Our Horizons Difference
At Horizons Preschool, we celebrate who your child is today and support them on their journey to the person they will become.
Our big difference
Our Montessori approach to early learning and development is drawn from contemporary educational and human research and the work of respected international theorists of early childhood. This foundational knowledge supports our qualified educators and teachers in creating environments that enable exceptional learning and development opportunities.
Your child is considered a confident and capable member of our learning community. We recognize and respond to their individual learning dispositions and their ability to contribute to their own and others’ learning. We support each child’s specific learning styles and ensure your child’s learning journey is unique.
We understand the importance of a sustainable teaching and learning environment, which brings heightened opportunities for children to develop an understanding of, and care and respect for, our world. We achieve this through offering active exploration and purposeful play within our natural and built spaces, and with the choice of materials and resources.
Parent partnerships
We believe in working together to realize a family’s needs and interests. We encourage and value parental input through truthful, gentle, and helpful conversations to promote feelings of belonging and assurance.
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Our nurturing environment
Our centers are intentionally designed to allow the imaginations of children to flourish. We encourage learning through inspiration, combining nutrition, health, happiness, and education.
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Horizons Preschool offers naturalistic outdoor playscapes with real grass, sand, hay, vegetable and herb gardens, and interaction with and care for animals.
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Early childhood education lays the foundation for your child’s future growth. We appreciate that every child has a unique journey, and embracing individuality is what distinguishes Horizons Preschool.
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Companionship
Horizons Preschool views children and their teachers as companions in the early childhood journey. We believe in offering rich experiences, guiding your child to become a confident and active learner while developing their autonomy, inter-dependence, and resilience.
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Our teachers consciously take the time to help children feel noticed, heard and understood and to participate in any decision-making relating to issues that affect their lives.
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It is our wish for all children to develop a compassionate, responsible and peaceful approach to solving life problems.
Our image of a child
We view children as competent and capable citizens, assisting them in developing autonomy, confidence, self-esteem, self-regulation, self-assessment, and active participation in their learning. It also influences how we describe children and their learning to each other and families.
We use our image of a child to support:
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the words we use and how they look in practice
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our structure of the environment
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the kinds of questions we ask
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presentation of learning experiences
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the decisions about our ‘curriculum’
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children’s role in their own learning
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Adult’s role in children’s learning
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Sharing our teaching and learning through documentation
Our commitment to quality
Every one of our educators is committed to providing the highest quality early childhood learning service. As a group, our focus on core aspects of quality provides a benchmark for practice in our early learning centers. We offer a strong foundation for organizational decision-making and a joint call to action in advocating for the importance of the first five years.
