The Schuylkill Center - -

Schuylkill Center to open kindergarten classroom in Nature Preschool November 3, 2016

PHILADELPHIA, PA ï¿½ the Schuylkill Center is pleased to announce that starting in fall 2017, they will offer a kindergarten program alongside their Nature Preschool. Like the Nature Preschool, the first of its kind in the state, the kindergarten program will offer nature-based education in a Reggio Emilia-inspired environment. For 5-year-olds entering the program, the kindergarten class will offer whole child learning, emphasizing social and emotional development while also building literacy and math skills.

The Schuylkill Centerï¿½s Nature Preschool classes and kindergarten class offer a unique opportunity for families. Over the past four years the Schuylkill Centerï¿½s Nature Preschool program has grown from a handful of families to over eighty, with children spending their days in nature, learning outdoors. In addition to offering a kindergarten classroom, the Schuylkill Center is also offering an all-outdoors forest-immersion classroom for ages 3 ï¿½ 5. This class, one of three Nature Preschool classrooms, will offer morning sessions with an outdoor home base where the children will gather ï¿½ complete with a fireplace for cold days.

The kindergarten program, which will primarily serve as a bridge to elementary school for children in the preschool program, will prepare children for the intellectual, academic, and social challenges of elementary school, while fostering curiosity and lifelong learning.

ï¿½Opening a kindergarten at the Schuylkill Center allows children to continue inquiry-based learning in an outdoor setting where the opportunities to expand on their innate desire to learn are endless,ï¿½ says Shannon Wise, Director of Early Childhood Education.

Nature Preschool enrollment, including kindergarten, will open in January, with full-time and part-time schedules for ages 3 ï¿½ 5 and full-time for the kindergarten. Interested families are invited to call 215-482-7300 to schedule a tour.

The Schuylkill Center was founded in 1965 as the nationï¿½s first urban environmental education center. Its 365-acres of fields and forests serve as a living laboratory to foster appreciation, deepen understanding, and encourage stewardship of the environment. Reaching over 36,000 Philadelphia-area residents each year, the Schuylkill Center offers a diverse collection of educational programs, including programs for school, continuing education for teachers, Pennsylvaniaï¿½s first Nature Preschool, and a full calendar of events for the public.