We are an intimate, nature-based preschool playgroup in Park Slope, Brooklyn that spends half of the day in Prospect Park and the other half in our classroom. Our program provides a nurturing environment for exploration, artistic expression, friendship, and endless discovery through guided investigation and play.

Enrollment open for Fall 2024

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Philosophy

Adams & Haack Studio focuses on four central elements: mindfulness, nature, the arts, and play. Together these elements shape an enriching environment for the emotional, cognitive, and creative growth of a child. Our mission is to provide a safe and nurturing space where children are free to explore the world around them. Most of our day will be spent outside, in the most inspiring classroom of all, nature in Prospect Park! Within our class boundaries and structure, exploration is primarily led by the child and their own curiosity. At Adams & Haack Studio, we love to create and try new things together. On Wednesdays, we journey to the local farmers market to buy fresh, seasonal produce and ingredients to use when we cook together for "Foodie Friday." In our classroom, we create endless art pieces as we draw, paint, stamp, sew, and sculpt clay. We practice yoga every Tuesday and Thursday, lead by one of our wonderful teachers, which helps in building awareness, cultivating community, and fostering self-love and care.

Play

Art

Nature

Mindfulness

Play is how children make sense of their world. From her book, The Importance of Being Little, Christakis writes, "Play is the fundamental building block of human cognition, emotional health, and social behavior. Play improves memory and helps children learn to do mathematical problems in their heads, take turns, regulate their impulses, and speak with greater complexity." Play is interwoven into nearly every part of our day together. When learning new material, we will be hands on; I will primarily be asking the children questions, allowing them to become curious and excited about the possibilities of how something could work.

BLOCKS - DRESS UP - PUPPETS - DOLLS - STORYTELLING

Art is the vehicle through which a child expresses herself in ways she cannot yet articulate in words. Through the arts, children are able to reveal their inner worlds to us. They are artists who create something independently, and this autonomy strengthens a child's sense of self. The process of painting, drawing, and sculpture helps strengthen fine motor skills, dance and theatre allow a child to become more in tune with their whole body, music engages us and brings us together as a community, and acting allows us to try on different roles to better understand human dynamics and communication.

PAINTING - SCULPTURE - DANCE - MUSIC - STORYTELLING - THEATRE

Nature is where practicing mindfulness and being fully present comes most naturally to us. Study after study shows the benefits of being in nature, including decreased stress, lower blood pressure and anxiety, and more. Children appear to flourish outdoors. When outside, the whole world is their playground and their imagination is profoundly active. They are able to move their bodies and become aware of the natural environment around them, using all of the senses. In my experience, children are calmer, less reactive, more imaginative, and more able to focus during discussions when outdoors. Being in nature also allows us to follow the path of the child, as they make new discoveries during our adventures. At Adams & Haack Studio, we will spend at least half of our days outdoors in Prospect Park.

EXPLORATION - IMAGINATIVE PLAY - ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION

PLANT IDENTIFICATION - BUILDING

Philosophy

Mindfulness forms the foundation of everything we do together as a class. At any age, but especially with young children, we are constantly navigating our overwhelming,

ever-changing emotions. We will practice stillness, reflection, and body awareness as a way to better hear our inner voices and to help us better understand what we are feeling moment to moment. We will learn to pause between the stimulus and the response, allowing us to learn to vocalize what we feel or need.

YOGA - MEDITATION - DANCE - GRATITUDE PRACTICE