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St. Philip's Nursery School Trains Young Paleontologists
 | | Athena Stebe-Glorius, Solana McKee, Liam Marrinan, and Nazir Sharifipaint their dinosaur creation. |
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"I think it's a meat-eater," stated Liam Marrinan, surveying the large papier mache dinosaur, built and painted by St. Philip's preschoolers. "Actually," teacher Tam Benjamin suggested, "It's a leaf-eating longneck." "It must be a diplodocus!" exclaimed Nazir Sharifi. After a week of intense dinosaur study, grown-ups at St. Philip's are accustomed to children being the experts on the prehistoric creatures. The children have decorated a "dinoworld" mural with examples of triceratops, brachiosaurus, and stegosaurus, with more to come. They have learned about the latest discoveries of feathered dinosaurs and stood in the footprint of an edmontosaurus.
Dinosaurs have been used for counting games, featured in songs, and as a stimulus to large-motor games. "Dinosaur study gives children the combination of something large and real and something almost mythical, like a dragon," observes teacher Mary Ellen DeAngelis. "Since some dinosaurs are peaceful and some are aggressive, they appeal to every child." St. Philip's Nursery School serves three- and four-year old children in the Philipstown area. The phone number for further information is 424-4209, and the Website is www.stphilipsns.org.
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