PRESCHOOL & PRE-K • AGES 3–5
Preschool & Pre-K in Lakeview
Growing Thinkers. Confident Learners. Ready for What Comes Next.
Three-year-olds arrive full of questions they’re just beginning to put into words. By Pre-K, those same children are negotiating, explaining their reasoning, and taking on challenges they couldn’t have imagined two years earlier. Our classrooms give children the time, the materials, and the kind of teaching that makes that growth possible.
Lakeview has been part of L&L’s story for many years, and we’re proud to be part of a community where so many families are putting down roots. There’s something special about watching children get to know their neighborhood as they grow—recognizing familiar places, seeing people they know, and feeling more at home in the world around them. We love being able to bring those everyday experiences back into the classroom and build on them together.
More Than Kindergarten Preparation
A good preschool classroom has a predictable enough structure that children feel free to take risks inside it. Within that structure, there’s real depth. Children in our rooms are working on things—building something, writing something, figuring something out—not waiting to be shown what to do next.
Letters, numbers, and early literacy are part of every day. But so is learning to disagree respectfully, to manage frustration, to finish what you started. Teachers pay close attention to where each child is and introduce challenges that are just far enough ahead to stretch their thinking. That’s what carries into kindergarten.
01
Complex Thinking
Children return to ideas across days, not just hours. A question raised on Monday might still be generating new thinking by Friday.
02
Confident Communication
We give children real things to talk about—explaining a drawing, disagreeing with a friend, talking a teacher through what they’re trying to build.
03
Growing Independence
Children pour their own water, choose their own work, and ask for help when they need it. We take that seriously—it’s one of the most useful things a child can bring to kindergarten.
04
Learning Together
Four-year-olds are genuinely working on friendship—making plans, sharing materials, coming back after a disagreement. Teachers help that process without taking it over.
Learning That Begins With Curiosity
A Lakeview question might begin with something children noticed on the way to school or while out with family: a tree changing in a nearby park, public art beside a familiar storefront, a garden along a residential street, or the shape of an older building next to a newer one. They ask why the leaves changed, how a mural was made, who takes care of the garden, or what happens inside a neighborhood shop before it opens. A teacher listens for the question children want to keep thinking about.
Back in the classroom, that question can lead to books and photographs, plans and signs, counting and measuring, block structures, maps, paint, clay, and problems children need to solve together. Reading, writing, mathematics, art, and problem-solving become useful because children need them to understand and share the idea.
The next time children encounter the place—on a school walk when appropriate, from a window, or while out with family—they may find a new detail in a mural, compare a building shape with the one they built, or see that the park garden has changed. They may also recognize a neighbor or another school family and remember a conversation from the classroom. The neighborhood gives them something real to keep observing, questioning, and revisiting.
Learning That Begins With Curiosity
A Lakeview question might begin with something children noticed on the way to school or while out with family: a tree changing in a nearby park, public art beside a familiar storefront, a garden along a residential street, or the shape of an older building next to a newer one. They ask why the leaves changed, how a mural was made, who takes care of the garden, or what happens inside a neighborhood shop before it opens. A teacher listens for the question children want to keep thinking about.
Back in the classroom, that question can lead to books and photographs, plans and signs, counting and measuring, block structures, maps, paint, clay, and problems children need to solve together. Reading, writing, mathematics, art, and problem-solving become useful because children need them to understand and share the idea.
The next time children encounter the place—on a school walk when appropriate, from a window, or while out with family—they may find a new detail in a mural, compare a building shape with the one they built, or see that the park garden has changed. They may also recognize a neighbor or another school family and remember a conversation from the classroom. The neighborhood gives them something real to keep observing, questioning, and revisiting.
How Learning Grows
Children move through the Preschool and Pre-K years at their own pace, building on what they know and what they’re ready to take on next.
The arc from three-year-old Preschool through Pre-K is real and meaningful—here is what that progression tends to look like.
PRESCHOOL
In Preschool, conversations last a little longer and familiar routines can hold more than one step. A friendship may take shape over a shared game, while drawing, building, and sustained attention give children ways to show what they are thinking.
BUILDING ON THEIR IDEAS
As their ideas take hold, children start making a plan before they begin and can explain why they made a choice. They return to projects over several days, work out more involved play with friends, and use early literacy and mathematical thinking with growing independence.
PRE-K
By Pre-K, a project can stretch across more time, and children are better able to tell others how they arrived at an idea. They work through a snag with less adult help while strengthening the writing, mathematical thinking, group-participation, and self-management skills they will use in kindergarten.
