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Carlsbad, CA
Aspirations

Parents at this school would recommend this school to other parents.

Review this preschool

Telephone: (760) 603-9173  · Website: www.aspiringchild.com

• Summary
• General Info
• Curriculum &
  Teaching Approach
• Quality of
  Teaching
• Home/School
  Connection
• Discipline,
  Health & Safety
• Kindergarten
  Placement&Tips

Social Skills & Work Habits

OVERALL RATING (3.8)
This school has increased my child's:
Ability to listen and follow directions
Ability to sit still for longer periods of time
Ability to be a part of a group of children
Self-sufficiency and independence
Awareness of others’ feelings
Cooperation with other children

source:

Curriculum and Teaching Approach

Parents' Comments

Parent #1
Everyone gets involved

Parent #2
The artist's room is so fun for them to go to and create in. They learn so much through explortation and doing hands-on unique things. Now at home he collects bamboo, twigs and asks to make something on canvas!

Parent #3
I love that it is teacher driven and they have choices, yet "have to jobs" to learn through. He loves choosing the order he will do things, and I'm sure he saves the hardest ones for last, but never complains about it!

Parent #4
I am still lieaning about the teaching approach but from what I see I really like it. During our initial tour the director explained all about the town in Italy of Reggio-Emelia and how this began. I like how they model the school after the curriculum there which is world renowned. It's quite fascinating

Parent #5
I love that the arts are so stronly emphasized here, early childhood learning should be age-appropriate and this school obviously understands that children learn through discovery and DOING. They can't wait to dive right in and create, explore and discover. We carried a crying child out of there today who didn't want to go home! How wonderful!

Parent #6
My daughter is extremly proud of her new ideas and growth. She seems excited each day and enjoys participating in the program. The program doesn't simply encourage her to memorize the material, but instead takes her on a journey of understanding it. Academics are very much a part of the days instruction. The method seems much more natural and thus avoids the frustration in early learning.

Parent #7
The children follow their interests and are encouraged to be curious and collaboratively explore concepts with their classmates.

Parent #8
They believe that children will learn with no help! This is babysitting! Really expensive babysitting!

Parent #9
There is no learning plan other than play.

Parent #10
The kids are given the time to still be little kids and enjoy their "playtime", but at the same time they are encouraged to learn and the teachers actually do a lot of teaching. My daughter has learned all about the body - the functiuon of the heart and lungs included - as well as the life cycle of a plant. They are going to start on the life cylce of a butterfly. It is leanring through play that makes it fun for the kids and keeps them interested. She looks forward to going to school everyday!

Parent #11
too free-flowing with 24 kids & only 2 teachers

Parent #12
This is a child-centered, child-focused approach using Reggio Emilia's philosophy. Not all the teachers are trained in RE & therefore some classes have more enriching activities available. Our son's classroom had 2 brand new teachers that were hired the week before school started. They didn't know each other & didn't know the RE philosophy. Our son's classroom had mostly young children with a few older children mixed in. I felt bad for the older children because the majority won out in terms of learning opportunities. Most of the kids wanted to focus on learning colors, numbers, & other basics that probably the 3 other older kids knew already. I wasn't clear on why one of the teachers didn't take the older kids & do a more age-appropriate activity with them. It seemed like this teacher pairing did the minimal of what was required. Other teacher pairings went above & beyond what was required & provided a much richer, individualized learning environment.

Parent #13
We love the Reggio approach. The teachers in our room seem to have truly figured it out. The artwork is natural, not "parent-pleasing" and I love how they all work on whole group projects and create masterpieces they are all proud of.

Parent #14
There are lessons that they teach and curriculum they follow in the Preschool class, but all of it stems from the children's ideas and what they are most interested in, and then they teach them all about it.

Parent #15
Their approach is very open and adaptable to fit the child's specific needs

Parent #16
I know my daughter is still young, but we would ask her daily what she learned in class, and we would always get the same response, "nothing." When I questioned the teachers, they said their approach to learning was to let the kids explore their surroundings and that they really didn't have any set goals they tried to accomplish. We finally left and it was the best thing for our daughter.