Play allows children to explore, manipulate, act out, improvise and learn about their environment through trial and error. Here at Laurel Hill we emphasize use of the most basic of toys: sand, clay, water, paint and blocks, in order to help nurture play.

Additionally, through play children will learn about:

• Social confidence

• Intrinsic values and negotiation skills

• Strong fine motor and gross motor skills

• Increased independence

• Heightened capacity for language and pre-literacy skills

• Self Regulation

• Problem Solving skills

It is of the utmost importance that we provide the time for each child to progress through the overlapping learning stages without skimping on or skipping on any. At Laurel Hill, we provide an environment in which nursery school is not only a preparation for kindergarten and later life, but also a fully valid experience in itself.

Although parents and teachers tend to be very ambitious for their children to show intellectual progress, it is much more important for adults to provide the opportunities for fulfillment and avoid the pressures and tensions bound to arise when the child enters elementary school. By allowing each child the time and environment to discover and develop at their own pace, we create a love of learning that will continue through life.

To create a stimulating and challenging climate in the nursery school, we have a wide variety of activities available to the children at all times, including art, music, building projects for large and small motor skills, books, dance, gardening, outdoor exploration, puzzles, imaginative play and much more. Our children are able to exercise their growing minds in problem solving of all kinds, and explore the realms of balance, weight, color, form and order, cause and effect.

Unlike the situation in the family, children find themselves in a group made of contemporaries whose interests and capacities are comparable to their own. Each child must find ways of handling the complexities, conflicts, friendships, and the sharing of adult attention. 

Children’s experiences in a group gradually help them to shape an awareness of themselves and each person’s special individuality.

At this age, the eruption of negative feelings may require restraint by an adult, redirection, interpretation and guidance, all of which must be done in such a way as to support the self-esteem of the child. If a child’s frustration is unbearable, we can help the child to solve the problem; if a child’s wrath is uncontrollable, we remove the child from its source. Accepting emotions does not imply accepting the behavior they produce.

Understanding a child’s fury does not mean that we tolerate biting, hitting or scratching. We can help to prevent tension and frustration by controlling the environment, by having enough similar materials and toys to reduce competition, by providing opportunities for participation, or by finding a quiet spot or activity when there is over-stimulation. When necessary, we can step in to prevent anger from developing to an unacceptable level. It takes a long time and a lot of trust for a child to be able to wait, share, take turns or relinquish.

These physical skills are important in and of themselves as a child builds self-awareness and self-esteem, but are also important as foundations for later school skills. For example, through stacking blocks, a child learns hand-eye coordination. Later, that coordination helps the child learn to write.