Belonging: How We Shape Our Day
Every part of the day is an invitation to notice, connect, and belong with the children and with each other. Through playful exploration, group gatherings, and quiet transitions, children are learning to trust themselves, each other, and the world around them. Moment by moment.
The Third Teacher
Our play yard is a place where hands press into cool earth, feet trace the roughness of wooden beams, and eyes follow the gentle sway of leaves in the breeze. The indoor space will embrace the outdoors as an essential part of learning. We’re creating a space that nurtures children's growth and deepens their sense of belonging, ensuring that every child feels welcomed, seen, and inspired.
Pushing Up
The revolutionary nature of collective cooperative care lies in its ability to challenge dominant systems that prioritize individualism, competition, and hierarchical, misguided expertise — in short, the “push down” — in early childhood education. By working cooperatively, a small group of committed individuals can create profound and lasting change—demonstrating that early childhood education flourishes when it is rooted in relationships, shared responsibility, and deep respect for children as capable learners.
Grandmother Magic
As many early childhood programs across Maryland moved outdoors and our own program moved fully outdoors, we all soon discovered that there actually is such thing as bad weather. The answer, of course, is planning and figuring out how we begin our day in response to ANY kind of weather. In this case, we have something we call “grandmother magic” in crochet blankets and Teresa, our Seeds class teacher, a good bit of Tia magic.
Waiting For The Sun
Yes, yes, emergent learning took us to the bridge to learn about its great height, its arches, and where it can be found in relation to where we are. We found all that, but let me tell you about the moment that will stay with these children.