We believe that children deserve space to recognize their individual value as necessary beings within a cooperative, respectful, and caring environment.

We believe that each child is unique from genetic and environmental influences but that each child is also shaped and nurtured to grow in a positive caring place. Behavior becomes positive and purposeful when children belong.

We believe that children learn by experiencing life through sensory opportunities which enable them to encode new learning skills for application now and in the future. Furthermore, children deserve a safe place in which to plan these experiments and to experience error in a positive manner.

We believe that children discover information, and through successful self discovery, they increase their sense of self-esteem and grow in valuing not only themselves, but others.

The Tidewater School recognizes each child as a special and unique individual who is in the process of organizing his/her world through discovery and establishing a self identity among peers, family, and others. This program focuses on the abilities, the interests, and the needs of each individual child. It provides for guidance to help the child plan challenging tasks at his/her own level in order to grow optimally in social, emotional, cognitive, and physical domains. The early years of pre-academic and elementary education are characterized by intense enthusiasm; an uninhibited desire to experiment and discover; a drive to know "why"; a reaching forward to establish an independent identity; and a need to feel trust and security when searching for knowledge. There is a need for school and home to be a safe place for error.

Since 1986, our mission has continued to be that of providing an exceptional educational environment where children are esteemed and encouraged to grow into intelligent, compassionate and responsible human beings. 

The goal of the school is to provide an organized program that enhances learning and movement to develop individual potential. This environment presents multi-sensorial tasks which stimulate the strengths of the child and challenge the weaknesses in other modalities. These concrete and real experiences enhance the building of the foundation that supports the development of abstract thinking skills.

The goal of the teacher is to act as facilitator. As a facilitator, the teacher must be observant of all that the child expresses both verbally and nonverbally and then guide the child into discovery. This demands belief in the wisdom of the child as well as mutual respect, positive regard, and great trust.

The staff is made up of experts in the field of child development, each one caring about the present and future of each child.

The curriculum design for The Tidewater School is based upon the research and / or the programs of:

Maria Montessori - As a physician, Montessori observed that there are critical sensory periods through which all children pass in their own time. In a prepared environment, real life experiences invite children to explore with their senses which enhances their ability to process, store the information and recall later as they expand their cognitive abilities. A prepared environment includes the use of Maria Montessori's materials which are enticing to children for exploration and reasoning.  These materials are specific for skills in language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics and increase in difficulty as the child matures and perfects the skills.  Each classroom is designed with the guidance of the Montessori curriculum.  Montessori believed in trusting the child to reveal his/her own unique learning style and needs which can best be met in a safe and nurturing environment.

Jean Piaget - As a psychologist, Piaget found that children seek and deserve order and that they are extremely capable of productive planning with guidance in a class setting. His research demonstrates that children move in an ordinal and developmental progression. They seek repetition which may appear as redundant to adults but this return to a task is full of discovery, perfecting the skill and new learning which must be respected. This ordinal growth experience is different from the linear uni-directional educational experience found in a traditional classroom.  Children stay at a level until the skill is mastered.  Furthermore, Piaget has helped us to understand that children experience periods of disequilibrium at which time we seek to understand and respect the child's developmental imbalance as a "normal developmental" stage of growth.

John Dewy - As an educator, Dewey was one of the first individuals to stress that work is a child's play and that as such, play is essential in the acquisition of skills.  He noted that children have an intrinsic desire to learn and will do so when place in a prepared environment.

Alfred Adler - As a psychologist and physician, Adler developed Individual Psychology or Adlerian Psychology which holds to the premise that behavior is goal directed. Behavior is purposeful.   Children use behavior to belong. Our school fosters this sense of community and ownership by encouraging children to grow in awareness and expression of their feelings as they care for themselves as individuals and as a collective community of friends. This approach is modeled by the teachers and is offered as a training program to parents.

Stanley Greenspan - As a physician and child developmental expert, Greenspan has recognized and challenged the myths of cognitive development as separate from affective development. He has proposed that affective engagement stimulates and fosters cognitive development.   Environments must provide children with opportunities to communicate, which means questioning, negotiating, and sharing.   Within this frame, we become very aware of the spirit of the child and the need to recognize and honor the child as a unique individual.

High/Scope - High/Scope is a well researched model of educational instruction which recognizes the need to respect individual growth and which places the responsibility of task selection upon the child. This has been referred to as "upside down teaching" for in this model, the teacher does not select the instructional material but rather respects the child's choice and then with a firm grasp of developmental growth, gently imposes the goals for learning that meet the child's immediate developmental level. In this way, the child is making choices, is affirmed for the wisdom of his/her choice, and is a willing recipient of new learning.

The following quote articulates what The Tidewater School strives to emulate in both philosophy and application toward all children and their families.

The Tidewater classroom is a place where:

Human development in dignity and honesty is put first.

Each child's spiritual integrity - one's right to be - is recognized.

Individuality is considered an asset rather than a liability.

Genetic growth patterns are respected and used as a basis for teaching.

Each child helps to purpose and to plan.

Each child can act freely, knowing those around him accept him as he is.

Each child can make an error, even do wrong, and not lose face thereby.

Each child can grow each day and know that he is growing.

Each child can hold his head up high and meet the other's gaze.

Each can make friends, enjoy other people, and learn how to extend a hand to help.

Each can learn the warm flood of gratitude that comes from being regarded with warmth.

Each can venture into unknown worlds and stretch his wings to find new truths.

Above all, where each child can experience success in subject matter, human relationships, and the discovery of self as a person of worth and dignity.

by A. W. Combs