Month: September 2026

Choosing a preschool can feel surprisingly overwhelming.

Most families begin with practical questions. What are the hours? How much is tuition? Is there availability? What does the daily schedule look like? What curriculum does the school use?

Then comes the tour.

You notice the playground. You look at the toys and learning materials. You peek into classrooms. You meet a few teachers. You try to imagine your child spending their days there.

All of those things matter.

But some of the most important indicators of preschool quality can be much harder to spot.

At Love2Learn, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what actually makes an early learning environment exceptional. Those conversations eventually became the Love2Learn Framework, a five-level pyramid that guides how we think about everything from classroom design to teacher development.

The framework includes Environment, Attunement, Connection, Continuous Improvement, and the Pursuit of Excellence.

It also provides parents with a surprisingly useful way to evaluate a preschool.

Whether you’re considering Love2Learn or another program, here are five things worth looking for beyond what you see on the tour.

1. The Environment Feels Intentional

Walk into a preschool classroom and look beyond whether it is cute.

Ask yourself:

Does this space seem designed for the children who actually use it?

A high-quality early childhood environment should encourage children to explore, make choices, practice independence, interact with one another, and engage deeply in play.

Materials should be accessible. There should be places for active play as well as quieter moments. The room should have enough structure to feel predictable without being so rigid that children cannot explore.

And perhaps most importantly, the classroom should feel like it belongs to children.

At Love2Learn, Environment forms the foundation of our entire framework because we believe the spaces children inhabit influence how they feel, behave, interact, and learn.

That doesn’t mean classrooms need to look perfect.

In fact, a classroom filled with children actively learning probably won’t.

Blocks will be scattered across the floor. An art project may be drying on a table. A dramatic play area might look like several preschoolers just hosted a very chaotic dinner party.

That’s childhood.

What matters is the intention underneath it.

A thoughtfully designed classroom quietly communicates:

You belong here. You are capable. There are interesting things for you to discover.

2. Teachers Truly Notice the Children

This one can be harder to evaluate during a short tour, but it may be one of the most important things to watch.

Observe how teachers interact with children.

Do they get down on their level?

Do they know what children are interested in?

Do they notice when someone needs help before the situation escalates?

Do they adjust their approach depending on the child?

Do their interactions feel genuine?

This is what we call Attunement.

Attunement goes beyond supervision. A teacher can know exactly where every child is in the classroom without necessarily understanding what those children need.

An attuned teacher pays attention to the individual.

She begins to recognize that one child needs a little extra time before joining a group activity. Another becomes overwhelmed when the classroom gets loud. Another lights up whenever dinosaurs appear. Another is becoming frustrated because they have something to say but don’t yet have the language to express it.

These details matter.

Young children cannot always tell adults what they need. Excellent early childhood teachers learn to listen in ways that go far beyond words.

When touring a preschool, don’t only look at what the teachers are teaching.

Look at whether they seem to know the children they’re teaching.

3. You Can Feel the Relationships

Sometimes you can walk into a classroom and immediately sense warmth.

Children approach their teachers comfortably.

Teachers smile when children speak to them.

There is laughter.

A child who gets hurt knows exactly which adult to find.

Children seem comfortable being themselves.

That is Connection, the third level of the Love2Learn Framework.

Strong relationships aren’t separate from education in early childhood. They are part of the foundation that makes learning possible.

When children trust their teachers, they’re more willing to explore.

They’re more comfortable asking for help.

They’re more willing to try something difficult.

They’re better able to recover from mistakes.

And when children feel that they genuinely belong to their classroom community, they begin developing the confidence to participate in it.

Look at relationships between children, too.

Are teachers helping children learn how to take turns, communicate boundaries, solve disagreements, ask for space, help one another, and repair relationships after conflict?

Preschool is one of the first places where children begin learning how to function as members of a community.

That makes friendship, empathy, cooperation, and conflict resolution every bit as worthy of intentional teaching as letters and numbers.

4. The School Is Still Learning

Here’s a question parents don’t always think to ask during a preschool tour:

How does this school get better?

No preschool is perfect.

No teacher is perfect.

No director has every answer.

And a school that claims otherwise probably isn’t being very reflective.

What matters is whether there is a culture of Continuous Improvement.

Ask about teacher training and professional development.

Ask how children’s development is observed and assessed.

Ask how teachers determine what individual children need to work on next.

