Recently, my three-year-old son turned the usual clatter and chaos of fixing dinner into an impromptu choir performance. As a bubbling tangle of pasta threatened to surge the boundaries of the pot, Jack enthusiastically began singing a song about condensation and evaporation, terminology that sent me shuffling through the mismatched Wikipedia of my mind. I owe the serenade – and the fact he can sing it – to Chautauqua Day School.

For more than two years, Jack has been a part-time student in this happy environment, where he spends his mornings doing the essential things that help him grow into himself a little more each day – painting and planting flowers, chattering at the resident chinchilla and learning to share, practicing manners and perfecting his hopping technique, and celebrating everything from the change of seasons to the weekly treat of a pizza lunch on Fridays.

While this all takes place under the umbrella of a sound, well-developed curriculum that encourages parental and community involvement, what matters most to me is the nurturing, devoted group of teachers who truly know Jack’s quirks, joys, strengths and challenges – as well as those of every student. For example, when Jack needed assistance with speech, Chautauqua’s director, Kathleen Allison, generously found a speech therapist who best met our family’s needs, and the teachers partnered with us to develop Jack’s language skills into what is now a non-stop commentary on life as he knows it.

These trusted teachers inherently understand a fundamental aspect of human nature – we all want to be seen and heard, no matter how old we are. Daily, I hear teachers regaling parents with seemingly small moments of their child’s day. But one after the other, those anecdotes weave together to form a portrait of a child, a foundation for life beyond the preschool playground. How grateful I am that my son gets to begin his childhood at Chautauqua.

-- Molly Hulett