We are preparing children for life.
Our Core Values
1. We cultivate empathy and compassion by showing how your actions affect others.
2. We celebrate the greatness of the individual by recognizing their worthiness and capability.
3. We cultivate gratitude.
4. We believe in the power of meaningful work.
5. We believe that my self-awareness allows me to embrace the gifts of others.
6. We believe that there are consequences to behaviors and those help me make thoughtful choices.
7. We cultivate curiosity and wonder.
8. We believe in the power of persistence, grit and problem solving.
9. We believe that there is freedom within consistent and enforceable boundaries.
10. We believe that becoming independent and self-reliant empowers me to contribute to others.
11. We believe in the value of the natural world.
12. We believe that healthy physical, social, nutritional and spiritual practices are the foundation for an individual’s success.
Joyce Trigger, Foundress of Shady Oak Christian School
Joyce graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Elementary Education. After teaching in a Chicago surburb for several years, she and her husband, Tom, moved to Texas in the early 1970’s. She taught elementary grades in a private school in the Rice University area, and subsequently received a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Houston.
In 1987, Joyce founded Shady Oak Christian School, and was the sole director for 34 years before retiring in June 2022.
What is a play-based program?
Play-based programs use the children as the curriculum. Objective and detailed observations of the children’s desires, activity choices, interests, passions and challenges provide teachers with the basic curriculum they need. Resources for the further planning of the curriculum include a variety of teaching guide-books that are tools to be used in conjunction with observations in order to deepen the exploration occurring in the classroom.
Our vision of learning for classrooms of young children can be summarized as the following: “Each child’s mind and brain capacity is unique and is shaped by the child’s experiences and the context of those experiences. Children innately search for meaning that provides motivation to learn new things. Children learn best when learning experiences begin with what they already know and capitalize on emotional involvement with the content. When children actively construct their own knowledge (rather than simply memorize what other have learned), they are more likely to be motivated to engage in the learning experience. The ways in which learning experiences are organized and presented can increase children’s memory. Experiences that help children develop self-regulation can aid them in developing higher-order thinking skills.” (Becoming Young Thinkers, Judy Harris Helm, p. 13-14)
Categories of the experiences in our days include experiences to create, move, sing, discuss, observe, read, and play. Subject matter experienced in our days includes math, science, language and literacy, music, social studies, and sensory exploration. The American Academy of Pediatrics, in its definitive clinical report on the importance of play for young children’s healthy development, states that “play helps children develop…confidence and the resiliency they will need to face future challenges. Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills.”
It is our experience at Shady Oak that our curriculum steeped in the play of children allows for the deep-seated connectedness to and caring about others that create the love, safety and security that children need to thrive.
Our play-based program is designed and guided by professionals who advocate for a setting that promotes optimal academic, cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual development for our children and families.
