Preschool

And that wondrous sense of fun and adventure is at the heart of our preschool program because, after all, being young is an adventure and everyday should be filled with the delights of learning and exploration.

At every stage of this journey, trusting attachments with their teachers creates an inclusive space that encourages children to explore their environment, learn and play with others and grow in their self-confidence. After all, despite being among our littlest learners, they still have profound thoughts and huge feelings, and learning to express those things appropriately is hard work…even when you’re a grown up. So, in addition to attending to healthy habits of hygiene students are learning what emotions are, what these look and feel like, and appropriate ways to act out these emotions. They are also learning how to identify small problems that they can solve for themselves, and big problems that they need help with. Learning empathy and how to advocate for themselves and others is as important as the introduction of literacy and numeracy. And, step-by-step and inch-by-inch, our students grow in their independence and confidence because they know that they are worthy, they are capable and they belong.

As they move through preschool, children are introduced to music and art as well as their “A-B-Cs” and “1-2-3s” so they can start building the foundations of reading and a sense of numbers. Children are encouraged to ask questions and make choices while our attuned educators support their growth by mindfully observing interest and engagement and then intentionally designing next-step learning opportunities.

Throughout, children are learning through play. Traditional educational models where children spend most of their time sitting at a desk or table are ineffective and demonstrated to be developmentally inappropriate. Moreover, children don’t distinguish between learning and play–and they learn different things about themselves, about others and about their world through different kinds of play. Through physical play, quiet play, cooperative play and constructive play, children learn about numbers, language and memory skills, communication, problems solving, motor skills, and social and emotions skills…to name a few. This is hard work! But a lot of fun for our students and our teachers!