At Seedlings Great and Small, children's play is valued and respected. Our children flow freely from one play area to another based on their interest in the moment. Whether it's kitchen play, building animal habitats in the block area or at the writing table exercising their newly acquired cutting skills, the children make choices that are meaningful for them. When they are engaged in activities they are invested in, meaningful learning occurs. The teachers are aware of the individual child's interests and developmental stages and give them the appropriate support.
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We pick our materials with a thoughtful eye. Whether it's a piece of paper they draw on, a type of paint we offer, we have an intention for it. We want the children to have interactions with diverse materials to deepen their experience. They don't need to be fancy. Each material holds a different possibility.
We balance traditional preschool materials with open-ended loose parts in which the children's ideas are explored, tested, and reinforced to strengthen and deepen their learning.
Children learn so much about themselves and the environment around them by exploring in a big space. Our yard provides an open natural space in which the children can move freely, climb, ride bikes, dig in the sandbox, garden, and sometimes pause to sit and have a sip of tea in their magical mud kitchen.