Ask how leadership supports teachers when something isn’t working in a classroom.

Ask how the school responds to feedback.

At Love2Learn, we use initial and ongoing developmental assessments alongside teacher observation to help us understand children’s growth and identify appropriate next steps.

But we believe assessment should extend beyond children.

Teachers should be growing, too.

So should directors.

And so should the school itself.

Some of the practices at Love2Learn today aren’t the same as they were when we first opened our doors.

We’re proud of that.

We’ve learned.

We’ve observed.

We’ve listened.

We’ve studied.

We’ve tried things that worked beautifully and things that made us realize there was a better way.

A great preschool shouldn’t be afraid to change.

It should be afraid to stop learning.

5. Excellence Shows Up in the Small Things

Every preschool can tell you that it provides high-quality care.

Look for the evidence.

Usually, it isn’t found in one impressive program or expensive piece of equipment.

It’s found in dozens of small moments.

A teacher notices a child’s shoe is untied before they head outside.

A toddler is encouraged to try pulling up their own pants before an adult steps in to help.

A classroom has a predictable routine because the teachers understand that predictability helps young children feel secure.

A teacher patiently helps two children work through a disagreement instead of simply taking the toy away.

Materials are prepared before children arrive.

A parent receives communication about something meaningful that happened during the day.

A director walks through classrooms and knows the children.

A teacher notices that something isn’t working and changes her approach.

That’s what Pursuit of Excellence looks like to us.

It isn’t perfection.

It’s care.

It’s intentionality.

It’s doing the small things well, over and over again, even when nobody is watching.

Don’t Just Ask What They Teach

Curriculum matters.

Kindergarten readiness matters.

Safety matters.

Class size matters.

Those are all questions worth asking.

But when choosing a preschool, we encourage parents to go deeper.

Instead of only asking:

“What will my child learn here?”

also ask:

“What will it feel like to be my child here?”

Will my child feel safe?

Will someone truly know them?

Will they belong?

Will their teachers recognize their strengths and help them grow?

Will the adults caring for them continually work to become better at what they do?

Those questions tell you something a curriculum brochure never could.

Look at the Children

There is one final thing we encourage families to do when touring a preschool.

Look at the children who are already there.

Not whether they’re perfectly behaved.

They’re young children. They won’t be.

Look at whether they’re engaged.

Are they exploring?

Talking?

Playing?

Creating?

Moving?

Laughing?

Asking questions?

Seeking out their teachers when they need them?

Do they seem comfortable enough to experience the full range of childhood, from tremendous excitement to occasional frustration, while knowing there are trusted adults nearby to help?

A great preschool should be a place where children are allowed to be children while being thoughtfully guided toward who they are becoming.

What Quality Means at Love2Learn

When we created the Love2Learn Framework, we weren’t trying to develop a marketing slogan.

We were trying to put words around what we believe children need from us.

Environment: Create the conditions where children can thrive.

Attunement: See and understand the individual child.

Connection: Build relationships that create trust and belonging.

Continuous Improvement: Never stop learning and growing.

Pursuit of Excellence: Refuse to settle for “good enough” when something better is possible.

Together, these principles shape how we think about early childhood education.

Because choosing a preschool isn’t simply choosing where your child will spend their weekdays.

You’re choosing some of the people, relationships, experiences, and environments that will help shape their earliest understanding of themselves and the world around them.

That’s worth looking beyond the tour.

References & Further Reading

• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Developmentally Appropriate Practice Position Statement. 
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Early Childhood Program Standards. 
• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Resources on responsive relationships, early experiences, and child development.
• National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships. 
• Zero to Three. Resources on responsive caregiving, relationships, and developmentally appropriate early learning.

Why “Good Enough” Is Never Our Goal

What does excellence look like in a preschool?

Is it a child who can already read before kindergarten?

A perfectly quiet classroom?

A teacher who never makes a mistake?

At Love2Learn, we don’t think it’s any of those things.

Excellence is not perfection.

It isn’t expecting children to perform beyond their developmental abilities. It isn’t creating unrealistic expectations for teachers. And it certainly isn’t about making a preschool look perfect from the outside.

For us, excellence is something deeper.

It’s the commitment to give our very best to the children and families who trust us with something incredibly important.

It’s asking what children truly need to thrive and then doing everything within our power to provide it.

