Discovering Science And Math
"If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, then let us allow them to love the earth before we ask them to save it. Perhaps this is what Thoreau had in mind when he said, "the more slowly trees grow at first, the sounder they are at the core, and I think the same is true of human beings."David Sobel, Beyond Ecophobia

Our preschools experience the wonder of nature on a daily basis. We use our five senses to experience the world, and try to get outside at least once each day. We have two dogs, and a large fish tank. The children enjoy watching the animals grow and helping with basic care of the animals (of course always under direct supervision)We also have a  large flower garden planted and cared for by the children and are planning on planting a vegetable garden as well.
We never forget to stop and smell the flowers or listen to the birds sing! We spend a lot of time outside and love to experience the wonderful changing seasons in Minnesota. We bake and prepare meals and snacks together, visit flower shops and gardens, plant flowers and vegetables, and visit parks and playgrounds.We rake and jump in the leaves, shovel, sled and build with snow. We run through the sprinkler, measure fill and dump buckets of water and experiment with items that sink and float. We dance in the rain, jump in puddles, splash in the mud, and catch snowflakes on our tongues.        

Discovering Art
"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Pablo Picasso

Art is offered daily to the children. One day per week we have a formal art lesson to learn about the great artists of the world such as Da Vinci, Picasso, Van Gogh, and other less common artists as well from the Renaissance to the present. We experience the styles and techniques of the artists as well as learning a little bit of history about each artist. This encourages children to be open to new ideas, and encourages interest in the process of art rather than the product. We expand the creative experience and awareness of children in all aspects of the visual arts through: painting, drawing, printing, sculpture, architecture, and other manipulations of art materials.
We use different kinds of paint, paintbrushes, pencils, pens, markers, scissors,crayons, colored pencils,stickers, stencils, etc. We participate in art outdoors and indoors, we paint with our hands and our feet! We experiment with different kinds of glue, clay and play dough,shaving cream. Writing and free art center is always available to children during free play time and is stocked with different writing materials and paper. Children's own art projects hang on the wall so that everybody can see what wonderful work we do! Children are always encouraged to be creative and we focus more on the process than the product.

Discovering Social Studies-The World and People Around Us
"We want to raise our children so that they can take a sense of pleasure in both their own heritage and the diversity of others." -Mr. Rogers

We celebrate different holidays and festivals and talk about their meanings. We practice using different eating utensils chopsticks, forks and spoons and eating a variety of different lunch and snack items. We talk about our differences and similarities. Music is offered throughout the day featuring different languages, instruments and cultures. Our library is filled with lots of multicultural books and stories from around the world and photographs of children from many different places. Children are encouraged to play with multicultural dolls, costumes, instruments and pretend foods. We have many world flags in our classroom that represent all of the countries the families of the teachers and children have come from. We take lots of field trips and try to experience all of what our town has to offer! We practice going to restaurants, ordering our food, waiting quietly and using our manners. We take different community education classes  and experience working and getting along with other children and other teachers. Both Heather and Ryan's parents and grandparents live in town and make visits often to see the children, read to them and play with them. All children benefit from having special older "friends" in their lives, but those especially effected are the children whose grandparents live in other countries or states or are no longer alive.

Discovering Self
"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder...he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in."

Kids love to feel proud of their accomplishments and learn the skills to take care of their own things. We teach children to take pride in their classroom, toys, and their own belongings by taking good care of them. A chore chart is posted in our classroom and children are able to earn stickers with each chore that they complete. When the chart is filled with stickers they receive a reward or priviledge. Children learn to take off/put on their own shoes, coats, mittens and hats and put them where they belong. Children take care of their own bathroom needs including brushing their own teeth and putting their toothbrush and toothpaste back where they belong. At naptime they take out their own mats, sleeping bags and blankets and place them in their sleeping spaces. When naptime is over they put their things away again. Children are encouraged to take their dirty dishes to the sink, throw away left over food and rinse their plates when they are finished.The children also learn to pick up the toys after they are finished playing with them to keep our classroom clean and neat. They feel so proud of their ability to take care of their things and keep their playroom clean they love to give tours to family members and friends who stop by to visit.

Love And One-On-One Attention
"There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle."
Albert Einstein

The single most important experience children at First Discoveries Childcare come away with is a sense of self worth, pride, and unconditional love. Children are treated as individuals and respected for their own talents and abilities. Everyday a certain amount of time is devoted to individual self correcting activities or manipulatives of the child's choice. The child is able to work on challenging activities without the interruption of the other children with the help and guidance of the teacher. During this time the teacher connects with each child individually, asks questions, shares ideas, and of course, always gives lots of praise. This is a special time for students to have the teachers full focus and attention. Along with individual work time children are given many hugs, kisses, pats on the back and high fives and are shown a clear, consistent set of boundaries and daily routine every single day.  In child care centers children often switch classrooms up to 4 times during their preschool years, forcing children to have to get used to new teachers, classmates, routine, rules, and environment. First Discoveries childcare provides the same consistent care through your child's preschool years. Each day when your child walks through the door they know that Heather and Ryan are always there to love them, cherish them, hold their hand, laugh with them and kiss away their tears. The children of First Discoveries childcare are more than just daycare children, they are family members. It is our pleasure to share our home and our life with such wonderful treasures.

"Without continuous hands-on experience, it is impossible for children to acquire a deep intuitive understanding of the natural world that is the foundation of sustainable development. ….A critical aspect of the present-day crisis in education is that children are becoming separated from daily experience of the natural world, especially in larger cities.

Natural Learning, Creating Environments for Rediscovering Nature's Way of Teaching, Robin C. Moore and Herb H. Wong