Burke Mountain Preschool

Burke Mountain Preschool is located on the ground level of a private house surrounded by three beautiful parks and plenty of forests for exploration, which our children can enjoy. We are offering a home-like environment away from home that is very important in the early learning stage for children to feel safe. It is imperative that young children feel comfortable and safe before they can fully engage and learn. Our small classes have 10 children maximum per session, as we strongly believe in line with Dr. Gordon Neufeld and his team at the Neufeld Institute, that young children should be attached to more so to adults rather than their peers. In our smaller groups, we can more readily able to build strong connections with each child in our care.

Further, being part of a preschool with only a small amount of children is beneficial during the cold & flu season for overall health. Instead of having the traffic of many different families bringing their children to large centers where there is a greater opportunity for disease spread, we have only 10 families at a time and thus less sick children.

We understand that if we want to have well-adjusted, successful, resilient children and adults we must first focus on social-emotional functioning. Children learn to be caring young citizens through play, interacting with peers, problem-solving and negotiating, all while cultivating an environment of respect for one another and the world under the guidance of a teacher. We do not believe in the use of rewards or time outs, only in the purposeful guidance of each unique child’s behaviour.

We do not label our school under the umbrella of Montessori or Reggio Emilia, but we are inspired by these guiding research philosophies surrounding early education, striving to implement various new research models for the benefit of those in our care.

We are a registered WE school. We cooperate with the WE organization and we are teaching children social responsibility, recognizing that being part of a team is equally as important as being an individual and standing up for yourself www.WE.org.

We foster a love of learning in our children with science experiments (through which they learn hand-eye coordination, math, language, concentration, observation), art (through which they learn creativity, hand-eye coordination, expressing themselves in a different language), and games (through which they learn following instructions, turn taking, accepting rules as well as defeat). This is because we know that we can remember only the things that we have an emotional attachment to, hence why it is so important to make learning enjoyable.

We observe children throughout play and follow their lead to determine what are they interested in learning, as according to Maria Montessori, “teacher teaches a little, observe a lot.” We provide a rich environment with endless possibilities to explore, understanding that a child’s eagerness to learn is stimulated by their surroundings. We use a lot self-correcting toys such as puzzles and balance scales, where children can engage in independent problem solving.

Wide usage of open-ended materials and art supplies allow for children to use their imagination, curiosity and let their creativity blossom.