Preschooler’s Got No Chill? No Problem!
Choosing a preschool is a huge milestone for families.
If your toddler is anything like mine, you’re constantly on the move chasing after their adventurous feet and curious little hands. How will they be able to sit still for school?
Thankfully Mi Childcare in Cascade has modeled a new style of preschool with these wiggly toddlers in mind.
Using a movement-based curriculum that also focuses on the child’s social and emotional development, Mi Childcare is setting kids up for success not just in the academic world, but as people in the world we all share.
Preschool With A Whole Lotta Wiggle Room
Mi Childcare is a preschool with a new philosophy to use a child’s constant movement to their advantage.
For young children, movement helps to engage their mind, and stopping that movement can make it difficult for the child to focus.
Traditional preschools focus largely on kindergarten readiness through learning numbers, letters, and classroom expectations. Part of these classroom expectations are to quiet the child’s hands and feet.
But for more tactile-minded toddlers like my own, this can hinder learning rather than help it.
At Mi Childcare, moving is part of the learning process and it makes learning an adventure. If hands and feet are moving, then so are their brains.
Mi Childcare partners with Grand Rapids Gymnastics to help facilitate their movement-based curriculum. Kids take multiple field trips to Grand Rapids Gymnastics each week, both to participate in structured activities and also just to play.
Throughout the week kids are moving their bodies through dance, gymnastics, and yoga all while learning science, art, and pre-reading.
Building Important Social and Emotional Skills
While movement is an important piece of a child’s educational experience at Mi Childcare, there is just as much emphasis on the child’s social and emotional growth as well.
Mi Childcare accepts children from ages 18 months – 5 years old. Developmentally this is a wide range, but that’s all part of the plan.
Classrooms and groups are made up of mixed age ranges. Their newest room consists of 18-30 month olds, while the 2.5 – 5 year olds are mixed together in their own space.
This is done strategically to help a child gain new social perspectives. Younger kids look up to the older kids, while the older kids learn to be more gentle and nurturing to the younger ones.
Kids also are learning to name their emotions and work on conflict resolution.
These skills are just as important to learn as traditional educational skills, like identifying letters of the alphabet.
Kindergarten readiness is about more than just how a child performs academically. It’s also about how well they can handle themselves in a group setting away from their parent or guardian.
Mi Childcare helps kids learn how to be a person and how to get ready for life. And it’s never too early to learn those skills.
A Movement-Based Preschool With Flexibility
Unique among preschools, Mi Childcare offers a flexibility that not many can offer.
Enrollment is flexible – a child can be enrolled anywhere between just one day a week to five days a week. Drop off and pickup is also flexible between their open hours of 8 AM – 6 PM.
As an added bonus, if a child is already enrolled, he or she can enjoy a drop-in day whenever necessary.
And I’ve saved the best news for last – kids don’t need to be potty trained to enroll! All parents of the stubborn toddler rejoice!
The Preschool With The Most For Your Moving-est Kid
In the overwhelming world of preschool choices, Mi Childcare is a breath of fresh air.
From every angle, Mi Chilcare’s got you covered — from allowing our toddlers to move and wiggle as much as they please to helping us parents be flexible with our ever-changing schedules.
Most importantly, they’re helping grow our children not just into smart, well-behaved kindergarteners, but also into good and caring individuals in this world.
