Our Program
Bringing Learning to Life
Spanish Immersion
Multilingualism allows children to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world. Providing a head start in second language acquisition has many benefits, such as facilitating cross-cultural connections, developing empathy and open-mindedness, and promoting healthy brain development. In our program, we use a full immersion approach for Spanish language acquisition. This means that our program is entirely in Spanish, although there may be some exceptional circumstances where English is used. We find full immersion to be the most effective way for young children to learn, as their language and communication skills are still in an early stage of development.
Reggio Emilia-Inspired
"Children are born with many resources and extraordinary potentials, which never cease to amaze us."
- Loris Malaguzzi, Founder of the Reggio Emilia approach
The Reggio Emilia approach acknowledges children's capacities for constructing their own thoughts, questions, and attempts at answers. A Reggio-inspired approach shifts the focus of early childhood education from child-minding to a school culture of observation, research, and experimentation by teachers and children alike. Curiosity, creative and critical thinking skills, and social/emotional wellbeing are encouraged and developed as teachers work to provide a safe space for questioning, exploration, expression, collaboration, reflection and growth.
Each day, children are invited to a learning provocation, a purposefully arranged presentation of materials designed to inspire wonder, creativity, and curiosity, and are oftentimes the jumping-off point to a new project of inquiry or study. The process of the learning itself is compiled into a documentation, consisting of photos, text, and dialogue, that can be displayed in the classroom so children can be reminded of their learning journey and how far they've come, as well as sent to parents so that they can be informed of the learning that is taking place in the classroom, and give them the opportunity to meaningfully extend their child's learning at home.
Emergent Curriculum through Exploration and Creativity
"Education is not preparation for life,
education is life itself." - John Dewey
At Pío Pío Preschool, we follow an emergent curriculum. We firmly believe in the value of children's wonderings, questions and inherent curiosity about the world they form part of. Therefore, we use these questions, wonderings and explorations as a starting point for the co-creation of exciting and relevant learning projects. Within these projects, we integrate early literacy and numeracy learning, and teachers make use of questioning, observation and reflection time to challenge and extend student thinking.
Our goal in implementing an emergent curriculum is to provide students with a lifelong love of learning and a perspective of education in which learning is joyously integrated into our very being, rather than seen as an external force imposed upon us.
Social-Emotional Learning
Giving social-emotional learning the time and attention it deserves at a young age provides a solid foundation for living a life that is joyful, balanced, self-aware and empathetic. At Pio Pio, social-emotional learning can look like: exploring our own feelings, identifying the feelings of others, learning tools for emotional regulation, developing language to help solve problems independently and express ourselves effectively, and using stories and real life events to understand social situations and how they impact us and those around us.
Ambassadors of the Natural World
The natural world holds many wonders and offers us so many moments of inspiration, peace and clarity. It is a part of who we are, just as we are a part of it. Our program hopes to instill and consolidate a deep appreciation and respect for the natural world. Children will learn to care for plants and animals, respect our environment by reducing waste, composting and recycling, and become advocates for the living things of our world who are not able to
speak for themselves.
The Arts & 100 Languages of Children
There are an infinite number of ways, or "100 languages," that children can express their thoughts, ideas, and understandings. That makes our goal as educators to provide children with the environment, resources and attention they need in order to explore their own unique ways of communicating. We use the arts as a means by which to enhance each child's unique voice and not as an opportunity to limit them to adult-approved projects. Therefore, not all children will have the same project or art piece, but one that is particular to their own imagination or to a collaborative group's shared goals.
Health & Wellness
In providing an environment that encourages developing a holistic understanding of health, we learn how to keep our bodies strong, our diets balanced, our minds focused, our emotions regulated, and our daily practices safe and sanitary. This manifests as:
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Yoga and Meditation (Radiant Child Yoga ®)
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Outdoor Play
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Music & Movement
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No Junk Food Policy/Healthy Eating Habits
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Napping/Rest Time
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Fine and Gross Motor Development
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Social-Emotional Learning
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Learning the importance of self-care and cleanliness