That’s why Pursuit of Excellence sits at the very top of the Love2Learn Framework.

Everything beneath it makes excellence possible.

Excellence Is a Pursuit

There’s a reason we call this layer the Pursuit of Excellence rather than simply “Excellence.”

Excellence isn’t a destination we arrive at one day.

It’s something we continually pursue.

There will always be another way to strengthen a classroom.

Another skill for a teacher to develop.

Another opportunity to support a child.

Another system we can improve.

Another piece of research that challenges us to think differently.

The moment we decide we’ve figured everything out is probably the moment we stop getting better.

That’s why our previous layer, Continuous Improvement, is essential.

Continuous improvement is how we grow.

Excellence is what we’re reaching toward.

Excellence Starts at the Bottom of the Pyramid

The Love2Learn Framework is a pyramid for a reason.

We can’t simply declare that we provide an excellent education.

We have to build the conditions that allow excellence to emerge.

It begins with Environment.

Children need spaces that are safe, welcoming, thoughtfully designed, and conducive to learning.

Then comes Attunement.

Teachers must notice children, understand their individual needs, and respond thoughtfully.

From attunement grows Connection.

Children develop trusting relationships with teachers, friendships with classmates, and a genuine sense of belonging within their school community.

Once that foundation exists, Continuous Improvement becomes possible.

Children grow. Teachers grow. Leadership grows. Our school grows.

And from all of those layers comes the Pursuit of Excellence.

Excellence isn’t one program we offer or one thing we do particularly well.

It’s the result of everything underneath it working together.

High Expectations and Developmentally Appropriate Practice Can Coexist

We believe children are capable of extraordinary growth.

We also believe childhood should be respected.

Those ideas aren’t contradictory.

At Love2Learn, high expectations don’t mean rushing children through childhood or pushing academics before they’re developmentally ready.

They mean believing children are capable.

Capable of learning.

Capable of becoming more independent.

Capable of solving problems.

Capable of contributing to their classroom community.

Capable of kindness.

Capable of perseverance.

Capable of doing things today that they couldn’t do yesterday.

Our job isn’t to push children toward arbitrary milestones as quickly as possible.

It’s to create the conditions that allow each child to reach their own potential.

Play and Excellence Belong Together

Sometimes people hear the word “excellence” in education and imagine rigorous academics, worksheets, memorization, and highly structured instruction.

That’s not what excellence looks like in early childhood.

Young children learn through play, movement, exploration, conversation, relationships, repetition, and hands-on experiences.

A child building an elaborate block structure may be experimenting with engineering.

Two toddlers negotiating over a toy are beginning to learn conflict resolution.

A preschooler pouring water between containers is exploring volume and cause and effect.

Children painting together are developing creativity, fine motor skills, language, and social skills.

Play isn’t a break from serious learning.

For young children, play is serious learning.

Pursuing excellence means understanding how children actually develop and designing their education accordingly.

Excellence Means Doing the Small Things Well

Some of the most important indicators of quality in early childhood education aren’t particularly glamorous.

They’re found in everyday moments.

A teacher gets down to a child’s eye level when speaking to them.

Materials are placed where children can access them independently.

A classroom routine is predictable enough to help children feel secure.

A teacher notices when a child isn’t acting like themselves.

Families receive meaningful communication.

Teachers prepare their environments thoughtfully before children arrive.

A child struggling with a task hears, “Keep trying. I’m here if you need me.”

None of those moments would make an impressive advertisement.

But repeated hundreds of times across a child’s preschool experience, they matter enormously.

Excellence lives in the details.

Our Teachers Deserve Excellence, Too

If we want teachers to provide exceptional care, we also have a responsibility to create an environment where teachers can thrive.

Teacher wellbeing isn’t separate from child wellbeing.

They’re connected.

Educators who feel respected, supported, heard, and valued are better positioned to be patient, engaged, creative, and emotionally available to the children in their care.

That’s why our pursuit of excellence includes the experience of our team.

We want Love2Learn to be a place where talented educators can build careers, develop their skills, contribute ideas, take on leadership opportunities, and know that the work they do matters.

Investing in teachers is investing in children.

Excellence Requires Courage

Sometimes pursuing excellence means changing something that is comfortable.

It may mean admitting a system isn’t working.

Reconsidering a long-standing practice.

Trying something new.

Listening when feedback is difficult to hear.

Holding ourselves accountable to the standards we’ve established.

