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"The drive to play freely is a basic biological drive. Lack of free play may not kill the physical body as with lack of air, food, or water, but it kills the spirit and stunts mental growth."
Peter Gray
Our Philosophy
Play is an active form of learning that unites the mind-body and spirit.
At Nurture Nest, we believe that children thrive when given the freedom to play, explore, and imagine. Through play, children begin to understand the world around them—gaining perspective, learning social cues, building empathy, and forming meaningful relationships. Our play-based approach to early childhood education encourages children to socialize, create, and discover using open-ended materials in an environment designed to spark curiosity and creativity.
In addition to free play, we gently introduce a literature-based curriculum that nurtures early academic and practical life skills. Each week is centered around a thoughtfully chosen story and includes simple, hands-on activities that support learning in a natural, engaging way.
Children begin by exploring the letters in their own names, making literacy personal and meaningful. From there, we introduce the rest of the alphabet in a carefully sequenced progression, incorporating letter recognition, formation, and phonetic sounds. Alongside literacy, children are introduced to numbers 0–20 and foundational math skills such as sorting, counting, grouping, identifying shapes and colors, and exploring early addition. These skills are taught gradually and developmentally, with regular opportunities for review and reinforcement.
Each week also includes kinesthetic activities that encourage active learning and support whole-child development. Families are encouraged to extend these experiences at home, allowing children to engage in practical life tasks—such as self-care routines, simple kitchen activities, and basic home repairs—alongside loved ones. This helps reinforce classroom learning in a meaningful way, deepening the connection between home and school for a more well-rounded learning experience. Fine motor development is thoughtfully supported through activities like lacing, sponge squeezing, and using spray bottles—all designed to build the hand strength and coordination needed for writing.
Some activities are connected to the weekly story theme, while others are designed to offer a broader range of experiences, creating a rich, balanced foundation for learning. At Nurture Nest, we meet children where they are, nurturing their growth with intention, playfulness, and love.
Our Core Values
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The children are the center of their own learning and the initiators of the process. They have ingrained and natural interests that both inspire them to learn and also construct the best way to learn on their own.
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Community is important and children learn by collaborating with their communities. Relationships are a vital component when it comes to early learning and development. We place particular emphasis on the relationship and interactions between the child, their peers, parents, and teachers.
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Humans are natural communicators and children should be encouraged to express themselves in any way they see fit. This can look like communication through drawing, painting, building, sculpting, dancing, singing, dramatic play, and many more. Because of the rate and many ways children can learn, it’s important that they’re provided with many ways to express themselves.
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The environment must be enriching and supportive for well rounded development through play. The environment should not be seen as a physical construct of simply chairs, tables, toys and books but instead a living organism. We intentionally make use of natural home-like furnishings and set ups, loose parts, open-ended toys, and plenty of building and constructing materials as this ensures the classroom and outside environments are carefully integrated while encouraging real-life interactions.
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Teachers are partners, nurturers and guides to children and help them explore their interests through play. Teachers should not be seen as drill sergeants and commanders of the environment. Teachers are meant to guide children through experiences, discovery and problem solving. Thus the main job of the teacher is to observe the children while also questioning and waiting for opportunities to encourage further exploration of their interests.
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Parental participation is vital. Just like teachers, parents are essential partners in their child’s education. That’s why we warmly encourage parent involvement and invite families to take an active role in their child’s learning journey. Our suggested weekly at-home learning opportunities are designed to help parents extend the classroom experience, supporting a well-rounded and enriching educational foundation.
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Documenting a child’s learning communicates to the child that their work is of value. In addition to guiding children through their learning, teachers are responsible for documenting the learning process and transcribing the language used by children. This is done through photos and videos and shared with the parents to keep them in the know of what the child is doing. In addition to this, being able to finish your preschool experience with a portfolio of project, photos, videos, and quotes is something that builds great pride and encourages continuous learning in their later years.
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All activities here at Nurture Nest are designed to adequately nurture the emotional and intellectual growth of our kids. With a mixture of child-led play, stimulating situations, and hands-on learning opportunities, our students are free to develop into bright young minds. Reach out to learn more, and enroll with us today!
Albert Einstein
"Play is the highest form of research."