At TGR we have  designed our own “Meaningful Curriculum” based on the development, interests, and experiences of our students.

The Growing Room Preschool offers a family environment where children from 2.5-5 years are part of the same positive learning community. Having students of various ages working and growing together, builds confidence and leadership through mentoring. Our youngest students are given the benefit of having older friends to guide them through early social interactions while the oldest students grow from the opportunity to be mentors and leaders of the classroom.  

We nurture a culture of Kindness with our Golden rule- “Treat EVERYONE with Kindness and Respect.” At TGR, we believe that the most important thing we can help instill in a child is the idea that Kindness is a foundation for all motivations.  We carefully encourage and foster our preschoolers natural instincts to show others kindness and respect! It becomes a part of our daily dialogue about how to treat others and ourselves as students work to manage and express their big emotions and work well with their peers. In addition, our students participate in annual community service projects and events to extend that kindness to the world outside our classroom walls. Because… Kindness Matters!

Choosing Meaningful Curriculum topics: Our approach to curriculum is to follow what is most relevant to our students. When planning, we continually ask ourselves the question: “Is this meaningful?” Children have a natural curiosity and sense of wonder and we as educators are dedicated to preserving the wonder of childhood and fostering a lifelong love of learning. We keep a record of important questions asked by our students by posting them on our “Wall of Wonder.” We often help our students research the answers to those questions so that they may present interesting information to their classmates. If a particular question sparks a meaningful discussion, our team of educators may decide to “dive in” with a topic of study. We can spend several weeks learning about a particular topic or make it a recurring theme throughout our school year. We integrate elements from different areas to enrich the learning experience of our students such as science experiments, cooking, songs and children’s literature. Our goal is to provide many opportunities for our students to learn about the world around them in a way that is most relevant to them. 

Academic Learning: While learning through play is emphasized daily at The Growing Room, we take preparing our students for the next stage of their academic career seriously. We submerge our students in a literacy rich environment, focusing on quality children’s literature, pre- writing and pre-reading strategies disguised as games and hands-on activities. We also introduce our students to numeric knowledge and math concepts in ways that they can relate to at their level in their daily activities and in play. Hands- on science experiments are utilized weekly, allowing our students to begin developing problem-solving, communication and early research skills.  The Growing Room uses a scaffolding method to teach our students, which works beautifully in the multi-age classroom. The children watch, listen and learn new knowledge from their educators. Together, the children and educators work to put that knowledge into practice. Students then apply what they have learned with a partner or in a small group. The scaffold is complete when the student is able to independently share their new knowledge.