We believe that children are active learners, creating knowledge and learning through their daily experiences with materials and people. Every child is an individual with unique strengths, interests, personality, and approach to learning.
We believe learning is most meaningful when it happens in the context of the child’s everyday experiences at home and in the classroom. Independence is fostered while language, cognitive, motor, self-help and social skills are developed in settings designed for children and supported by teachers who love and care for them. The environment is arranged to include a variety of accessible materials organized to encourage learning through play.
We believe a small class with low child to staff ratio is important to facilitate growth and development appropriate for the children. By evaluating children in the first few weeks of school we are able to plan activities that facilitate optimal development for our children.
Development is promoted by practices that do not emphasize competition between children, are individually and age-appropriate carried out in an atmosphere of acceptance and respect, and are interesting and challenging to children. Appropriate behavior is fostered by helping children learn to control their behavior and work out their conflicts with others rather than relying solely on adults to manage their behavior and intervene in disputes. Positive discipline places emphasis on preventing problems by attending to the room arrangement, having age-appropriate expectations, providing interactive activities for play and learning, and active staff supervision.
Learning and respecting differences among people is promoted when children have many opportunities to play and interact with classmates of different racial and cultural backgrounds with different skills and abilities. An atmosphere of mutual respect among staff and families is important for all who interact with children. When staff recognizes and values the beliefs, customs, and traditions of each family the child and family are best served. Staff works with parents but parents are the ultimate decision makers in planning and setting goals for their children. Information from teachers provides support to families in their decision making process.