Or making a decision that isn’t necessarily the easiest one, but we believe is the right one for children.

That’s one of the reasons our commitment to continuous improvement matters so much.

We don’t want to do something simply because that’s how we’ve always done it.

We want to understand why we do what we do.

And if we discover a better way, we want to have the courage to change.

Excellence Isn’t About Being Better Than Someone Else

The Pursuit of Excellence isn’t about comparing Love2Learn to another school.

It isn’t about being “better” than another teacher, another classroom, or another child.

The comparison we’re most interested in is much simpler:

Are we better today than we were yesterday?

Are our teachers growing?

Are our classrooms becoming stronger?

Are our systems improving?

Are our children making progress?

Are we learning from our mistakes?

Are we living the values we say we believe?

That’s the standard that matters to us.

Our Children Are Watching

Perhaps the most important reason we pursue excellence is that children learn far more from what adults model than from what we tell them.

When children see adults who care about doing things well, they learn that effort matters.

When they see adults make mistakes and try again, they learn resilience.

When they see teachers continue learning, they understand that learning doesn’t end when you grow up.

When they experience a community that continually strives to become better, they begin to understand something powerful:

Who I am today doesn’t have to be the limit of who I can become tomorrow.

That’s a lesson we hope stays with them long after they leave Love2Learn.

The Love2Learn Framework, Complete

The Pursuit of Excellence is the top of our pyramid, but it only exists because of everything beneath it.

Environment: This is a place where I can thrive.

Attunement: The people here see and understand me.

Connection: I belong here.

Continuous Improvement: I can keep growing.

Pursuit of Excellence: I can become the best version of myself.

That’s the journey we want every child at Love2Learn to experience.

Not toward perfection.

Toward possibility.

We want children to leave us curious enough to keep learning, confident enough to attempt difficult things, resilient enough to try again, compassionate enough to care about others, and secure enough to know that they have something valuable to contribute.

And we expect the same commitment to growth from ourselves.

Because families trust us with their children during some of the most formative years of their lives.

We don’t take that responsibility lightly.

We will never be a perfect school.

We don’t expect perfect teachers.

And we certainly don’t expect perfect children.

But we will continue striving.

Learning.

Reflecting.

Growing.

And asking ourselves what we can do better.

Because at Love2Learn, perfection isn’t the goal.

Excellence is the pursuit.

References & Further Reading

• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Developmentally Appropriate Practice Position Statement. 
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators. 
• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Resources on early childhood development, responsive relationships, and developmental environments.
• Zero to Three. Resources on developmentally appropriate early learning and responsive caregiving.
• National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships.

We Never Stop Growing

There is no finish line in early childhood education.

Children are constantly changing. A skill that was difficult last month may suddenly click. A child who once needed help may begin insisting, “I can do it myself!” New interests emerge, friendships develop, and challenges change as children grow.

At Love2Learn, we believe the adults caring for them should be growing, too.

That’s why Continuous Improvement is the fourth layer of the Love2Learn Framework.

Continuous improvement is our commitment to never becoming so comfortable with the way we’ve always done things that we stop asking whether there might be a better way.

For our children, it means celebrating progress rather than expecting perfection.

For our teachers, it means continuing to learn and develop their craft.

And for Love2Learn as a school, it means continually reflecting, evaluating, and improving the experience we provide for children and families.

Growth Begins With Paying Attention

Before we can improve something, we have to understand where we are.

That’s why observation plays such an important role in early childhood education.

Our teachers are constantly learning about the children in their classrooms.

What skills are emerging?

What interests are developing?

Where is a child becoming more independent?

Where might they need additional support?

These observations allow us to meet children where they are rather than simply expecting every child of the same age to be in exactly the same place.

We also use initial and ongoing developmental assessments to give our teachers another perspective on each child’s development.

Assessment in early childhood shouldn’t be about labeling children or comparing them to their classmates.

It should help us answer a much more useful question:

What should we help this child work toward next?

We Celebrate Progress, Not Perfection

Young children are beginners at almost everything.

They’re learning how to communicate.

How to make friends.

How to manage big emotions.

How to use their bodies.

How to solve problems.

How to take care of themselves.

And eventually, how to read, write, count, and navigate a classroom independently.

There are going to be mistakes along the way.

At Love2Learn, we don’t see those mistakes as failures. We see them as part of the learning process.

