Preschool Program

The preschool years are where curiosity becomes capability, and capability becomes confidence. This is where it all comes together.

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Some families arrive here from our Infant and Toddler Program, building on years of Nest-EQ development. Others are stepping into a structured program for the very first time having been cared for at home through the early years. Both paths lead to the same place: a child who is ready for everything that follows.

Our Preschool Program is guided by the Nest-EQ framework – our proprietary model of child development spanning Emotional (EQ), Adaptive (AQ), Cognitive (IQ) and Creative capabilities (CQ). It is a program built not to fill children with content, but to build the human beings behind the learning.

“Our curriculum isn’t a schedule of activities. It’s a deliberate architecture of developmental outcomes each one building on the last, all of them working together to develop the whole child. This is what learning looks like when it’s designed with intention.”

– Melissa Capogna, Junction Director

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Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Empathy, Communication & Collaboration

  • Recognize and name emotions in themselves and others with increasing precision
  • Respond sensitively to peers’ feelings and demonstrate genuine concern
  • Build and maintain early friendships through cooperation and shared decision-making
  • Use language to resolve conflict, express disagreement and reach collaborative solutions
  • Begin to understand different perspectives, cultural experiences and ways of seeing the world

Adaptive Capacity (AQ)

Regulation, Resilience & Self-Directed Learning

  • Manage emotions and develop attention control with growing independence
  • Demonstrate genuine persistence through challenging and unfamiliar tasks
  • Adapt to changes in routines, environments and expectations with increasing ease
  • Make purposeful choices and take real initiative within learning environments
  • Begin to understand that abilities grow through effort — the earliest form of a growth mindset

 

Cognitive Capabilities (IQ)

Reasoning, Inquiry & Learning How to Learn

  • Ask “why” and “how” questions and pursue answers through experimentation
  • Count, recognize numbers and shapes and apply early logic in real contexts
  • Follow multi-step instructions and begin planning simple sequences of action
  • Begin to reflect on their own thinking – the foundation of metacognition
  • Understand how parts work together within systems, connecting ideas across experiences

Creative Capabilities (CQ)

Imagination, Design & Innovation Thinking

  • Engage in rich, sustained imaginative play and original narrative construction
  • Express ideas through art, movement, music and drama with a developing personal style
  • Design and build structures, testing ideas through hands-on construction and iteration
  • Generate multiple solutions to problems and explore “what if” possibilities
  • Demonstrate confidence in sharing original ideas and taking creative risks

1:8 Educator-to-Child Ratio

One educator for every eight preschoolers - a ratio that reflects both regulatory standards and our commitment to individual attention. Every child is known, supported and seen as the capable learner they are.

STEM Curriculum

Through structured STEM experiences, children engage with science and mathematical thinking in purposeful, hands-on ways - building the analytical foundations that will serve them across every subject and stage of learning that follows.

Montessori Classrooms

You can expect thoughtfully arranged shelves stocked with authentic Montessori materials, each one chosen with purpose and placed within your child's reach. Every element of the space is designed to invite independent exploration and reward sustained focus.

All Day Live Camera Access

Your child is never more than a click away. All-day live camera access means you stay connected to their day, every day.

Daily Reports via Kindertales

Activities, milestones, observations and moments - shared in real time through our secure parent app. You'll always know what your child is working on and how they're growing.

Family Conferences

We go beyond the daily report. Scheduled parent-educator meetings give you a deeper window into your child's development - where they're thriving, where we're focusing attention and how we're partnering to support them.
Two Preschool children engaging in open ended play

By the end of the Preschool Program, your child will have built meaningful capabilities across all domains of the Nest-EQ framework and will be genuinely ready for what comes next in life. This includes:

  • Demonstrating predictive reasoning - anticipating events and reflecting on outcomes
  • Writing their name and forming intentional marks with control and purpose
  • Engaging with music, rhythm and pattern with awareness and enjoyment
  • Sustaining extended verbal exchanges with both peers and adults
  • Classifying and organizing objects by size, function and attribute
  • Producing original artwork across a range of media and techniques
  • Using appropriate tools purposefully and with growing skill
  • Identifying and expressing emotions using precise, confident language

  • Whether you’re moving up or starting fresh – we’ve got you.

    Whether you’re moving up or starting fresh – we’ve got you.

    For families graduating from our Toddler Program, this transition is a natural next step – familiar faces, deepening relationships and a curriculum that picks up exactly where the last one left off.

    For families coming to The Learning Nest for the first time, we know this moment carries real weight. Choosing to move from the intimacy of home care to a structured program is not a small decision. It requires trust – in us, in the environment and in your own instinct that your child is ready for something bigger.

