Frequently Asked Questions:

What are your hours, attendance options, and age requirements?

We operate from 9 am - 12:30 pm, Monday-Thursday. Our program begins after Labor Day at the beginning of September and runs through mid-June. We offer 3 attendance options: Monday/Wednesday, Tuesday/Thursday, or Monday-Thursday. Our program is open to children ages 3-6. We operate on a fixed monthly tuition. Please directly inquire for our tuition prices. Our program is full for the 24-25 school year. If you would like to be added to the list to be informed when registration opens for 25-26, please reach out directly.

Where are you located?

The preschool program is home-based and located in South Hagerstown.

What style of preschool is Little Lilac Preschool?

We are a play-focused, Reggio Emilia inspired program. We also take a great deal of inspiration from forest school models, and adapt this practice as much as possible in our outdoor classroom space. Our program does not force worksheets, use screens, or operate on a strict adult-planned agenda. Though thoughtful planning and care is given to all aspects of our learning environment, we offer daily opportunity for open-ended play, collaboration with peers, process art experiences, and time outdoors. Children are learning all appropriate skills through these methods, therefore, these are our priorities.

What curriculum do you use?

We observe an emergent curriculum that follows the seasonal changes. This means that learning is focused on relevant topics of interest to the children and seasonal learning based on what we are currently observing in our learning space (i.e. leaves in fall, snow in the winter, flowers in the spring). For example, in the spring, children might be curious about all the birds in the backyard, so we may do a study on birds. Appropriate preschool skills such as math, literacy, fine motor, and large motor activities are naturally built in to all the activities we do and children are allowed to openly explore and practice these skills at any time. Our program has a whole child approach, meaning that we also focus on the social and emotional aspects of preschool and give children time to practice these skills often. We have a large school garden and spend a great deal of time exploring and learning in the garden space.

Do you go outside every day, even when it’s cold?

Yes. Little Lilac Preschool provides much of the gear needed so that we can play safely outdoors in all weather. In the rare event that weather is unsafe or conditions are dire, we do not play outside. We spend at least 50% of our day (sometimes more) outside. We participate in the 1000 Hours Outside movement and we are happy to share tracked hours with families to add to their own yearly total.

* Little Lilac Preschool is a MD EXCELS Level 1 Facility. We are also a member of the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children,) ANBE (Association for Nature-Based Education,) and IPA USA (International Play Association).