| rev:text
| - When my second daughter was born, we started having some issues with staff turnover, etc, at our old preschool. In looking for a new one, I did a ton of research, went on tours at several different facilities, and read about all different early childhood curriculums. I am interested in Montessori, but couldn't find a school that fit logistically (schedule, price, location). I like co-ops, but there is only ONE in all of Las Vegas. Still looking...I found out about the High/Scope curriculum, originally invented in the 1970s (or 60s) in the Perry Preschool Project, which was a research project on the long-term benefits of early childhood care, and which eventually became the original Headstart program. High/Scope is not traditionally 'academic' like some of the schools I toured (Challenger.....ugh! Hated that place!). Instead, they emphasize problem-solving skills, relationships between children and between the teacher and children, and learning through experience. It involves lots and lots of art and singing, using blocks and puzzles to think about math, talking about the world around us to experience science, reading books to learn about language, playing dressup to encourage imagination, etc etc.
I knew that High/Scope would be a great fit for our family, and Hill and Dale is seriously passionate about the curriculum. The staff are embracing it, constantly getting further education and training, and in turn, they really seem to enjoy their jobs. That pays off and some of the teachers have been there over 20 years (no exaggeration). They even host parent involvement nights, in which they talk about different facets of the curriculum and the school in general.
From my experience with early childhood education, it is mostly treated like day care or like university preparation, which makes me sad. Tamy and the entire staff at H&D have such a different attitude, really treating each interaction like a chance to learn. I only feel a little guilty going to work every day instead of being with my kids ;). Another thing that has impressed me is Tamy's go-getter attitude. She really seems to do her research to find interesting opportunities for the school and the students and especially to go after all kinds of grants so that all these programs come at a reasonable price.
My daughters are 3 and 1 and I am so happy we found Hill and Dale for them. I would recommend parents with kids of any age come check it out.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)