Why choose Lakewood? We have a unique approach to early childhood education.
Lakewood is small by design.
Children thrive in small groups. Our program serves 33 children: 8 toddlers, 8-10 middlers, and 15-17 preschoolers, each with two teachers. Children stay in the same classrooms with the same teachers and peer groups from September through August then the children move as a group to the next classroom.
Lakewood is located in a house in a residential neighborhood.
A home-like environment is a source of comfort and security for young children. Children feel much more comfortable in a small home-like setting than in an institutional setting. Our neighborhood affords real-life experiences that thrill young children: mail delivery, garbage trucks, school buses, daily walks to the fire station, grocery store, and watching interesting things like building renovations, tree removal and road repairs.
Lakewood’s classroom teachers have bachelor’s degrees in Child Development or a related field with Early Childhood Education coursework.
Educating children is too important a task to entrust to teachers who lack appropriate education and training.
Lakewood’s curriculum is child-centered, emergent, and influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach and our Outdoor Learning Initiative.
The teachers inform the school’s indoor and outdoor environments and program children’s activities in response to each child’s developmental needs, interests, and learning styles. As children grow and their interests evolve and change, so do the materials and activities offered, providing each child the collaborators, scaffolding, and encouragement to reach his or her own unique potential.