Green Tree has been a wonderful nurturing place for our children. The teachers are committed to developing the skills that these littlest of people need all while creating a warm loving fun environment.
The Green-Tree curriculum is child-centered meaning the class activities and projects grow from the interests of the children. You won???t find ???Celebrate Spring Month??? or ???Letter of the Week.??? The teachers interweave the learning while exploring the interests of the children. Children of every age enjoy ample time to freely explore a variety of age appropriate toys, books, and play time in an outside covered area. Rooms are supplied with open-ended activities such as blocks, play-doh, dress up, and sensory tables. Children enjoy frequent art activities and individual creativity is encouraged. The day is structured but children are allowed to explore their interests.
The Green Tree facility is filled with natural light and most rooms look out on Freeway Park. The Green Tree furniture is primarily wood including the toy and book shelving, the cubbies, the tables and chairs, and the indoor play structures. The wood furniture creates a homey, peaceful, grounded feel to the center. I???ve been to other childcares with bright colors in the decor and felt a bit chaotic. Rooms have sinks and toilets sized for little people to use which enables self sufficiency. Think twice about attending a childcare that does not have appropriately sized sinks and toilets, it makes a big difference. The Green Tree facility is one of the best I???ve seen.
Green Tree management is unique in that a volunteer parent board works with the Director to run the center. The benefit of the parent board is the direct influence parents have over center policies, tuition rates, class ratios, and uses of fundraising dollars. Serving on the parent board is one way Green Tree parents create a community. Other volunteer opportunities (read to class, chaperone on a field trip, help with a fundraiser, etc) offer families other ways to build community within the center.
I feel that the precious preschooler years that my children spent at Green Tree were a positive enriching experience that helped them grow into socialized, confident, independent school-age children. I would recommend Green Tree to any family looking for high quality childcare in down town Seattle.
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