Philosophy
A positive early childhood experience is the result of careful attention to the child's physical environment, to the activities available to him or her, and to the way we interact with the child.
The staff at TNPC encourages children to manage their personal care, manage their time and materials, and learn to express themselves constructively. Managing personal care includes everything from taking their coats off to washing up without being reminded. Managing time and materials means choosing an activity, getting out materials and putting them away. Visitors to the school are amazed at how much the children are able to do for themselves, from getting themselves dressed for outside play to pouring their own juice at snack time.
In terms of self-expression, children are encouraged to talk about what they are doing, their feelings, preferences, and important events in their lives. Self-expression through art, music, physical activity, and storytelling is encouraged.
We view the world as a place with many fascinating things to learn about and do, and we encourage children to broaden their interests through monthly curriculum themes. Children are active participants in exploring topics, working on experiments, questioning visitors to the school, taking field trips, using equipment and materials related to the topic, and creating art work and stories.
Children develop a capacity to care for each other and for their school. This happens best in an atmosphere of respect and acceptance of individual differences. Studies show that children develop biases at a very early age. Teachers act as models for the children and encourage them to treat each other with respect and tolerance. Teachers use strategies that deal with bias in a developmentally appropriate manner.
At Tenney, children are encouraged to develop the skills that they need for further learning. Development of these skills is incorporated into all aspects of our programs.
The goals for our programs can be summarized under two broad categories:
1. Taking care of ourselves and our friends.
Children at TNPC learn to:
- Work independently
- Make choices
- Solve problems
- Ask questions
- Develop a community feeling at school
- Interact with others
- Appreciate and respect differences in others
- Develop an attitude of "I can do it" or "I can try to do it"
- Feel comfortable being away from parents.
2. Taking care of and learning about our environment.
Children at TNPC learn to:
- Use materials carefully and creatively
- Explore materials and their environment
- Believe that the world is open to them to learn and try
- Be aware and sensitive to their total environment
- Develop within that environment at their own pace.
