…our child has grown tremendously as a result of her time spent at Roots and Fruits. She has developed her imagination, her social skills and most certainly her appreciation for valuing a variety of relationships with other children and adults!”
Parent of a student at Roots and Fruits Preschool

Philosophy & Mission

Roots and Fruits focuses on the whole child and being fully present in mind, body, and spirit.  It emphasizes creativity and collaboration in the learning process.  It is developmentally appropriate, and includes activities and projects that center on culture, arts, and most importantly imaginative PLAY.  This program encompasses a variety of philosophies of child development, including Reggio Emilia, Jean Piaget, and Howard Gardner.

Our program uses the positive guidance approach through redirection, teaching conflict resolution, shared decision-making, and peace-making skills.  We empower children with self-esteem and connection, offering a variety of choices to each child to foster independence and self-governing.

Roots & Fruits is licensed by the State of Maine.  It is a preschool/child care program serving children ages 3-5 in a thriving, rich environment filled with enthusiasm, creativity, and spontaneity.  The staff and children of R & F are diverse in both social and economic culture and ethnicity, which fosters an environment that emulates life outside the center.  R & F reinforces the power of our uniqueness, helping children to learn about their own “Roots” of who they are and their “Fruits” or gifts they have to offer the world. This is a positive experience for the R & F community, as acceptance and awareness of differences and similarities in people begins here.

Our preschool has a unique emphasis on teaching children to embrace diversity, encouraging them to learn about and honor their own roots (or heritage) and fruits (or gifts), as well as those of others. We build strong connections among diverse families.

Our peace-based curriculum helps children to develop communication and problem-solving skills, as well as compassion and understanding towards themselves and others.

Our Goals

• To provide a safe, nurturing, and creative environment which promotes the healthy growth and holistic development of each child.
• To work in partnership with families in program development and daily practices to ensure success for each child.
• To build partnerships with community resources – bringing community members in and exposing the children to the community outside of the walls of Roots & Fruits.
• To recognize that all humans have multiple ways of learning and self expression that will be supported and enhanced through the program’s activities and games.
• To respect and teach diversity – cultural and linguistic needs of all families and to fostering an anti-biased approach to learning for the entire Roots & Fruits Community.
• To provide physical, emotional, social, cognitive, creative and spiritual activities in a variety of ways to promote each child’s learning potential.
• To allow learning to unfold naturally between teacher and students where the child is an investigator and involved participant in his/her own learning.