The Learning Nest Preschool Curriculum: Where Tiny Wings Learn to Soar
The Learning Nest Preschool Curriculum is a comprehensive and thoughtfully designed program aimed at fostering growth, confidence, and joy in young children. It is designed to provide a secure, caring, and enriched environment that promotes learning and development of the whole child, including spiritual, mental, and emotional development. The curriculum emphasizes a whole-child approach, helping children develop emotionally, socially, spiritually, and intellectually.
The Philosophy Behind The Learning Nest
The Learning Nest was born from years of industry-leading experience and a desire to redefine quality in early childhood education. Recognizing the need to rethink staff, child, and family needs in the context of our evolving culture, The Nest Schools were created. The Learning Nest Play Curriculum is a proprietary and comprehensive approach to early education. It embodies the "Will, the Why, and the What if" behind the endless possibilities taking shape in the schools each day.
Daily Activities and Core Components
The daily activities at The Learning Nest include various stations for children to visit each day, exploring each station through the use of all five of their senses in an engaging atmosphere. Teachers listen for cues and watch interests develop to create an appropriate curriculum for each individual.
A typical day at The Learning Nest includes a balance of structured activities and free play, designed to stimulate different areas of development:
Circle Time
The day begins with Circle Time, a valuable opportunity for children to connect with one another, sing songs, explore the calendar and weather, and build crucial social-emotional skills. Activities during this time focus on listening, turn-taking, and speaking in a group setting.
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Center Play & Teacher-Directed Activities
Following Circle Time, children engage in Center Play and Teacher-Directed Activities. This period allows children to explore hands-on centers focused on math, art, science, dramatic play, language, music, and more. Small-group learning led by teachers provides focused instruction and personalized attention.
Movement and Sensory Exploration
The curriculum recognizes the importance of physical activity and sensory experiences. Students enjoy Outdoor Play on a nature-inspired playscape featuring slides built into grassy hills, tunnels, trucks, a rustic fort, and a secret garden-style space with blooming flowers, tree stumps, and logs for climbing and exploring. On rainy days, Indoor Play is offered in an indoor playground. The Sensory Room provides a calming, enriching space designed to support sensory exploration and regulation.
Nourishment and Socialization
Snack Time includes healthy options provided by TLN, and older students enjoy Lunch Time with friends and packed meals from home. These times provide opportunities for socialization and the development of healthy eating habits.
Enriching Monthly Experiences
The Learning Nest offers enriching monthly experiences to support holistic growth:
- Music Class: A joyful time for singing, rhythm and movement, helping children develop listening skills, coordination, and a love for music.
- Christian Storytime: A gentle, preschool-friendly time to talk about God, kindness, love, and core values like gratitude, honesty, and helping others.
- Kids in Motion: Movement-based fun with stretching, gym games, and physical play that builds strength and coordination.
- People & Places: A playful introduction to social studies, where we explore community helpers, traditions, and the big world around us.
Curriculum Core Areas of Learning
The core curriculum focuses on a whole-child approach, helping children develop emotionally, socially, spiritually, and intellectually. The Learning Nest provides an environment that’s not only safe but also deeply nurturing.
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Focus on Skill Development
There is an active wellness, fine art, cultural, life skill, science, technology, engineering, arts, and math focus emphasized throughout the day’s planned lessons and activities for all ages - Infants through Preschool.
The Learning Nest curriculum emphasizes the development of:
- collaboration
- life skills
- self-efficacy
- emotional resilience
- critical thinking
- risk-taking
- problem-solving
Enrichment Programs
The Learning Nest recognizes that the curriculums of the past have not evolved to incorporate where our society is going and is determined to build an early foundation for a healthy, well-lived life and a genuine understanding of the responsibility we all take for keeping ourselves, our loved ones, our homes, and our communities strong and successful. Children who attend The Nest Schools participate in proprietary supplemental curriculums designed to enhance and enrich their confidence, creativity, and personal development.
The Learning Nest offers three uniquely crafted enrichment programs as part of the educational experience:
- Global Gull American Sign Language Program: Offered in infant and toddler programs.
- Global Gull Spanish Language Program: Offered in the preschool curriculum.
- Take the L.E.A.P (Literacy Exposure and Awareness Program): Offered in the older preschool program, designed to build awareness and a foundation for strong literacy skills in young children. Through hands-on and creative activities, children strengthen their knowledge of essential literacy concepts such as letter identification, letter sounds, letter formation, and learning their names.
- Letter Loon: The phonics portion of the L.E.A.P program, focusing on letter-sound knowledge.
- Who am I?: The name recognition portion of the L.E.A.P program, bringing awareness and practice with name identification through building and writing their names, experimenting with different drawing and writing tools.
Infant Program
The first year of a child’s life is filled with phenomenal growth in all aspects of development-physical, mental, emotional, and social. Within the first several weeks of life, babies are already active learners, gathering and organizing knowledge about their surroundings and experiences. The infant program at The Learning Nest begins at three months and continues until your baby turns one and a half years old. This program incorporates fine and large motor activities, art, practical life skills, sign language, interactive play, and lots of human-to-human contact (both with peers and guides). There is a strong focus and attention on sleep training, ensuring that the baby has a strong sleep routine. Infant guides create a classroom that fosters love and support for both baby and the parents.
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Toddler Program
By the toddler program children not only begin to feel a deeper bond to their school and its teachers, but they also begin to develop the necessary skills used to make and maintain friends. At this age, it is critical that a child is able to practice and exercise his or her basic communication skills. Emotion-coaching is a key component of our program so that students understand how to recognize and communicate how they are feeling as well as what their needs and desires are. A fully balanced day, reassuring routine, and stimulating activities provide toddlers with a sense of security. They learn through a balance of play, teacher and self-facilitated activities, and repetition.
Montessori Influence
The Learning Nest incorporates elements of the Montessori education, a hands-on, child-centered approach, developed by Dr. Maria Montessori. This method recognizes that each child is a unique individual with their own interests, abilities, and pace of development. Having mixed-age classrooms fosters a supportive social community, promotes cooperation, and allows younger children to learn from older peers, while older children reinforce their knowledge by teaching and mentoring younger ones. Each classroom is carefully prepared to meet the developmental needs (and challenge) children, while also allowing them to learn and succeed on their own. Classrooms are calm, orderly, and inviting spaces, with child-sized furniture, materials, and activities arranged on low shelves.
A Nurturing Environment
The Learning Nest intends to provide a secure, caring, and enriched environment that promotes learning and development of the whole child. The staff and teachers are amazing. Everyone knows everyone and everyone helps everyone. It’s more of a family atmosphere. The director, assistants, and school coordinator are all wonderful and communicate so well with parents.
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