“I believe that one can never leave home. I believe that one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and the dragons of home under one’s skin, at the extreme corners of one’s eyes and possibly in the gristle of the earlobe.
― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter”

I believe this is true and I believe there is more. Thanksgiving starts a tremendous social migration. Through the coming holidays, families and friends will travel physical and emotional distances to gather and reconnect. Everyone is going "home."

Carrying around a part of ‘home’ allows us to wander far and wide and live among strangers, but we need to find physical places where we feel safe enough to unpack those dragons, rearrange the shadows and dreams and add to that home in our heart.

As I tour families through the classrooms and grounds of Pacific Sage Preschool, common remarks are, “ It’s really beautiful!” (Thank you) and “It doesn’t look like a preschool." (Thank you, again!) From their questions and comments though, I get the feeling that what they are really looking for is a “home” and not a “school” for their child. A place their child can grow with and not struggle against…on their way to becoming who they are.

Our Reggio philosophy places great importance on the environment as the 3rd teacher, along with the children and the adults who work with them. The environment should be filled with engaging, beautiful and interesting materials. It should be flexible and evolving as the children’s interests change and evolve. It should say to a child…"You belong here."

It should feel like home.

Sylvia

Director, Pacific Sage Preschool