bottle feedings, mealtimes, and naptimes. We also love taking our little ones outside for fresh air and outdoor exploration. As children grow older, you’ll notice greater structure in the classroom, including story time, morning gatherings, small-group activities, daily lessons, and artistic experiences designed to nurture the whole child.
emphasizes whole-child growth and development, establishing a well-rounded daily routine that supports all aspects of children’s overall development. We focus on scaffolding learning throughout the preschool and pre-K years, covering essential kindergarten readiness skills to ensure children are well-equipped for their next steps. Additionally, we prioritize social-emotional learning, guiding children as they navigate important social interactions with peers and adults. This foundation helps them build confidence and fosters positive relationships. Are there 1-3 events you have every year that families and children look forward to? We love coming together as a school community to celebrate! A few of our favorite events include the annual Back-to-School Bash, the Winter/Holiday performances, and each of our schools’ birthdays. We also invite families throughout the year to highlight learning through art shows, classroom performances, and meaningful small gatherings at each location.
our school.
How would you describe your educational philosophy for preschool-age children? Our school philosophy incorporates a unique blend of Montessori and Reggio philosophy. We support children in being independent by supporting them in caring for themselves and the world around them, cultivating a sense of curiosity and competence, along with helping them in learning how to advocate in order to have their needs met with peers and adults. We see early childhood education as a living, relational ecology rather than merely an applied methodology. We trust children as whole beings, capable of meaning-making, inquiry and deep concentration.
How do teachers partner with parents throughout the years?
As a Reggio-inspired school, community engagement is highly valued. We love connecting with parents during drop-off and pick-up times and maintain an open-door policy for ongoing meetings and discussions about their child’s growth and development. Our school uses an app-based program called LuvNotes to provide real-time updates and photos, keeping parents informed about their child’s day. We invite parents to join us monthly for “Family First Fridays,” providing families with the opportunity to explore the learning taking place in our school and engage hands-on with their children in our classrooms. Additionally, we host parent conferences twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring, to foster deeper conversations about child development.We also welcome family members into the classroom when they have special skills or knowledge to share with the children. For example, many family members have recently showcased their musical talents during our music and movement unit of study.
How do you support children with different learning styles or developmental needs?
We support different learning styles and developmental needs by designing learning environments that offer various points of entry and by remaining in close relationship with each child. Instead of sorting children by strengths or deficits, we trust that children reveal what they need through their lived experience, play, questions, and resistance. We provide open-ended materials, varied rhythms, and flexible pathways so children can approach learning through movement, creative and spoken language, construction, solitude, collaboration, repetition, and/ or imagination. We observe, document, and adjust the environment. By honoring autonomy alongside connection we create conditions where differences are welcomed as essential to the life of the classroom.
Children’s Garden Montessori
What does a typical day look like for a child in your program?
Children’s Garden serves as a school and community of young children more so than a childcare program and our schedule reflects this. Depending on age, our Pre- School age children attend for 3 hours to 6 ½ hours a day. After greetings and a short circle time, child’s day at school is a flow of individualized activities, small and large group projects, using the indoor and outdoor spaces as learning and playing environments, and where the children have a good amount of autonomy in selecting their activities. Our schedules reflect a child’s need for structure and unstructured time, connections, rest and down time. How do teachers partner with parents throughout the years? Before a child ever walks into the classroom, the teachers work to partner with the parents to understand who that child is and how to support their development. Starting with a Home Visit, we mindfully set up opportunities for parents and teachers to come together to form a strong relationship that allows for a meeting of the minds around supporting young learners on their first educational journey. We recognize parents as the child’s first teachers, and approach education as a collaboration. Our ongoing documentation and community programs serve to include parents and caregivers in the daily life of our school and to invite families into an ongoing and aware dialog throughout a child’s time at
How do you support children with different learning styles or developmental needs?
How do you help children prepare for the transition to kindergarten?
FEBRUARY 2026 COLORADOPARENT.COM 15 For a complete list of responses, go to the Colorado Parent website. A Montessori statement says it best, “We serve the future by protecting the present. The more fully the needs of one period are met, the greater will be the success of the next.” Cultivating an intrinsic love of learning and curiosity, an “I can” attitude, resilience, creativity, concentration; laying a broad and strong foundation across the developmental and educational domains. Are there 1-3 events you have every year that families and children look forward to? Annual Cultural Festival of experiences related to cultural and seasonal traditions across the world; Spring Art Show and Exhibit celebrating the creative and imaginative research and work of the children through the school year; and the End of school year Bunny Run and Picnic.
At Little Sunshine Playhouse, we utilize our own curriculum framework called “Creatively Shine.” This framework emphasizes whole-child growth and development, accommodating various learning styles and developmental needs within each classroom. Our educators collaboratively construct invitations and provocations daily based on children’s interests and needs. We also complete developmental checklists and curate individual child portfolios. These resources guide learning and provide a comprehensive view of each child’s strengths and areas needing additional focus to support their ongoing growth and development.
How do you help children prepare for the transition to kindergarten? We have several systems in place to
effectively prepare children for the transition to kindergarten. Our curriculum framework
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