Child Educational Center

The outdoor classroom for the Preschool Program has an abundance of space and natural materials, and children have large blocks of uninterrupted time to imagine, discover and investigate.

Natural materials such as sticks, logs, rocks, and pine cones are readily available for children to use in their play. While some might consider these materials to be unconventional in a preschool setting, they provide rich opportunities for creativity and imagination, problem-solving, and engineering. Each day in our preschool program provides children with lots of physical activity, stimulating materials that promote learning in all domains, including rich literacy experiences that promote reading and writing, and time to master newly developing abilities. In addition, social learning and the development of meaningful and compassionate relationships with peers and adults is a special focus and reflects our unique approach to fostering healthy interpersonal relationships.

We have had to make some adjustments during this time of COVID-19 due to new and more restrictive requirements from our regulatory agencies. It has been a really wonderful journey, with all of us discovering that we are able to operate under these new requirements with our philosophical approach fully intact. Children are still outdoors much of their day, engaged with nature, investigating, exploring, and experiencing joy and wonder at every turn.