Early Years at TGS follows our own play-based, nature-rich pedagogical approach, drawing on the best of international early childhood research while remaining rooted in the unique possibilities of our campus and community. We believe that children learn most deeply through hands-on exploration, social interaction, and sustained engagement with ideas and materials that fascinate them.

Our educators observe carefully, provoke curiosity, and create environments that invite children to investigate, collaborate, and express themselves. Whether building in the mud kitchen, tracking insects along the forest trail, or working through a mathematical puzzle with peers, Early Years learners at TGS are developing the creativity, resilience, empathy, and independence that will serve them for life.

Our campus is a co-educator. Early Years learners spend significant portions of each day outdoors: exploring the forest, observing wildlife by the lake, planting and harvesting in the garden, and engaging in open-ended physical play. These experiences develop gross and fine motor skills, sensory awareness, scientific thinking, and a deep connection to the natural world that is central to TGS’s identity.

Rain or shine, our children learn to read the weather, dress appropriately, take managed risks, and find delight in every season. This is not an occasional enrichment activity, but rather woven into the fabric of every day.

Children in Early Years are immersed in a naturally bilingual environment from the moment they arrive. Our educators are English/Spanish bilingual professionals who move fluidly between both languages throughout the day: during circle time, play, mealtimes, and outdoor exploration. This mirrors the way multilingual families use language at home, creating a safe and intuitive context for young learners to absorb, experiment with, and begin producing language in both English and Spanish.

Rather than separating languages into distinct blocks, we apply TGS’s translanguaging approach: children are encouraged to use their full linguistic repertoire as a resource for thinking and communicating. A child who arrives with strong Spanish and emerging English, for example, is never asked to set aside what they already know. Instead, educators build bridges between languages, celebrating the cognitive flexibility that multilingualism develops.

The Early Years are a time of profound social and emotional development. Our educators prioritize the creation of a warm, predictable, and responsive environment where every child feels safe, seen, and valued. Small group sizes and consistent relationships with nest educators ensure that each child’s individual needs, rhythms, and developmental trajectory are known and respected.

Our dedicated Educational Psychologist for this stage, Carolina Moreno, works alongside the Early Years team to support children’s social-emotional growth, offering guidance to families and educators alike. Whether a child is navigating separation for the first time or learning to resolve conflicts with peers, the pastoral care in Early Years is gentle, intentional, and deeply relational.

In Early Years, assessment is observational and formative. Our educators document children’s learning through photographs, learning stories, and developmental milestone tracking, building a rich, qualitative picture of each child’s growth over time. This documentation is shared regularly with families through Seesaw, our digital learning platform, and through termly written reports.

We do not use standardized testing. Instead, we focus on the whole child: their social confidence, their creative expression, their emerging literacy and numeracy, their physical development, and their growing capacity for independence and self-regulation.

Even at the earliest stages, TGS’s four core competencies provide a developmental thread. In Early Years, these look like a child asking “why?” about the world around them (Think), persisting with a challenging task (Act), taking turns and showing empathy in play (Relate), and beginning to express ideas through drawing, building, and conversation (Communicate). These competencies are scaffolded across the school from age 2 to 18, ensuring that every stage of learning connects meaningfully to the next.