We believe children naturally learn about the world around them through active exploration and play, which is heightened by conscious awareness and support of their individual strengths and interests. We believe teachers are most effective when developing curriculum that respect and explore each child's creative potential. We've designed the River East School environment to offer a rich landscape of opportunities for each child to learn according to their own pace and interests.
We regard the environment, our nutrition program, atelier, and diverse early literacy library as essential components of our program, among others. New concepts and skill-building opportunities are presented at appropriate developmental stages and then built upon through both structured activities, as well as imaginative and inquiry-based play. Our philosophy incorporates principles found in Loris Malaguzzi's Reggio Emilia Approach, Play and Inquiry-Based Learning, the Constructivist Approach to learning, and RIE methodology.
At River East, our intention is to help each child thrive in a deeply caring environment by offering tools for constant learning and multifaceted expression. We encourage and develop each child’s sense of self, capacity for care, imagination, and critical thinking abilities. We value the process of learning over academic instruction, which can hinder out-of-the-box, or beyond-the-box thinking and intuitive, relational understanding. We aspire to engage children’s hearts and minds as we practice hands-on learning, empathy-building, conflict resolution, and effective teacher role modeling. We believe in the power of language and effective communication, and its ability to break down barriers and allow greatness to unfold.
We believe children are born with innate intelligence, profound inner worlds, and emotional depth. We aspire to bring forth their innate wisdom and capabilities by allowing and observing their unique expression, which manifests through the language of play, exploration of the arts, immersive sensorial experiences, opportunities for gross and fine motor skill development, meditative and grounding breathwork, and consistently nutritious and delicious elevated organic meals and snacks each day. We believe positive early childhood experiences are vital to individual and social progress, which is why we endeavor to support children’s growth in the most intentional, artistic, consistent, and loving way possible.
