Welcome to Hummingbird School !

Hummingbird Preschool is a fun and spontaneous place where children are encouraged to explore, interact, create, imagine, and express themselves. Preschoolers challenge themselves to work on the skills they need to learn and develop through play. The majority of our activities are open-ended and students are encouraged to create their own projects. A focus on play and social-emotional learning allows preschoolers on-going opportunities to practice critical skills such as empathy, flexibility, problem solving, negotiation, compromise, collaboration, and conflict resolution. Our approach is child-led rather than teacher-directed. Letters, numbers, writing, art, music, Spanish, and curriculum-based projects are incorporated in organic ways that make learning fun.

We have an inclusion philosophy and the expectation that all children are invited to join in any activity. If children want to exclude others, we remind them that school is like a birthday party and everyone is invited to play. We do not use time outs, stickers, rewards or behavior shaping artificial praise. We strive to create an authentic, kind, caring, and emotionally safe learning environment where differences are not only accepted but embraced. We take students’ feelings seriously and work together to try to understand each other and find connections.

We use Respectful Parenting, Unconditional Parenting, and the Collaborative Problem Solving Approach. When conflicts arise, we work together with students to brainstorm solutions. Some children may need encouragement to voice their feelings, while others may need guidance on truly hearing another’s perspective. We see “negative” behavior as a child’s attempt to fill a need in the best way they can at the moment and we understand these experiences are just part of the learning and growing process.

Students are encouraged to be creative thinkers and take an active role in constructing their school experiences. They are given opportunities to lead group activities and circle time, help other students, teach art projects, plan field trips and whole school parties. At Hummingbird, teachers and students are co-creators in their school journey.