What is a playschool?

The term “playschool” aims to describe an environment in which teachers guide the children to learn through play. Playschools encourage a child to wonder, to think, to feel and to imagine, and place a greater emphasis on experiential and social-emotional learning, rather than academic skills.

What is play-based education?

A play-based education allows children to do their learning through play, which is the fundamental and most meaningful work in childhood. Lessons are learned through the process of play, rather than through formal academic learning. For example, instead of memorizing letter and number names, children in the preschool might be encouraged to develop a love for reading through drama, puppetry, reading stories, and maybe even forming letters with sand or clay. Instead of learning formal math, the children might learn basic math concepts through baking projects or making a pretend market stand.

What is the Reggio Emilia Approach?

The Reggio Emilia philosophy is based upon the following set of principles:

• Children must have some control over the direction of their learning.

• Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing.

• Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that children must be allowed to explore.

• Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.

Apple Playschools is a member of the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance.

What is Environmental Education?

Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and particularly how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. (read more: Wikipedia)

What is Emergent Curriculum?

Emergent curriculum is a way of planning curriculum based on the student’s interest and passions as well as the teacher’s. To plan an emergent curriculum requires observation, documentation, creative brainstorming, flexibility and patience. Rather than starting with a lesson plan which requires a “hook” to get the children interested, emergent curriculum starts with the children’s interests.  (read more: Wikipedia)

What is Social-Emotional Learning?

The Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning defines it as "the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions." At Green Apple Playschools we help children learn these skills through positive guidance, discipline techniques, modeling compassion and respect, and helping children learn the words they need to express their needs and desires. In addition, children are enrolled into "Family Groups", or cohorts, of six month age groups. This helps children to have the balance of large group, multi-age learning, as well as forming meaningful relationships with their closest peers, and teacher. As children move through the various age-groups they do so with the same group of children and typically the same teacher.

What is Anti-Bias Education?

Teaching for Change defined Anti-Bias Education as "an approach to early childhood education that sets forth values-based principles and methodology in support of respecting and embracing differences and acting against bias and unfairness. Anti-bias teaching requires critical thinking and problem solving by both children and adults. The overarching goal is creating a climate of positive self and group identity development, through which every child will achieve their fullest potential." This is an integral part of the overall mission of Apple Playschools as an organization dedicated to helping children become both global citizens and environmental stewards.

What does child centered mean?

"Child-centered" is a term used in education that means the interests of the child guide the learning process.