Philosophy

Miss Lori’s Preschool Philosophy

 

I am an advocate for play based learning.

 

I believe (and there is plenty of supporting research) that play is the best vehicle for learning.  And I stand in good company:  “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood” (Fred Rogers). Play builds self-regulation, and current research shows that self–regulation has a stronger association with academic achievement than IQ or entry-level reading or math skills.

I believe that there is a difference between academic learning and intellectual learning. In our play based preschool we will focus on intellectual learning and that will lead to the academic learning that happens later .

 

Academic Learning	Intellectual Learning
Memorizing Practicing Counting Reciting	Reasoning Predicting Hypothesizing Problem Solving
Will take place within the service of the intellect	Takes place through natural interaction with real things in the child’s environment

 

I believe in being a support to the child’s learning. I will provide the scaffolding: The process of providing, and gradually removing, external support for learning. During scaffolding, the task itself is not changed, but what the learner initially does is made easier with support. As the learner takes more responsibility for performance of the task, less assistance is provided.

I believe that the benefits of academic preschool (i.e. reading before kindergarten) are short lived and possibly not beneficial at all.

“Research…shows that academic preschools offer children no long-term advantages academically, but make them more anxious,” (Roberta Golinkoff)

Child development experts say that children in academic preschools often learn math and reading at the expense of their social skills. Kids from play-based programs usually catch up academically, while kids from academic backgrounds may never catch up socially.

I believe in the power of play.

 

Thank you for entrusting your children to me. I will strive to help them in their quest of learning and their discovery of their potential.