“Where Learning is Play, and Play is Learning.”
The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd Preschool is a child-centered sensory-rich environment. Our vision is to foster hands-on inquiry provide for varied educational needs and celebrate the spirituality of children from all walks of life.
Our Philosophy is to provide a safe and nurturing environment that encourages active exploration and free choice. We offer a stimulating curriculum that challenges physical, social, emotional, creative, intellectual, and spiritual growth.
Why are we Play-Based?
According to the latest neuro-science research, play is crucial to brain development, emotional development and critical cognitive skills, such as executive function. One central element of executive function is the ability to self-regulate. Children with good self-regulation are able to control their emotions and behavior, resist impulses and exert self-control and discipline. Good executive function is a better predictor of success in school than a child’s IQ. Children who are able to manage their feeling and pay attention are better able to learn. As executive function researcher Laura Berk explains, “Self-regulation predicts effective development in virtually every domain.”
Children are naturally curious and capable learners. We provide them with safe and stimulating opportunities for rich investigation of the natural world, for exploring a wide variety of physical materials, for collaboration on make-believe play, for speech development, all in beautiful surroundings with professional child development teachers.