Alderwood Houseis a child's wonderland - a magical place where children immerse themselves in the learning experience. The school is devoted to helping your child unfold an educational journey that is full of wonder, adventure and excitement. Our warm, nurturing environment is small enough so that each child feels comfortable and at home. Individual cubbies, documentation panels that make learning visible, individual child "diaries", and framed displays of children's artistic masterpieces are just a few of the ways in which each individual child is cherished.

Teacher-student ratios are low so each child receives individual attention. Teachers "loop", which means that your child's teacher(s) will graduate up each year with the children so that your child has the same core primary caregivers across the school experience. We have a regular part time teacher group so that substitute teachers are already familiar to the children. We often host practicum students and volunteers, contributing to an even lower adult:child ratio.

As each child grows, Alderwood House provides a challenging and progressing education. The school has two classrooms: Toddler and Pre-Kindergarten , or, the "little" and "big" classroom. Each classroom inspires developmentally-appropriate learning through its design, classroom areas and classroom materials.

The "little" classroom is home-base for our one and two-year-old classes, and provides experiences which focus primarily on social relationship development, self-identity, physical motor development, sensory experiences and communication methods (particularly language development).

The "big" classroom is home-base for our three and four-year-old classes and has a dedicated atelier (arts space), construction and engineering area, and writing and communication area. Spaces for geography, chemistry, biology, drama, music and mathematics are created and evolve as the classroom interests change and grow.

The kitchen, the heart of the building, links the big and little classrooms, and is a nurturing centre in which children bake and cook (and taste-test!) as well as experiment in the tasting atelier - exploring taste, smell and edible textures.

At Alderwood House, education extends beyond the borders of the classroom. Nestled in an idyllic, wooded setting adjacent to Lee's Slough nature trail, our private campus offers myriad flora and fauna for the children to discover. Students tend our vegetable and flower gardens and fruit trees, study and observe resident eagles, rabbits and other local wildlife, and independently seek out adventures in the shade of Richmond's largest alder tree.