Our approach is rooted in five beliefs about children and how they learn:

• Children are part of a larger ecosystem. They learn in relationship with all that is around them: their families, their peers, the natural world, and all that they see and experience in the society they live in.

• All children are inherently intelligent and capable, no matter their abilities or life circumstance. It is the work of the teacher to help the unique intelligences and capabilities of each child thrive.

• Children make meaning through active engagement with the world – through open-ended play, through imagination, through meaningful work.

• Children learn best when they want to learn something; when they have frequent experiences of joy, enjoyment, and happiness; and also in the context of safe and loving relationships.

• Children come into the world curious, empathetic, compassionate, caring, and interested in others (the human and the more-than-human). These qualities need to be encouraged and practiced in order for them to grow. There are also many skills children must learn, like how to ask a friend to play, how to put on their shoes, how to navigate disagreement, how to read and write, and how to reflect on the world around them. Children need rich learning experiences and both direct and indirect support from others to learn these skills.