Our Programs

At Mister McGregor’s Garden, we don’t just teach to learn – we teach to instill a love to learn! We utilize a developmental-interaction approach to learning, believing that children learn best and make sense of the world through meaningful relationships and interaction with their environment. Our environments are constructed and organized to promote investigation, creation and exploration.

Mister McGregor’s Garden values outdoor play and exploration as a necessity for children’s healthy development. As a play-based, nature-based program, our location provides a large, beautiful private park. Children enjoy this large playscape year-round with many opportunities: playground equipment, room to run, sled, and even spaces to explore natural wooded areas while safely supervised on fenced property.

Our center-based programs provide balanced nutritious meals for children, including breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack.

A unique feature of Mister McGregor’s Garden is our mode of parent communication. We use an application that is a secure, closed network, not a social media platform. It allows us to share digital daily reports with parents, which include information such as: feedings, diapering times, potty training progress, meals, nap times and all the activities children experience. It also has the capability of photo/video sharing with families! The app further assists us in assessing and tracking children’s development and accomplishments.

At Mister McGregor’s Garden, we believe a consistent schedule is what is best for children, so our scheduling patterns reflect an option of part time or full time, but within the scope of a routine to better assist us as we strive to support children in their journeys of becoming confident, motivated and passionate learners!

Infants

(2 weeks to approx. 15 months)

Infant caregivers are carefully chosen after consistent observation of them as caring, nurturing, dependable, and engaging caregivers. The infant program at Mister McGregor’s Garden is designed to meet the needs and schedule of each individual child. Infants eat, sleep, and play on demand.

Our first priority of our infant program is to establish a secure, healthy and trusting relationship between the caregiver and your baby. We utilize primary caregiving to ensure our dedicated caregivers learn the needs and personalities of each child, which enables us to provide the highest quality of care. Infancy is a time of wonder, filled with a natural desire to explore. Our infants engage in play experiences designed to foster language, motor and social development. Children will also have the opportunity to explore the outdoors, when the weather is appropriate.

Toddlers

(approx. 15 months – approx. 3 years)

Toddlerhood is such an exciting time! Toddlers approach the world with immense wonder and curiosity. At this age, children begin rapidly developing more advanced language and motor skills, along with an emerging sense of self and independence. Our toddler environment is designed to foster individual creativity, energy, curiosity, and independence within safe proximity of caregivers and healthy boundaries to keep toddlers and their friends safe.

Young children thrive under a predictable schedule that remains flexible to fit their individual needs. Our toddler curriculum is rooted in hands-on play and discovery that stems from each child’s interests and a connection with nature. Children engage in individual play as well as small and large group activities. Age-appropriate activities include sorting and matching; puzzles; block building; art; music; dramatic play and sensory exploration. Through their natural curiosity and interaction with caregivers, toddlers begin to learn concepts such as colors, counting, shapes and advanced language skills. Our environment, materials, activities and caregiver interactions are designed to support and advance development across all domains: physical, language, cognitive, social and emotional.

Preschool

(3 years – 5 years)

Our young preschool and kindergarten readiness programs incorporate project based, child directed learning rich in hands on, play based activities. Children learn and grow across all developmental domains and core areas of academia. Preschool classrooms are organized into key interest areas (work areas/centers) that encourage individual and collaborative exploration of art, dramatic play, literacy, construction, music, science, and math. We consider the physical environment as a laboratory for young scientists to experiment and test their hypotheses. Each child’s experience is tailored to meet his or her individual needs, providing just the level of challenge they require.

At Mister McGregor’s, children are considered partners in their education. Teachers choose study and project topics based on children’s interest. Through discussion, children pose questions and share their current understanding of the study topic. Teachers use this information as a map to organize classroom centers, plan field trips, invite class visitors and structure activities. By playing such an integral part in their education, children become passionate, active participants who develop an intrinsic love of learning.

School-age

(Kindergarten – 12 years)

We understand the importance of programs for school aged children. Whether it’s a planned break, unexpected event or summer recess, Mister McGregor’s Garden provides a safe, supportive and age-appropriate environment that will keep these children actively engaged.

Summers at Mister McGregor’s are full of exploration, interactive activities, field trips and fun with friends! We take advantage of our beautiful summer weather to connect with the outdoors.

Activities enjoyed during previous summers include: Routine trips to Peak Gym, swim lessons, open-swim, tennis lessons, music classes, field trips of interest, learning and exploring Marquette County and so much more! Each summer has a different offering based on interests and availability.

Our before/after school program offers morning breakfast and an afternoon snack, time to interact with friends and have fun. Buses from nearly every elementary school (public, private and charter) are available. We can assist you with the details.