Program Philosophy

Philosophy We have named our program “Hearts & Minds Preschool" because we believe in developing the whole child: emotionally, socially and intellectually. Our basic philosophy is that every child can learn, and that every teacher has the responsibility to keep working until a key is found to unlock the power to learn that is within each child. We believe the purpose of education is to encourage a child to find their own value and to help them discover the joys and excitement of learning. We also believe that children learn best when they are taught out of love and understanding while their most basic needs for security, warmth, nutrition and safety are addressed. We believe children to be capable, competent, and forever curious! Our main philosophy comes from the Reggio-Emilia inspired approach.

"Every child deserves a champion: an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the best they can possibly be." Rita Pierson

We use both English and Spanish languages within our program to teach children in a bi-lingual fashion, making it easy for them to understand and hear another language. This helps them develop an ear for foreign languages.

Our program is also musically based, with a variety of musical styles being played often for the children to listen to and many opportunities for group and spontaneous musical experiences. We use developmentally appropriate early childhood music and movement methods to include music in our daily program. We use instruments which offer children the correct tone and pitch to develop their ear for music.

The benefits of including music in the daily preschool program are well documented. It enhances learning and development in areas as diverse as language, memory, listening, physical and social skills. Music involves children in both emotional and physical responses to their environment. Participating in pleasurable and appropriate music experiences can also help young children build self-confidence and self-esteem. A rich aural environment can also help nurture children's musical development in the same way that a language-rich environment stimulates literacy and language learning.

Our program uses Emergent Curriculum http://www.silvertonfamilies.org . Emergent Curriculum is based on teaching children all their academic skills within the context of units that hold interest for them. Children take the lead and the experienced teacher can expand on their interests to teach children at deeper and deeper levels about the topics they are interested in. We are also a Reggio Inspired teaching preschool. This means, we follow the inspirations of the Reggio schools in Reggio, Italy. To learn more about this approach, you can check out the Reggio Inspired Network of Minnestoa at http://www.mnreggio.org.

As an example, if a group of children show a lot of interest in animals, we may start out learning about pets. What kinds of animals make good pets, how to take care of them, what they eat, where they live, etc. Then, we may contrast that to wild animals and study what they eat and where they live. What about domesticated animals that are neither wild nor pets? Like farm animals!

Now the children know the difference between domesticated and wild animals, which ones depend upon people and which ones stay away from people, etc. If a lot of interest is shown in a certain subject along the way, we will stay in that group and expand the learning until the interest wanes. Say the farm area shows a lot of interest – we will then study other aspects of farms like crops, machinery, farm life for children, locations of farms, etc. And on and on it goes! Learning is a continuous loop and as long as children are interested in the topic they are open to learning their ABC’s and 123’s within the topic being studied.

Our program focuses on developmentally appropriate skills for all age groups in our care. School age children have a need for autonomy. We provide a space and curriculum where the older children can develop their own interests and still be respectful to the younger children's interests. We call upon the school age children to be good role models for the younger ones. Within each of these areas, we assess a child's development and help them grow and learn in all areas using the Early Childhood Indicators of Progress (ECIPS).

For discipline, our program uses natural and logical consequences to guide children into making good decisions. We help them to learn that for every action there is a reaction and it is within their control to obtain the reaction that benefits them or the reaction that limits them. We model appropriate behavior and reward positive behaviors when observed. We teach the children in our care to respect themselves and others and to show self-responsibility. We use the teaching and Love and Logic for daily character training. We follow the teachings of the Nurtured Heart Approach and Tina Feigal, M.S., Ed.for work with intense or anxious children. We recommend her book, The Pocket Coach for Parents in helping to guide intense/anxious children, as well as the Love and Logic books and CD's for help in raising responsible children. You can check out Tina's information at www.parentingmojo.com. You can find more information on Reggio Emila, Love and Logic, and the Nurtured Heart Approach by searching on line. We also use the Proactive Strategies from the TBRI approach (http://child.tcu.edu/).

We believe in openness, honesty and common sense. Our values are based on the Bible and we try to live our lives as Christian witnesses. Therefore, we treat each child like the special gift from God that he or she is and try to encourage their natural gifts and talents as we see them. We teach children about character qualities that edify respect, love, service and friendship. We believe that play is a child’s work and therefore allow children to play with imagination and creativity. We believe in simplicity, so our toys tend not to be battery powered or rely on electricity. Computer time is limited to educational games for school age children only. Quality preschool movies are shown only for a quiet down time after lunch and prior to nap or for special occasions.

Developmental Theory

Each child has a unique developmental time frame, but all children's growth needs to be challenged in the areas of Social/Emotional, Physical, Cognitive and Language growth. Milestones can be observed in different age categories, from birth through adolescence. In our preschool we plan our curriculum to include all these areas of growth and use the Multiple Intelligences Theory by Dr. Howard Gardner to help us implement the curriculum. We also model our teaching style after the Reggio Emila Experience in transformation. http://www.mnreggio.org/