Grace Neighborhood Nursery School
Preschool in Minneapolis, MN 55408
Grace Neighborhood Nursery School (GNNS) is a non-profit nursery school that provides a high quality, nurturing, non-sectarian educational experience for pre-school children of diverse backgrounds. Through our scholarship program, we include many children who would not otherwise be able to attend.
GNNS is licensed by the State of Minnesota Department of Human Services to serve children, ranging in age from 33 months to kindergarten age. It does not, and is not intended to fulfill any compulsory educational requirements established by the State of Minnesota.
GNNS is a mission of Grace Trinity Community Church to the community. As part of this mission, the school provides scholarship assistance to those who need it and actively seeks out those children.
- Child Ages:
- 2.5 years - 6 years
- Licenses & Accreditations:
- MinnesotaDepartmentofHumanServices
- Preschool:
- Yes
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Teaching Goals: To provide a cooperative learning environment in which children will flourish in terms of physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development.
We as teachers try to reflect our philosophy by living our lives the same way we try to teach children to live their lives: by sharing and working as a team in a non-competitive manner — in short, creating a sense of community.
As most of you know, our curriculum is based on learning through play. It is our belief that children learn best in a natural and unforced way through exposure to developmentally appropriate activities. Children are drawn to manipulate materials that are available. Through this manipulation they are demonstrating creativity by answering the question, “What can I do with this material?” They are testing a hypothesis by asking of themselves, “If I do this, then what will happen?” We feel this is the best way to nurture their intellect, creativity and interest in learning.
Our curriculum is progressive, in other words, it is able to change according to children’s needs, growth, and interests. The activities provided in the classrooms are open ended and often expanded if there is a keen interest from the children.
We seek to build responsibility in the children by teaching them to take care of themselves at a developmentally appropriate level. Children are encouraged to practice self-help skills (i.e., using the bathroom, putting on dress-up clothes, etc.) To encourage responsibility to others, teachers are constantly monitoring social interactions and assisting in behavior guidance (conflict resolution) when needed.
The teachers have eclectic backgrounds and interests. None of us are trained in any one teaching method. Our focus is learning through play and we gather ideas from many places. We are interested in new research and curriculum ideas and continue to grow professionally.
