Early Childhood Focus

a place for little ones

If you visit our campus, one of the first things you’ll notice is that it feels different from schools that educate both preschoolers and elementary children. The difference is palpable.

Our parents tell us that they’re struck by how gentle our school is and by how they can feel the love moving between our teachers and our little ones. We asked our parents in a survey if they could think of a specific person at school who wasn’t just fond of their child, but instead actually loved their child. The answer was an overwhelming yes. In fact, 97% of parents said “yes”.

This response shows that we reach far beyond teaching values of kindness and compassion in a theoretical way. We are so much more than a positive discipline approach and so much more than academic enrichment and outdoor exposure.

We are committed to loving your child. On wiggly days, on bouncy days, on cranky days, and happy days. Every single day.

We believe that this is the foundation of early childhood development, providing the foundation for everything else. The parents who choose our school agree.

Early Childhood Education

We embrace a play-based approach to learning. Early childhood education experts typically divide play-based learning into two categories: guided play and unstructured play. Both types are employed by our teachers throughout the day.

Guided learning occurs when shaving cream is spread across a table and the children are exposed to different sensations and to their ability to mix colors or form patterns. It occurs when tiles are mixed on the light table, when our music teacher teaches them to tap to the beat, and when our 3-year-olds learn to write their names in capital letters.

It occurs when our parents come in to share their special talents and hobbies and the children ask questions and participate themselves. This year we’ve had a bee keeper, a person who taught them to spin wool, someone who made soap with them, and a caterer who made ice cream with them, to name just a few.

It occurs when the pre-K children learn their lines and produce their spring play and when they measure the growth of an amaryllis bulb over 6 weeks and chart how many cubes tall it is each week.

Guided learning is part of the fabric of the school; it’s about fueling curiosity, instilling a love of learning, and building academic skills.

We believe that unstructured play is equally as important in early childhood education.

Unstructured play occurs in the classroom when the children arrive in the morning and have choice time. Castles are made of magnatiles, giant legos are turned into child-sized forts, trains stretch across the carpet from one end of the room to the other. It occurs when they stand at an easel with sponges and finger paints and a blank page in front of them and when they cut and glue paper into crowns and accessories of their own devising

Unstructured play blooms outdoors - riding bikes, sliding down slides, rolling hula hoops down hills, rolling themselves down hills, building forts and playing in the leaves. It is in the shear joy of making games up as they go, games which only they seem to understand.

During unstructured play the children are learning how to turn an idea into a reality, which is the foundation of imagination and self-initiative. They’re testing their limits and learning what it feels like to make safe choices and to be brave. They’re practicing their social skills - learning to stand up for themselves and what they want, but also how to get along with others. Unstructured play gives them time to practice the perpetual balancing act between me and others.

Play, whether it is guided or unstructured, is the work of childhood. Our children leave pre-K with the academic skills they need in order to be successful in any Kindergarten program. We believe they are so well-prepared because of our focus on child-led learning and play, not in spite of it.

leadership skills

Because we are a stand-alone preschool that ends in Pre-K, our Pre-K students are leaders in the school. They are the ‘big kids on campus’, something that most won’t experience again until they’re at least 5th graders. It’s a mantle they take seriously.

It’s common to see the Pre-K students helping the younger students or thinking about how to set a good example.

In addition, we give the Pre-K students special responsibilities and opportunities. At chapel, a Pre-K student leads the procession. They re-enact the Christmas story with their annual pageant. In the spring, they perform a class musical, such as Stone Soup.

Watching our students grow in confidence and leadership is one of the most fulfilling parts of being a teacher at Christ Church Episcopal Preschool.

an opportunity to choose

Upon completion of our Pre-K program, children move to another public or private school. Many of our parents see this as an important benefit. It gives them the opportunity to make a fresh choice for kindergarten and beyond and to separate the preschool experience from the rest of their child’s academic career.

Our parents take full advantage of this opportunity and send our graduates to a wide array of schools. \

Our 2024 Pre-K graduates now attend:

• Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary School

• Brandywine Springs School

• Hillendale

• Independence School

• Saint Mary Magdalen

• Sanford School

• Tatnall

• Tower Hill School

• Upland Country Day School

• Ursuline Academy

• Wilmington Friends School

Area schools are always happy to enroll our students because they find them extraordinarily well-prepared, academically and socially. When parents of alumni are surveyed, they tell us that their children are thriving in elementary school because they are well-rounded, curious, and well-prepared.