    Our educators are experienced at welcoming children who are new to group settings – building genuine bonds quickly and creating the sense of safety that allows a curious, capable child to truly open up. Most families are surprised by how naturally their child takes to it.

  • Ready for JK/SK and Prepared for Everything Beyond

    Ready for JK/SK and Prepared for Everything Beyond

    The transition to kindergarten is one of the most significant moments in a child’s early life and how a child arrives matters deeply.

    Children who leave our Preschool program are not just ready for the academic demands of JK/SK. They are emotionally grounded, socially capable, intellectually curious and confident in their own ability to learn, the result of intentional programming designed around how children actually develop.

    Here, readiness is never reduced to letter recognition or counting to twenty. We prepare children to navigate new environments, form relationships with unfamiliar adults and approach the unknown with curiosity rather than anxiety.

    When your child walks into JK for the first time, they will not just be ready. They will belong there.

We’ve got answers! Learn more about what makes our childcare centres the perfect place for your little one to learn and grow.

  • What is the educator-to-child ratio in the Preschool Program?

    We maintain a 1:8 educator-to-child ratio – one dedicated educator for every eight preschoolers. This meets Toronto’s regulatory requirements while ensuring every child receives genuine individual attention, support and the relationship-based learning that this stage demands.

  • What does the Preschool curriculum include?

    Our program is guided by the Nest-EQ framework – spanning Emotional (EQ), Adaptive (AQ), Cognitive (IQ) and Creative (CQ) capabilities. Delivered within both Montessori classrooms and the Nest Studios, it integrates Jolly Phonics for early literacy and a dedicated STEM curriculum for mathematical and scientific thinking. It is a program designed to develop the whole child – not just prepare them for a test.

  • Why does the quality of early care matter so much?

    The science is unambiguous: 90% of the brain’s core architecture is formed before age five, with the most rapid development occurring in the first year of life. The relationships, environments and experiences your child has right now are building the structure of their brain – shaping cognition, emotional regulation, language and resilience for decades to come. Quality early care isn’t a luxury. It’s a developmental imperative.

  • How will the Preschool Program prepare my child for kindergarten?

    Children who complete our Preschool Program enter kindergarten with far more than academic readiness. They arrive emotionally regulated, socially fluent, intellectually curious and confident in their ability to learn. The literacy, numeracy, critical thinking and self-management skills developed through the Nest-EQ framework give them a genuine foundation – not just for JK/SK, but for every stage of learning that follows.

  • What is Jolly Phonics and why does it matter?

    Jolly Phonics is a structured, research-backed approach to early literacy that teaches children to connect sounds (phonemes) to the letters that represent them (graphemes). This gives children a powerful decoding tool – the ability to break words apart and build them back up – which is the foundation of confident, independent reading. We integrate it throughout the Preschool Program so that by the time your child reaches kindergarten, letters and sounds are already familiar friends.

  • What does STEM look like in the Preschool Program?

    Our STEM curriculum gives preschoolers structured, hands-on opportunities to engage with science and mathematical thinking – counting, classifying, building, testing and observing. It’s not about formulas or worksheets. It’s about building the analytical habits of mind – curiosity, observation, hypothesis and reflection – that will support every subject and discipline your child encounters throughout their education.

  • How do you keep parents informed and involved?

    Through our secure Kindertales app, you’ll receive continuous daily updates – activities, milestones and moments worth noting. All-day live camera access means you can check in at any time. And through scheduled family conference meetings, we create a deeper, more meaningful partnership – sharing observations, aligning on goals and ensuring that what’s happening at school and at home is working together in your child’s best interest.

  • My child has been at home with a nanny or with me. Is the Preschool Program the right first step into structured care?

    For many of our families, the Preschool Program is exactly the right entry point. Children who’ve had attentive, high-quality one-on-one care in their early years often arrive with strong language, emotional security and a natural curiosity. What structured group learning adds is something the home environment simply can’t replicate: the daily experience of navigating peer relationships, collaborating toward shared goals and developing the social and emotional fluency that kindergarten and life will demand. Our educators are skilled at welcoming children who are new to group settings and we work closely with families to make the transition as gradual and reassuring as it needs to be. If anything, children coming from rich home environments tend to hit the ground running.

The preschool years are brief, brilliant and full of possibility. What your child experiences here – the relationships they form, the capabilities they build, the confidence they carry out the door every afternoon – will stay with them long after they’ve moved on to bigger classrooms. We’d love to show you what that looks like.

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