Garden Gate Child Development Center

Early childhood experience lays the foundation for all future growth and development. We believe that this foundation is strongest when children see themselves as valuable, capable members of their world.

At Garden Gate, children are seen as rich in potential, strong, powerful and competent. Our teachers look at each individual child in a holistic way, respecting and nurturing each child’s potential for physical, emotional, social, cognitive, creative and spiritual growth.

We beleive that taking personal responsibilty for one’s actions, in the classroom, on the playground and in the world, leads to empowerment, self-satisfaction, empathy and a generous spirit. We hold children responsible and support them with words and strategies for dealing with frustration, disappointment, anger and sadness. We help them to share their wonder, joy, and delight with others.

We believe children are eager to form deep, meaningful relationships with family, school and community. At Garden Gate children learn about the reciprocity of relationships, the give-and-take of helping and being helped, of giving as well as getting, and mutual care and respect for one another. Children are responsible, with teachers’ help, for caring for our classroom and classroom pets, negotiating play, solving conflicts with one another and helping to create social rules and boundaries as needed in the group.

We believe that children are inquisitive, resourceful and motivated to learn about the world around them. At Garden Gate the learning process is dynamic, involving the teachers, parents, and the children in hands-on learning. Our teachers encourage children to explore, take risks, succeed, fail and persevere. Children are responsible, with teachers’ help, for generating inquiries, brainstorming ideas, experimenting with a wide variety of materials, and communicating their knowledge and understanding.