The Children's Garden Preschool

Thank you for your interest. The school closed in 2023 after 13 great years.

https://www.chicagoparent.com/sponsored-content/why-is-outdoor-play-so-important-for-children/

Why Is Outdoor Play So Important for Children? - Chicago Parent When kids have the space to run, jump and roll, they’re not just having fun. They are learning about their world. Learn how it happens.

"It would be best if children could play in puddles and everyone could dig organic soil," explained environmental ecologist Aki Sinkkonen, also from the University of Helsinki.

Daycares in Finland Built Their Own 'Forests', And It Changed Kids' Immune Systems Playing through the greenery and litter of a mini forest's undergrowth for just one month may be enough to change a child's immune system, according to an experiment in Finland.

The case for outdoor schooling When the pandemic hit, I enrolled my daughter in an outdoor learning-focused school. Now I never want to go back.

We belive in moving slow and working on those soft, hard to measure skills like kindness, friendships and empathy.

In a patriarchal society, “hard” skills (ABCs & 1,2,3s) are valued more than “soft” skills (social-emotional intelligence).

In a consumer-based (capitalist) society, gathering data on hard skills (“we are educators!”) is valued more than supporting relationship-building and the gradual development of self-regulatory skills (“we are caregivers!”).

All research shows these as the most important skills developed in the first five years that later result in better school success and thriving lives.

Put Care first! 💖

“Illuminating Care” FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/carolgarbodenmurray/

Ready for Kindergarten? We are too!!

During our second week of our study on pets, we had a sweet horse named Joey come visit us! The children got to brush, pet, learn about and ride Joey!

During the past 2 weeks, we've been studying pets! The students learned about and visited with several dogs during the first week. The variety sparked some great conversations about diversity (in dogs and humans alike) as they loved the similarities and differences of all the sizes, shapes and colors of the dogs.

It was such a lovely reopening at The Children's Garden! Happy friends, fresh garden harvests, a beautiful day, and a baby bunny visitor!

A beautiful harvest from the garden today! 💜

So much beauty in the gardens! Just missing the children. We can't wait to have all the kids back to harvest and play!

💞