The Environment is a Teacher
As a play and nature based preschool, The Language Grove believes that education is a process, brought on by children’s interactions with their immediate world. It is through playing in this world that each child is encouraged to explore, to experiment and to discover, using their own unique learning style, capacities, and interests.This approach helps children to develop curiosity, creativity, differing modes of communication, concentration, listening, negotiation and observation skills. As a school community, The Language Grove is committed to values based on an image of children as curious, competent, and capable.
The Language Grove’s journey begins as teachers ask questions, listen to children, collaborate with them, learn together, and document their work. As children discover and explore, they may work on investigations that last a few days to a few months. All projects must be meaningful to them and their world. By creating a classroom environment that allows open-ended learning and discovery, The Language Grove gives children a chance to build their understanding of the world. By providing “scaffolding,” the teachers assist children to become confident in their skills so that they may express themselves in many different symbolic languages – speech, drawing, role playing, to name a few. We, at The Language Grove strongly believe that learning is a cooperative venture which includes other children, their teachers, families, and the larger community. Literacy, math, social studies, science, music, and the arts are all emphasized through a framework of hands-on, contextualized experiences.