Curriculum
Garden Gates preschool promotes emergent and experiential learning, provides child-initiated, play-based experiences in the natural world that lead to individualized learning. We emphasize these opportunities in both indoor and outdoor environments, allowing time and materials for open-ended, creative expression. This creates a community of joyful, creative learners.
As the teacher I:
❖ Actively engage and talk with children eliciting questions, ideas, and interests.
❖ Help children investigate questions and test ideas
❖ Provide scaffolding in all developmental areas
❖ Create teacher-directed activities that support children's interests and developmental needs
Mealtime is used as an additional learning experience. Children frequently help cook and bake. They safely learn to chop, pour, stir, and measure. during meals we practice using table manners, clearing our dishes, and cleaning up our messes at an age-appropriate level.
Proper nutrition is essential for preschoolers. Garden Gates serves a wide range of healthy foods in our provided snacks and lunches and encourage children to try all items served. We prioritize fruits, vegetables, and proteins, serve meals made-from-scratch, and even make the majority of our own breads and butter. We are dye-free and minimize preservatives in our foods as much as possible.
My teaching methods are inspired by the waldorf and reggio emillia philosophies. additionally, I follow the year-long nature-study curriculum “Exploring Nature with Children” by Lynn Seddon, jolly phonics, and utilize tinkergarden activities.
“Play is the work of the child”
- Maria Montessori