PHILOSOHPY
A Play-based Outdoor Preschool
It took years of education, work experience, practice and implementation, professional learning and trial and error to sift through all of the information to develop my own belief system, and I am always still learning and evolving as we learn more about the benefits of outdoor learning and play for children. Below, you will read about the various education methods I view essential for a healthy and happy early childhood education and how Bloom & Grow came to be.
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I originally created Bloom & Grow to provide a high quality early learning experience for our oldest son. Our search was long and hard for a school and nothing felt like a good fit. Our son loved to be outside playing and exploring, and back then, there was nothing that was offering that type of preschool setting. I decided to take a leap of faith, and quit my job I had worked so hard for (but also did not love) and open Bloom & Grow. It turns out, there are a lot of children like our son, and over the years it has been such a beautiful and special experience to see many children come through our gate and flourish in a school that is outside. Bloom & Grow is a culmination of all my experience as an educator and mother all rolled into one beautifully unique and special place for children to experience the true joy of childhood. We know being a child's first teacher is truly an honor and lead everyday at school with our hearts as educators and mothers.
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We strive to create a community within our school which offers love and warmth between parents, teachers and children. These qualities can be seen in the daily interactions that live between children’s behavior toward one another, and also in the social relations among parents and teachers. The sequence and rhythms of the day carry the children along through a peaceful morning with their friends. Activities of the day are integrated in a daily rhythm, in which transitions are as smooth and seamless as possible. Each day children have opportunities for lively, joyful physical movement as well as large-group, small-group, and solitary experiences that nourish the senses. We offer children opportunities for artistic experiences through song, instrumental music and movement, storytelling, acting out plays, felt stories and a wide array of open-ended art experiences that children can freely access each day.
At our school children are provided the freedom to deeply engage in self-directed and social play that is active, dynamic, healthy and creative. Play materials in our environment offer diverse and open-ended possibilities for creativity and social interaction. Teachers strive to create a harmonious balance of interacting and engaging in child-initiated play, while not interfering and allowing play processes to naturally run their course. We view the responsibility of the teacher is to create an environment that supports the possibility for healthy and creative free play according to each child’s own inner needs and possibilities. Our outdoor classroom environment provides nourishing and diverse opportunities for each child’s active self-education.
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I believe play is an essential vehicle for brain development and learning. “…Play creates a brain that has increased ‘flexibility and improved potential for learning later in life’ (Lester & Russell, 2008). Young children’s play allows them to explore, identify, negotiate, take risks and create meaning. The intellectual and cognitive benefits of playing have been well documented. Children who engage in quality play experiences are more likely to have well-developed memory skills, language development, and are able to regulate their behavior, leading to enhanced school adjustment and academic learning (Bodrova & Leong, 2005).”
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I believe emotional literacy is a fundamental tool for children, which affects all areas of learning and development. Emotional Literacy is the ability to identify, understand and express emotions in a healthy way. Children with a strong foundation in emotional literacy have the ability to focus, attain greater academic achievement, are healthier, tolerate frustration better and are less lonely and less impulsive. Strengthening a child’s emotional literacy also increases their ability to display empathy. I believe the development of friendship skills is a vital building block for later success in school and fulfillment in adulthood. A key piece to the development of friendship skills is the ability to resolve conflict and problem solve. We strive to create opportunities in the environment that focus on different skills of friendship such as being helpful, cooperation and socialization.
I believe promoting language development and critical thinking during early learning years leads to success in later academic achievement. Research has shown the importance of children’s early language development, and the effects it can have on their school readiness, academic success, cognitive development, social development, and literacy development (Dickinson & Tabors., 2008; Barnett, 2003; National Institute for Literacy, 2009). Using language that intentionally encourages children to explain their thinking, solve problems, analyze situations, and apply knowledge to everyday life, helps prepare them to succeed in the modern world.
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Lastly, I believe strongly in preserving childhood, respecting each child for the unique and wonderful individual they are and allowing them to discover their own interests and strengths through supportive exploration and play. At Bloom & Grow, we truly love our job, and feel it is our calling to provide children with a healthy and safe place to nourish a love for life-long learning, joy and happiness.
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