At Hundred Hills School, we hold the early years of childhood with deep reverence. Our early childhood programs are designed to preserve the innocence and wonder of this sacred time, while gently supporting each child’s growing sense of self and place in the world.

In our warm, homelike classrooms, children are surrounded by beauty and simplicity. You will find natural materials like wooden toys, shells, stones, tree branches, silks, wool, and handmade toys that invite open-ended play. These simple objects nourish creativity, foster imaginative play, and become the foundation for future thinking and learning. When imaginative play is nurtured in early childhood, it is transformed into creative, independent thought in later years.

Our days flow in a gentle, predictable rhythm that nurtures a sense of security and inner calm. Children engage in meaningful activities such as baking, watercolor painting, beeswax modeling, handwork, seasonal songs and verses, circle time, and storytelling. These daily experiences strengthen the child’s senses, will, and imagination, while supporting the development of the child’s whole self.

In our early childhood classrooms, snacks and lunch are moments of togetherness, rhythm, reverence, and gratitude. Food is served family style with love and care, and children enjoy nourishing, organic food that supports their healthy growth and well-being. The children practice passing bowls and cups and take part in simple and beautiful mealtime rituals. Sharing food in this way nurtures a sense of community and belonging, while also fostering a sense of independence and joyful participation in the daily life of their classroom. The slow, mindful pace of the meal offers time for conversation, quiet moments, and the warmth of connection, which nourishes not only the body but also the heart and soul.

Our early childhood classrooms are media-free, honoring the developmental needs of young children and encouraging direct experiences with nature and the world around them. Daily outdoor exploration and play are essential elements of our rhythm, rain or shine. In nature, children can move freely, stretch their growing limbs, challenge their balance, and deepen their connection to the earth. Outdoor time offers connection with nature, inspires wonder, develops resilience, and supports both gross and fine motor skills.

At Hundred Hills School, indoor and outside play, nutritious food, meaningful work, artistic activities, and time for rest are all thoughtfully woven into the day. Our play-based environment honors each child’s unfolding. Our approach stimulates imagination, supports emotional and social development, and lays the groundwork for lifelong learning and joyful discovery.

Imaginative play is the heart of our early childhood program. Through open-ended materials, real experiences that develop life skills such as baking bread, artistic activities like watercolor painting, and story-rich environments, children bring their inner imaginative pictures to life. They learn to navigate social experiences, invent worlds, and explore their ideas through play. Teachers guide with presence and warmth, supporting social-emotional growth with a developmentally grounded approach.

Every day, in all kinds of weather, children immerse themselves in outdoor play, building, exploring, and creating, which nurtures their physical body and supports the development of self-confidence, independence, and resilience. This is essential for a young child’s healthy cognitive, social, and emotional growth. Time in nature gives children many opportunities to engage their senses and deepen their relationship with the natural world. Teachers engage the children in gardening, exploring the wonder of the seasons, and experiencing nature’s rhythms, all while quietly laying the foundation for scientific thinking, awe, and wonder. 

Circle time is filled with seasonal verses, songs, finger plays, and counting games while offering joyful movement that develops coordination, rhythm, and spatial awareness. Through teacher-led circle time, children develop a strong sense of balance, confidence, and inner security. Circle time offers the children rich, embodied movement that nourishes their sense of touch, well-being, movement, and balance, which lays a strong foundation for the physical, emotional, social, and cognitive growth that supports lifelong learning.

Storytelling is woven into each day through rich oral traditions. Children bubble over with delight in watching puppet plays, listening to fairy tales, folk tales, and nature stories, which all strengthen memory, imagination, and narrative skills. Through rhythm, repetition, and rhyme, children begin building early literacy skills while cultivating a lasting love for language. Storytelling, poetry, and recitation offer young children a rich and living experience of language, which lays a strong foundation for emerging literacy. These oral traditions are woven into our early childhood program in order to introduce the rhythms, sounds, and structures that later support reading and writing. 

Children are truly active participants in the life of the classroom, tidying, helping to prepare food, as well as caring for the toys. These daily tasks foster independence, confidence, and joy in knowing that they are contributing to the life of the classroom. Whether chopping vegetables, grinding grain, or kneading dough for the bread they will make, children gain real-life skills through work that feels meaningful and rooted in the daily rhythm of their class.

Each day brings tactile work that strengthens fine motor skills as well as reverence for beauty. Children might plant-dye, finger-knit, shape beeswax or clay, watercolor, felt wool, and color with beautiful crayons made of beeswax. Music flows through the day as teachers sing songs to guide the children through the day’s transitions. Both artistic activities and singing invite play, the young child’s natural state of being, and are an integral part of the gentle rhythm that supports the children emotionally and imaginatively.

Seasonal festivals and cultural celebrations are an integral part of our rhythm, which offer children a joyful way to connect with the world’s many traditions. These experiences cultivate reverence, understanding, and belonging, while nurturing a deep respect for diversity. Festival celebrations are approached with reverence and simplicity, allowing young children to experience the beauty of the moment through songs, verses, stories, special foods, and crafts. These shared experiences cultivate a sense of wonder and gratitude for the world around them. The annual cycle of these festivals and celebrations provides a strong sense of rhythm and belonging, helping children feel grounded in time and connected to their community.

Our Early Childhood program supports emerging academic readiness through joyful activities and purposeful work both indoors and outside. Foundational skills like sequencing, coordination, and sensory integration are gently introduced through meaningful, hands-on experiences. Early numeracy and science concepts come alive as children help count the number of cups of flour needed to make their bread, or help to slice apples for snack time. Children are little scientists by nature, and so outdoor exploration offers a rich and nurturing environment for children to be curious learners. Practical work is an integral part of the daily rhythms which lay the foundation that nurtures early confidence in both math and science, that doesn’t include worksheets and instead is all about having time to explore and develop life skills, social and artistic abilities.