At Rancho Preschool, we believe that children learn through play. Play-based learning allows children to develop their cognitive, social and emotional skills, while they engage with peers and enjoy the world around them. Play is a powerful mechanism for learning. While a group of children might appear to just be playing with shovels and buckets, they are also tackling the tasks of developing fine and gross motor skills, navigating complex social relationships, problem solving and exploring their own creativity.

There are several desired outcomes from the program:

• Help the children discover their ability to resolve conflict with words and not physical contact
• Build self-esteem through loving words and gestures
• Give the children the self confidence they need to solve problems on their own
• Create a caring, loving environment that will allow the children to develop to their fullest
• Build upon what children already know and are able to do (activating prior knowledge), to consolidate their learning and to foster their acquisition of new concepts and skills
• Create meaningful play experiences that will allow the children to experiment and build on their cognitive development
• Allow the children space and time to strengthen themselves physically
• Educate parents on raising children during workday interactions and to provide support to parents in the spirit of a true cooperative
• Develop the whole child, keeping in mind that all children develop at different rates