Stepping With The Stones is truly a special place where children come first.

At Stepping With The Stones preschool, education is designed to nurture the child's self-confidence, interdependence, and spirit of celebration, providing children with the important first steps toward a lifetime of learning. Children are given individual as well as group instruction, including a sensorial approach that is stimulating and fun. Preschoolers have ample opportunity to make their own choices during activity and play time. Both male and female teachers play a role at Stepping With The Stones, where gender diversity is an important goal of the curriculum. Strong communication among teachers, children, and families is encouraged through a timely newsletter, weekly memos, as well as evening parent education and conferences.

An important mission at Stepping With The Stones preschool is to enrich and enliven each child's appreciation and understanding of self, others, and the world we live in. This is accomplished through a comprehensive three-year academic curriculum focused on children between the ages of 3 and 5. The learning center offers 3, 4, or 5-day sessions to meet the diverse needs of both parents and children. The preschool program runs from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., followed by an optional After Care program that ends at 3:30 p.m.

We are a creative and confident learning center.

Stepping With The Stones is a cheerful, safe, learning center. Artwork and colorful murals decorate the walls; kid-sized furniture and learning centers fill the floor. Space for a quiet cuddle or group story is readily available, as are bathroom facilities, cubbies, and a safe and secure playground.

Stepping With The Stones teaches solid academic skills in math, phonics, and language development, and provides varied social experiences with a distinct emphasis on fun. Bette Stone is Head Teacher at Stepping With The Stones. She is largely responsible for implementing the curriculum. Music, art, poetry, dance, theatre, movement, and storytelling help foster the child's creativity and are integral parts of the daily schedule. Excursions around the community to the park, fire stations, orchards, Mr. Miller's Pumpkin Patch, and other places of interest encourage discovery and adventure. In addition, Stepping With The Stones collaborates with Ms. Susan Burwell, teacher of Family Consumer Science, and her seventh grade middle schoolers from Camden-Rockport Middle School, who provide fun learning activities 5 times a year here at the preschool. Teacher Mrs. Carol Spinney and her second graders from Rockport Elementary School trip to Stepping With The Stones each spring to read storybooks they author and illustrate. Dr. Mara Crans, a local pediatrician, offers a yoga class each week. Dr. Crans also serves as the preschool's physician consultant. Additionally, Susan Iltis, the preschool's music instructor, facilitates music lessons each month.

Our day begins with Circle Time, talking with and listening to each other.

Each child is given individual and group instruction and activities. Our curriculum includes strong academics such as math, reading, writing and language, sensorial and practical life skills activities. Classroom activities and material follow monthly themes designed to promote connections with the home and larger community. Peace and non-violence skills are also an important part of the preschool's curriculum, taught by founder and administrator, Jerry Stone.