ECS BLOG

STEM: Lessons About Our Senses in Kindergarten

STEM: Lessons About Our Senses in Kindergarten Our kindergarten students recently participated in a set of memorable experiments about some of their primary senses:  hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch. Ms. Lee asked her class to create hypotheses about the contents of mystery items hidden in eggs, using only the sense of hearing.  She also encouraged guessing about mystery smells like pencil lead, coffee, vinegar, food items, and wax.  Finally the class was asked to make some educated guesses about whether some foods would taste salty or sweet, using their senses of vision and touch before tasting. To help the [...]

2019-10-23T10:32:02-07:00October 23rd, 2019|

STEM – Project-based Learning

STEM (STEAM) Learning at Eastside Christian School What is STEM/STEAM? STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math.  We add an "A" (STEAM) to represent the artistic flair our students frequently add to their STEM projects.  STEM projects blend the subjects listed above, giving students the chance to learn some "21st century skills" they need to succeed in the workplace.  Skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, postulating a hypothesis and finding evidence to support or negate the hypothesis, and group collaboration are important tools for today's students.  Studying and applying lessons in science, technology, engineering, and math help build these important skills. STEM [...]

2019-10-16T09:43:27-07:00October 16th, 2019|

Best Private Middle School!

The readers of 425 Magazine have once again voted Eastside Christian School as the "Best Private Middle School" on the Eastside for 2019! This makes the fourth year in a row that we have received this honor. 2019 Best Middle School (Private) 2018 Best Elementary School and Best Middle School (Private)2017 Best Elementary School and Best Middle School (Private) 2016 Best Preschool and Best Middle School (Private) Additionally, both of our first grade teachers, Carolyn Karkainen and Paula Satterberg, have been voted 425 Magazine's Best Teacher award in the last two years. We are so grateful to have a school full [...]

2019-10-16T09:46:45-07:00April 29th, 2019|

Good, Good Friday!

Hallelujah, everyone Everyone can come to the cross It doesn't matter what you've done Everyone can come to the cross ~Michael W Smith, "Come to the Cross" What a joy-filled week we have enjoyed during our annual "Faith Week," leading up to Good Friday today. Today we commemorate Jesus' physical death on the cross 2,000 years ago, but death itself is definitely not good. So why do we call this day "good" Friday? It is good because Jesus sacrificed himself in our place, taking the penalty of our sins on himself, even though he himself never sinned. It is [...]

2025-10-18T12:06:05-07:00April 19th, 2019|

Moms In Prayer

Every week, women from the Eastside Christian School community gather together to pray for our children, our school, our teachers and our administrators. All ECS mothers and grandmothers who are willing to pray are welcome to join. We are an extension of "Moms in Prayer," an international organization of women committed to praying regularly, with a goal to cover every school around the globe in prayer. "I have been praying with ECS Moms In Prayer for the last 7 years.  There are no words that can express how deeply I have grown in my relationship with the Lord, and sisters in [...]

2019-01-28T16:47:52-08:00January 28th, 2019|

Equipping Our Kids

As I sat in the enormous, university auditorium I looked around at the other freshmen parents and couldn’t help but wonder why we were there. I had already been to college and earned my degree. This rite of passage was now my daughter’s, right? But there we all were at DAY ONE of our adult child’s’ college orientation. I have always had a love for learning, but this class didn’t feel quite right. Then the hands went up asking the orientation administrator things like, “what should my child do if they don’t get along with their roommate?” I became increasingly uncomfortable [...]

2018-10-17T12:28:31-07:00October 17th, 2018|

Middle School Retreat

The Middle School Fall Retreat is an annual event that registers as one of the highlights of our students' experiences at ECS. We spend two days and an overnight stay at Camp Sambica on Lake Sammamish to purposefully build community within our middle school. Grades are mixed for a variety of fun activities and zany games that allow relationships to be built and fostered across grade levels. Examples include: the Izzy-Dizzy Relay, Screaming For Distance, Gaga Ball, Team Skits, and a Freestyle Diving Contest. Our students share: “The retreat was great for bonding. I grew closer to my friends as well [...]

2018-10-09T10:08:05-07:00October 9th, 2018|

Teaching Students How to Be Safe

For the third year in a row, RadKIDS Personal Empowerment and Safety Program has been provided to our 2nd and 5th grade classes. The course focuses on helping students find their voice, protect themselves, and empower themselves in the event that their safety feels threatened and they need help. Through a series of self-defense moves and extended classroom learning, students come up with their own "radKIDS Plan" to go from danger to safety if needed. Certified Instructors Bobye Turella and Annie Averett offer the eight-hour course here at ECS. The students love being empowered and brainstorming how to stay safe both [...]

2018-10-03T12:12:50-07:00October 3rd, 2018|

Our New Library: Preparing for Reading

One of our top priorities at Eastside Christian School (ECS) is to help children learn how to read and enhance their verbal fluency and vocabulary. This is a focus area for our kindergarten, first, and second grades (K-2). Our teachers firmly believe that reading readiness begins at home. Parents who surround their children with age-appropriate books and, even more importantly, read to and with their children instill an interest in books that grows into a passion as children learn to read books for themselves and share insights and ask questions of family members. As described in a recent editorial in The [...]

2018-09-17T13:14:53-07:00September 17th, 2018|

Middle School STEM: 3D Printing

K-8 initiatives for STEM and STEAM are so important. As society continues to advance in science, technology, engineering and math, we aim to teach skills our students will need to be successful working in these industries. We are instilling a passion for STEM into today’s students so that they are prepared and excited to take on STEM jobs in their futures. To develop a passion for STEM, students need to experience STEM subjects in an engaging, exciting, and hands-on way.  We are providing these experiences in the classroom to ensure our students finish school with a strong foundational knowledge in STEM [...]

2018-06-14T13:43:09-07:00June 14th, 2018|
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