Our Approach
Mile Hi Children’s Enrichment Center
The Mile Hi Children’s Enrichment Center is a tiny preschool cove nestled on the Mile Hi Church Campus. We co-create a small early childhood learning community with our families and children. Our focus is building upon , protecting, and deepening learner identities and emotional well-being.
Statement of Vision
We envision generations partnering in the care and recognition of children as innate learners, seeking to unfold, guide, and cultivate their own knowledge through play and relationships that are deeply supportive and congruent with the true needs of both child and family.
Statement of Mission
We are committed to enriching the early childhood journey with wonder, respect, support, research, and guidance. We look at the learning environment holistically, and co create curricula with our children and families that reflect their uniqueness and community. We intricately document every child’s Learning Story as an act of love and involve them in every learning process and reflection. We celebrate and study play as the child’s primary language and seek to support each family individually and our greater community collectively.
Curricula
We root in a human curriculum that focuses on the child’s developmental range of Self and Community – Who I am, and who am I in relationship to community? Foundationally we foster a human curriculum of how to care for ourselves, help take care of others, understand our feelings and emotions, and those of others, while developing an understanding and relationship with the Earth. From a human curriculum our Early Childhood Teachers facilitate Emergent learning through documentation, research, refection, and planning. We use Learning Stories to cocreate curriculum with our children and families. Each story is written to the child themselves.
Discipline
We see discipline as something that takes place through autonomy and in healthy, trusted relationships; not something that molds, trains, or constructs desired behavior by a person of power. We do not seek to control, train, condition, or mold the children or minds in our care.
The foundation of our disciplinary approach is the Whole Brain Child by Dr. Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D
“The drive to play freely is a basic, biological drive. Lack of free play may not kill the physical body, as would lack of air, food, or water, but it kills the spirit and stunts mental growth.”
-Peter Gray
Contemporary American psychologist
Diapering & Restroom Training
We believe that these early experiences of our bodies and our ability to control and use them autonomously mold how our minds work, and our self concept well into adulthood. We do not have a potty training policy for school admissions. Any potty training needs are addressed individually.
We avoid using external motivation or rewards and focus on relationship and support. If a child is struggling in one area of learning the restroom like sitting on the toilet or timing, we focus on other areas like tearing toilet paper and flushing. There is so much about the restroom to learn!
“To find yourself, think for yourself.”
– Socrates
Diapering & Restroom Training
We believe that these early experiences of our bodies and our ability to control and use them autonomously mold how our minds work, and our self concept well into adulthood. We do not have a potty training policy for school admissions. Any potty training needs are addressed individually.
We avoid using external motivation or rewards and focus on relationship and support. If a child is struggling in one area of learning the restroom like sitting on the toilet or timing, we focus on other areas like tearing toilet paper and flushing. There is so much about the restroom to learn!
“To find yourself, think for yourself.”
– Socrates
Breakfast Club
Our Breakfast Club runs Mon-Fri from 8am-9am with flexible and long term enrollment options. The club offers various grounding morning experiences ranging from recipes to yoga.
“Play is the foundation of learning, creativity, self-expression, and constructive problem-solving. It’s how children wrestle with life to make it meaningful.”
– Susan Linn
Contemporary American Psychiatrist