A child who puts on their shoes backward is learning.

A toddler who struggles to wait for a turn is learning.

A preschooler who writes a letter incorrectly is learning.

Continuous improvement means recognizing where children are today, celebrating how far they’ve come, and gently helping them take the next step.

Our Teachers Are Learners, Too

We expect a lot from early childhood educators.

In a single day, a teacher may need to be an educator, caregiver, problem-solver, communicator, observer, role model, and source of emotional support for an entire classroom of young children.

That’s a craft that develops over time.

We believe great teachers should have opportunities to continue becoming even better teachers.

Professional development, coaching, classroom observations, collaboration, reflection, and feedback all contribute to that growth.

But continuous improvement is about more than completing required training hours.

It’s about cultivating curiosity among adults, too.

Why is this transition difficult for our class?

How could we make this activity more engaging?

Is there another way to support this child?

What worked well today?

What could work better tomorrow?

The best educators never stop asking questions.

Love2Learn Is Still Learning, Too

Continuous improvement doesn’t stop with our classrooms.

It applies to Love2Learn as an organization.

Some of the things we do today are different from what we did when we first opened our doors.

That’s intentional.

As we’ve gained experience, studied research, listened to our teachers, observed our children, and learned more about early childhood development, we’ve made changes.

Sometimes those changes are small.

Sometimes they’re significant.

We may adjust a classroom routine because transitions aren’t working as smoothly as we’d like.

We may change the physical environment because we’ve discovered a better way for children to use the space.

We may introduce a new assessment tool, provide additional teacher training, revise a policy, or even eliminate something that no longer aligns with our philosophy.

We don’t believe changing our approach means the old one was a failure.

It means we’ve learned something.

And when we know better, we want to do better.

Feedback Is Part of Growth

Continuous improvement also requires humility.

We aren’t going to get everything right every time.

Neither will our teachers.

Neither will our children.

What matters is what happens next.

Can we reflect honestly?

Can we listen to feedback?

Can we recognize when something isn’t working?

Can we make an adjustment and try again?

We want Love2Learn to be a place where feedback isn’t something to fear. It’s information that can help us grow.

That applies whether the feedback comes from a teacher, a parent, another professional, or simply our own observations.

Our goal isn’t to defend the way things have always been done.

Our goal is to create the best environment we possibly can for children.

Small Improvements Add Up

Continuous improvement rarely happens through one dramatic change.

More often, it happens through hundreds of small ones.

A teacher discovers a better way to help children transition to lunch.

A classroom rearranges a learning center so children can use it more independently.

A child practices putting on their coat every day until one afternoon they suddenly do it alone.

A teacher learns a new strategy for helping children work through conflict.

A director notices a process isn’t working and creates a better one.

Individually, these changes may seem small.

Over time, they transform a classroom, a teacher, a child, and eventually an entire school.

Why Continuous Improvement Comes After Connection

The order of the Love2Learn Framework is intentional.

First, we create the Environment.

Then, through Attunement, we learn to truly see and understand each child.

Through Connection, we build relationships rooted in trust and belonging.

Only then can meaningful growth flourish.

Because improvement without connection can feel like criticism.

But improvement built on a foundation of safety, understanding, and trust feels different.

It says:

“I believe in you enough to help you grow.”

That’s what we want our children to experience.

And it’s the kind of culture we want for our adults, too.

There Is Always a Next Step

One of the greatest privileges of working with young children is watching who they are becoming.

The toddler who needed a teacher’s hand eventually walks confidently into the classroom alone.

The child who struggled to communicate begins telling elaborate stories.

The preschooler who once avoided a difficult puzzle proudly announces, “I did it!”

Growth happens little by little, and then sometimes all at once.

At Love2Learn, we want to create a community where everyone is allowed to be a work in progress.

Our children.

Our teachers.

Our leaders.

And our school.

We don’t pursue perfection.

We pursue progress.

Because there is always something new to learn, another skill to develop, another question to ask, and another opportunity to become better than we were yesterday.

That’s what continuous improvement means at Love2Learn.

And it prepares us for the final level of our framework:

The Pursuit of Excellence.

References & Further Reading

• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Developmentally Appropriate Practice Position Statement. 
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators. 
• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Personalized Learning Starts with the Learner. 
• Zero to Three. Resources on observation, responsive caregiving, and supporting early development.
• Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.