Our Work
Learning through play and exploration We foster engagement throughout our studios with interest areas that provide opportunities for play-based learning
Play is driven by the children's interests, questions, and the world around them. Educators provide materials that help expand the children's play scripts. We believe the enviroment is the third teacher and provides opportunity for children to create their own paths of learning.
Learning studios are set up with provocations. Provocations are open ended activities that do not have a prescribed outcome. They are designed to stimulate ideas, encourage discussion, exploration, experimentation, interest, and creative thinking. As our Reggio-Emilia approach encourages, we connect many of our provocations and investigations to nature/the outdoors and our community.
Studios are divided into areas that promote language development, math and science exploration, creativity and artistic expression, and social-emotional growth. Inclusivity is a cornerstone of our program therefore there are always opportunities for the culture of others to be discovered and celebrated.
Block play provides a foundation for learning!
Building with blocks your child develops problem-solving and basic math/science concepts. Children learn concepts such as cause and effect, quantity, classification, and order. The Block Book (Hirsch 1996) supports these claims, adding that children expand architectural learning through block play.
Block play is a valuable learning experience offered to our children from infancy through preschool. As children explore, stack, build, and create, they strengthen motor skills, spatial awareness, early math concepts, and creativity. Block play encourages problem-solving, critical thinking, and persistence as children test ideas, make adjustments, and try again. When a structure falls, children learn to cope with disappointment, build resilience, and develop confidence in their ability to overcome challenges. They become a powerful language for expressing ideas, collaborating with others, and constructing meaningful learning through play.
Artistic Expression Process over Product
Our "Maker Spaces" invite children to express themselves through open-ended artistic exploration, where the process is valued more than a finished product. With a wide variety of materials always within reach, children are free to imagine, experiment, invent, and create in ways that are meaningful to them. Art is one of the many languages for learning, expressing ideas, communicating, spreading love, and exploring the world. There is no right or wrong way to create, only endless possibilities!
Playing outside is very beneficial for children
We spend a considerable amount of time outdoors! Time spent in nature provides children with endless opportunities to wonder, explore, exercise and discover. Whether climbing, digging, observing, collecting, or creating (especially in the mud kitchen!) children develop curiosity and a deep connection to the world around them. Outdoor experiences encourage creativity, problem-solving, physical development, and a lifelong appreciation for nature, while inspiring children to ask questions, test ideas, and learn through hands-on experiences. We never shy away from jumping in a good mud puddle!
SENSORY PLAY encourages the use of the senses!
All of our studios are equipped with a sensory area. There is a new offering in our indoor sensory tables and boundless opportunity for sensory exploration outdoors every day. Sensory play invites children to explore the world through touch, sight, sound, smell, and movement. Through open-ended experiences with a variety of materials such as water, sand, clay, paint and many more, children strengthen fine motor skills, develop scientific thinking, learn early math and science concepts and language, and regulate their bodies and emotions. Sensory play encourages curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving while providing meaningful opportunities for children to investigate, discover, and make sense of the world around them.
Dramatic play is vital to social-emotional growth and creative expression
Dramatic play is an area that we see endless creativity as children come up with an act out increasingly complex play scripts. Dramatic/imaginative play gives children the freedom to express their ideas, explore different perspectives, and understand the world around them. As they create stories, take on and assign roles, and collaborate with others, children build language, creativity, problem-solving, and both flexible and symbolic thinking. This type of play also nurtures empathy, confidence, and many social skills as children negotiate, cooperate, and navigate real-life experiences through imagination. We often see children acting out scenarios they have seen in their own worlds: caring for babies, cooking meals, doing the dishes, setting the table, playing family, going grocery shopping and so much more. It is a powerful way for children to communicate their thinking, strengthen relationships, and bring their ideas to life. It is the center for positive mental health.
