About Apple Playschools
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An equitable world where all people are respected as capable, competent and empowered citizens of the world.
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We embody inclusion, innovation, and environmental stewardship in entrepreneurship and education in order to make a more equitable world.
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To facilitate innovative, play-based early childhood education promoting interpersonal relationships, equity and inclusion, nature exploration and environmental stewardship.
How we got started
Apple Playschools began as a small home child care started by parents who didn’t want to choose between high-quality education for their children and meaningful work that honored their humanity.
What Guides Our Work
At the core of our work at Apple Playschools is a deep respect for authentic play, a focus on nature, and five guiding social justice branches.
Our Learning Process
We believe that play is the fundamental work of childhood. We honor children’s needs and interests by using an emergent curriculum focusing on environmental education (including stewardship & justice), social-emotional learning, process art, and anti-bias education.
What is the Reggio-Emilia approach?
At Apple Playschools our Reggio Emilia-inspired curriculum is focused on two things: 1 creating spaces and experiences in which children can lead their own play, learning and discovery; and 2 developing deep, nurturing relationships between adults and children and the children with their peers. Reggio does not use a pre-prescribed curriculum. Instead, teachers provide open-ended activities that invite children to explore a wide variety of materials and tools, social interactions, and opportunities to use their bodies. By participating with children and observing their play, teachers adapt their lesson plans to the specific interests, skills, and needs of the students. These activities fit into a predictable daily schedule that supports children’s confidence and independence and gives them appropriate choices about what to explore and how. Lifeskills, literacy, and mathematics are woven into all parts of the curriculum with the biggest focus being social-emotional learning.