Monarch Preschool College Park is a project-based learning program, modeled on John Dewey’s philosophy of learning by doing and the Project Approach, which is a theoretical framework for schools that have, at its core, the “Engaging Children’s Minds” strategy developed by Dr. Lillian Katz and Dr. Sylvia Chard. Children in this preschool will be met at their developmental level. Students will learn from each other and work together to complete in-depth projects that they are interested in. 

All children can and want to learn. Project-based learning harnesses the natural passion to learn, by presenting learning experiences as expeditions into the unknown. Project-based learning cultivates and fosters greater continuity of relationships between students and teachers, draws on the power of small groups, creates an exploratory mindset, and allows a child to understand the greater community.  

Monarch Preschool College Park provides an authentic application of learning that embeds the arts within the important learning concepts to foster engagement, aid in retention and enhance comprehension in a consistently hands-on, interactive, and dynamic environment.

The Children’s Guild 

The Monarch Preschool College Park was founded by The Children’s Guild—a nonprofit organization founded in 1953 and dedicated to pioneering educational services for children and families. The Children’s Guild was founded by Dr. Leo Kanner, a world-renowned psychiatrist that discovered autism at John’s Hopkins in Baltimore. 

The Children’s Guild educates students by using a whole-child approach. It has a 65 years of experience operating schools with a relentless attention to a culture of student personal, social and academic development. Learn more…

UMD Children Study Their World

The University of Maryland’s College of Education recently released the Children Study Their World curriculum which was developed in partnership with the UMD Center for Early Childhood Education and Intervention and the Maryland State Department of Education’s Division of Early Childhood. This curriculum has eight interdisciplinary, content-rich projects,  is structured for 4-year olds. It is based on principles of project-based inquiry and driven by evidence-based practices. The curriculum, in addition to being excellent for children, will build teacher capacity and support successful implementation. Learn more…