About Morningside PlayCare
Morningside PlayCare cultivates the language genius, open mindedness, and wonder-filled hearts of young children. We do this by providing nurturing care, as we immerse children in the Mandarin and Spanish languages through play, authentic creative activities, Yoga and exploration of Nature. In 2015 Mom/Educator, Dr. Gail Foster, approached leaders in the field of early childhood education and linguistics with a vision: Let’s establish a model nursery school specifically designed to tap the emerging neuroscience on the linguistic genius of the young brain. With support from scholars and practitioners, Dr. Foster recruited Columbia affiliated families with toddlers to collaborate in the start-up of an early childhood program that would give their children the gift of multilingualism. This team helped open the first home of the Morningside PlayCare on the 18th floor of a residential building in beautiful Morningside Gardens.
Our mission is to help create a generation of young Americans distinguished to serve as bridge builders, peacemakers, and citizen diplomats. We envision young adults who are globally and academically competent, multilingual, fluent in Chinese and Latino culture, living in loving connection with nature, confident in their ability to build and create, and aspiring to a planet where all have the opportunity to realize their potential.
Morningside PlayCare (MPC) is located in the lovely Morningside Gardens, a residential co-op community in Morningside Heights, New York City.
Curriculum & Philosophy
Morningside PlayCare is a 100% Mandarin and Spanish immersion program. Morningside PlayCare's distinctive play-based and nature-based curriculum was inspired by the Hawthorne Valley Waldorf school, Flying Deer Nature Center, and yoga.
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From the ages of 0-5, the young brain is voraciously acquiring language. The brain is primed for language acquisition during early childhood. So it makes sense to first teach a more challenging language (for Americans) like Mandarin. We also teach Spanish because young children are neurologically capable of acquiring multiple languages simultaneously.
The process of simultaneously acquiring two (or three) languages makes the brain more agile, more adept at learning other skills when they reach grade school. And each language seems to prime the brain for another.
The Mandarin taught to the students at MPC is acquired as quickly as the languages being taught by parents at home - English, Spanish, French, Hebrew or Japanese (MPC currently enrolls children from each of these linguistic backgrounds).
Campaign Goal
By raising capital on NextSeed, our goal is to ensure we have continued ability to provide our critical services to the children and families we serve. We are inviting those who support this vision to invest in our success as we recover from setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.