Estes Children's Cottage

“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences.” -Loris Malaguzzi
Images taken in a short period of time one morning this week capturing a few of the possibilities that the children were motivated to engage with and experience. It just so happened they were all choosing to work at tables from a myriad of choices.

Welcome summer!

How does your garden grow? 💦 🌱

We’re celebrating our 17th anniversary and we wanted to share our new-and-improved website which features pictures that span those 17 years. Visit us at:

Estes Children's Cottage Estes Children's Cottage is a small, Reggio Emilia Inspired program that provides high quality early childhood education in a comfortable, beautiful home setting for twelve children ages one to four years old in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

So long sweet summertime ☀️

Congratulations to all our early childhood champions and award winners of CCSA's 2022 Triangle Child Care Awards! Thank you to all who joined us this morning to celebrate the impact of early childhood educators, public servants and advocates on young children and their families in the Triangle. You can learn more about the winners here: https://www.childcareservices.org/2022-awards/

🎶 “If you go down in the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise
If you go down in the woods today, you'd better go in disguise
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic”

🧸 Our Teddy Bears and other stuffed friends joined us for special picnics and yard games inspired by the song and book.

“Play residue” is a term we heard recently from The Curiosity Approach. We always love discovering what is left from children’s play, the residue of children thoroughly engaged in exploration, meaning-making, learning and joy. Here’s a look at some of our play residue of 2021. Happy 16 years of ECC!

“If it hasn’t been in the hand, the body and the heart, it can’t be in the brain.” -Bev Bos

Estes Children's Cottage (ECC) has been using CCSA's meal services, spoonFULL, since 2005. spoonFULL saves ECC time and money, introduces their children to new foods and reinforces healthy eating habits combating childhood obesity. Read more of ECC's experience with spoonFULL here: https://www.childcareservices.org/2020/10/28/the-children-of-estes-childrens-cottage-are-not-the-only-ones-who-enjoy-spoonfulls-meals/

We recently re-certified our Outdoor Classroom for the 9th year.

“2020 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘖𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳.” – 𝘌𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀?
Certified Nature Explore Classrooms are dynamic, nature-based play and learning spaces. Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom Design Services apply research-based, field-tested design principles to create these nature-rich outdoor spaces that can be located anywhere a school, child care center, park, or other community site that might have a traditional playground.

𝗖𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺:
The Nature Explore Classroom Certification Program is a national initiative that recognizes schools and other organizations that have made a commitment to providing outdoor classrooms and comprehensive programming to help children use the natural world as an integral part of learning.
Certification requirements include:
1) Creating a well-designed outdoor space
2) Commitment to staff development and family involvement

https://certified.natureexplore.org/