Our classrooms have uncluttered shelves with open-ended materials from nature to supplement basic early childhood materials like blocks, puzzles, and dress-up clothes. In the first weeks, bulletin boards are empty, ready to be shaped by the life of the classroom, rather than filled with commercial decorations. We create long stretches of open time for the children’s play and exploration during the day, believing that children deserve the opportunity to spend time with each other and with their ideas, questions, and challenges. Children have opportunities to engage in sensory exploration, drama play, block building, game playing, puzzle work, reading, writing, drawing, art, science, and math activities. You’ll see children playing with their peers or alone. You’ll see teachers watching and listening to children, documenting their play with photos and notes, offering resources to support and extend their play, and playing alongside kids.