMHC, who is also celebrating their 25th year anniversary.

The Ronald McDonald house’s mission is to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children. Similar to the beliefs of Goddard, RMHC believes that when you change a child’s life, you change a family’s, which can change a community, and ultimately the world. In honor of Goddard’s 25^th birthday celebration, please help us raise money to donate to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. We will be accepting donations between January 14^th and February 12^th.

During our Birthday celebration week in February, all the children will be creating birthday cards. These cards will be distributed throughout the year by RMHC directors to pediatric patients or family members celebrating birthdays during their, or a loves one’s, hospital stay. Goddard School Inc. (GSI) will donate $25,000 for the first 25,000 birthday cards made ($1 per card). We are asking families to help us create special birthday cards to donate to the RMHC.

With your help, we can make this a wonderful, fun and successful 25^th anniversary celebration for both the Goddard School and the Ronald McDonald House Charities. If you would like make a monetary donation or create a birthday card, please contact our educational director Miss Samantha at 732-974-8314. Thank you in advance for your support! 

Holiday Craft: Mistletoes!

When you need ideas for crafts, snacks, games and other fun ideas - Pinterest is the best place to look! We use Pinterest all the time to find inspiration and ideas to use here at Goddard. Check out the Goddard School of Wall's Pinterest page by clicking here.

This week we found an adorable holiday craft that we couldn't wait to share. This craft is perfect for the little ones! It's called "Mistle-toes." This cute little ornament will be one you want to save for years to come. This craft was originally created for a child's first Christmas, but you can make it with any of your kids.

Here is what you will need:

• 2 packs of oven baking clay in green
• 3 red stem balls 
• 10-inches of red string to fold over
• 1 straw 
• 1 hot glue gun
• 1 glue stick 
• 1 sharp knife
• 1 baking sheet 
• 1 Sharpie marker or pen

Instructions: 

Preheat the oven as directed on the oven baking clay packaging. Take clay out of packaging and flatten with hands to the size of your child's foot. Make sure the surface is smooth so the footprint comes out visible. Place your child's foot on the clay, pressing down on the heel, top of foot, and all the toes for a good impression. Lift straight up and check out the impression. You can use your fingers to fix areas or make them deeper to see better. 

Take a sharp knife and cut along the footprint. Smooth out the edges and if you need to reshape the toes a little to make them more recognizable. Take a straw to make a hole at the heel for the string to go through after they are baked. 

Place in the oven for 30 minutes. Let cool. Decide how wide you want the feet to be and line up the holes at the heels and use hot glue gun to glue together. Double the 10-inch string so it's 5-inches long and string it through the holes at the heels. Tie a knot then tie another knot at the very end of the string so you are left with a small loop to hang the mistletoe. 

Lastly, you take the 3 stem balls and with the wire attached to each red ball, twist them together and use the now single wire to string through the holes in the heels. Take the wire and wrap it around the front holly so that it secures them but also hides the wire. Write the child's information on the back so you remember who, when and how old. Then hand the mistletoe where you would normally hang mistletoe for kiss. This is great for gifts to the family and friends! 

Happy Crafting! 

'Tis the Season

Christmas time is here once again. Can you believe it? Here at the Goddard School it feels like just yesterday that we were in the Halloween spirit, planning parties and parades. Then Sandy came along and washed away our holiday, our homes and our hope. That didn't last long though. We weren't going to let this Frankin-storm hold us down! We celebrated Halloween the Goddard way - with a dance party! (Better late then never). Some of our families suffered severe damage to their homes. But with some kinds hearts and gracious donations, we helped them collect the items they needed to get things back to normal. Our hope was restored with the power, and we realized that in times of need; we can come together to support each other.

Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is in the air. The holidays are a beautiful, joyous time of year when we remember how many blessings we have in our lives. We at the Goddard School are lucky to have such an amazing staff of teachers, wonderful children and supportive families that make it all possible. We are looking forward to a new year of fun, love and learning.

Now, let's talk about Christmas! Gordon the Goddard Elf has been sneaking around school, keeping a close eye on all the children and reporting good behavior to Santa. We're keeping the Christmas spirit alive by collecting donations all month for Toys for Tots. These donations will go towards less fortunate children and families at Christmas time.

We want this blog post to be an outlet for conversation. So we want to know, what are your kids asking for Christmas? What is Santa going to bring? Where are the best deals this season and what are the hottest items? Post your comments in the comments section below!