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22ndCenturyMedia.com private school guide
22nd century media | January 24, 2019 | 13
WCNS embraces the power of play
Harvesting a snack from
the organic garden, building
a structure from loose
parts, and whipping up
a stone soup in the mud
kitchen: all may be in a
day’s work for students
at Wilmette Community
Nursery School. With programs
for children ages 18
months to 6 years old, the
school’s play-based curriculum
— which gives particular
emphasis to the importance
of outdoor play
— has been helping kids
blossom for more than fifty
years. In an increasingly
screen-saturated world, the
WCNS educational philosophy
remains grounded
in time spent outdoors and
engaging with natural materials.
In both indoor and
outdoor classroom environments,
the school’s beloved
teachers are committed
to fostering intellectual
curiosity, supporting social
and emotional growth, and
encouraging children to
interact with each other
while exploring the world
around them.
To that end, WCNS students
spend up to a quarter
of their school day in
a spacious outdoor play
yard, which is outfitted
with a garden designed by
Highland Park-based The
Organic Gardener, along
with two playhouses and a
mud kitchen to spur imaginative
play. In winter, students
continue to spend
time in nature, pulling
each other in toboggans
and zipping down snowcovered
slides.
Inside the classroom,
students use found natural
materials for many of their
educational endeavors. For
example, the Junior class
(ages 3 and 4) practices
counting and sorting with
loose parts such as shells,
sticks, and leaves. In the
hands of the Seniors (ages
4 and 5), similar materials
become the basis of selfportraits
during a pre-literacy
activity. And students
who come to WCNS for
after-school Kindergarten
Extended Enrichment
(KEE) often fold produce
from the garden into kidapproved
recipes during
Art of Cooking classes,
just one of the school’s
KEE offerings.
The WCNS experience
also includes opportunities
to learn along the
lakefront, like the recent
expedition the Senior class
took to explore the beach
at Gillson Park. Students
were encouraged to build
collections and gather
materials to be used back
in the classroom for art
projects, pre-literacy, premath,
and more.
WCNS’s commitment
to the importance of
play—and outdoor play
in particular—feels more
relevant than ever in light
of the American Academy
of Pediatrics’ recent clinical
report, “The Power
of Play: A Pediatric Role
in Enhancing Development
in Young Children.”
The report suggests play
is essential to promoting
healthy development,
building life and social
skills, and reducing stress,
and that outdoor play specifically
boosts sensoryintegration
skills. “Play is
not frivolous,” the AAP
writes. “It enhances brain
structure and promotes executive
function, which allow
us to pursue goals and
ignore distractions.”
To enroll your child
to learn and play with
WCNS, visit www.wcns.
org/apply.
Submitted by Wilmette Community
Nursery School, 1125
Wilmette Ave., Wilmette,
IL 60091, (847) 256-5888,
wcns.org.
All Things Bright and Beautiful
provides anurturing, play-based curriculum for
preschoolers in aChristian environment.
Openings remain inMommy &Me, Two-Year Old,
Three-Year Old, and Junior Kindergarten classes
for the 2019-2020 school year.
222 Kenilworth Avenue
Kenilworth, IL 60043
www.allthingsbrightandbeautiful.org
847-251-6120