More Ways to Think, Express, and Connect
Children also learn through new languages, music, movement, art, and the Lakeview neighborhood around them. These experiences give them more ways to listen, communicate, create, and connect with others.
SPANISH
Our dedicated Spanish teacher brings the language into songs, stories, movement, and playful conversation. A familiar word may surface at home, or a song may come home in a child’s voice, as children begin recognizing and trying Spanish in context.
MUSIC & MOVEMENT
When our outside music specialists visit, the room fills with singing and movement. Children explore rhythm and encounter instruments in new ways, building on the music already happening in the classroom.
CREATIVE EXPRESSION
When a child paints a family picture or works out an idea with clay, we pay attention to what they are trying to say—not whether every finished piece looks alike. Teachers offer time, materials, and a thoughtful question, then let the child’s own thinking lead.
OUR LAKEVIEW NEIGHBORHOOD
Children begin to feel at home when they recognize the people and places around them. In Lakeview, a familiar park, a hello from a local business, or seeing school families at a neighborhood gathering helps children understand that this is their community, too.
A Familiar Day—and Room to Go Deeper
There is a familiar shape to the Preschool and Pre-K day, but no two days feel exactly alike. Knowing what comes next helps children settle in. It also gives a good conversation or project room to continue when everyone is deeply involved.
COMING TOGETHER
Arriving & Settling In
Some children arrive with a story already underway. Others want to revisit yesterday’s project or sit beside a teacher for a quiet minute. The familiar room gives each child a comfortable way into the day.
CONVERSATIONS & SMALL GROUPS
Stories, Ideas & Learning Together
Small groups are often where the best conversations happen. One child notices something another missed, a story raises a new question, and the group decides what to look at next. A teacher might reach for a book, write down the children’s words, or bring in a counting question. Spanish and music have a place here, too, when they help the group keep thinking together.
TIME TO EXPLORE
Building, Creating & Going Deeper
We want children to have enough time to stay with an idea. A child may spend the morning testing a block structure, walk away, and return later with a new plan. Teachers stay nearby, ask a well-timed question, and know when not to interrupt.
OUTSIDE & AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Moving, Noticing & Exploring
Outside, the best discoveries are often the ones children recognize: a tree changing color or a familiar person opening a nearby shop. Teachers make time to stop and wonder with them. Back inside, those details often return in a drawing, a block structure, or the next conversation.
MEALS, REST & EVERYDAY INDEPENDENCE
Taking Care of Themselves & Each Other
A surprising amount of growing happens in the ordinary parts of the day. Pouring water at lunch or returning materials to the shelf gives a child a real way to help. Teachers notice the quiet confidence that comes with taking care of yourself, your things, and the people around you.
Preschool & Pre-K at Lakeview
Lakeview gives older children real questions to follow.
For children three to five, Lakeview becomes familiar through the places and people they see again and again: a favorite park, the same residential streets on the way to school, local businesses their family knows, neighbors and other school families, and routines that help them recognize where they are. Even an occasional tradition, such as the extra neighborhood energy on a Cubs game day, becomes part of what they notice and remember.
Teachers pay attention to the details children carry into the classroom. A question about a park garden, a storefront, a building, or a community gathering can lead to books and conversation, drawing and early writing, counting and measuring, maps, block structures, dramatic play, art, and problems children work through together. As an idea continues over several days, children compare what they thought before, add new information, change their plans, and represent their understanding in more than one way.
Over time, children begin to understand more than the physical neighborhood. They notice the familiar people, businesses, routines, shared spaces, and relationships that help a community work. They start to see that they are part of it, too—with places they know, people they recognize, and growing ways to take part.
Belonging comes from familiarity
Seeing the same places and people repeatedly helps children feel more confident in the world beyond the classroom. They begin to know where they are, what to expect, and where they fit.
Learning to participate in a community
Preschoolers begin practicing how to share public spaces, greet people they know, care for the places around them, and understand that different people have roles in making a neighborhood feel like home.
One enrollment conversation for Lakeview
Our four Lakeview schools are close to one another and share the same L&L approach. Families do not need to choose a building before asking about care. Our Director of Enrollment can answer questions about your child's program and current or upcoming availability, then guide you through the next step.
FIND YOUR L&L
A Place Where Your Child Can Feel Known
Choosing a Preschool or Pre-K program is about more than preparing for the next school year. You want to know that your child will be understood—the way they enter a room, the questions they return to, the friendships they are learning to navigate, and the moments when they still need someone close.
At L&L, teachers come to know those details. They recognize when a child is ready for a new challenge, when they need more time, and when a little encouragement can help them take the next step on their own. That relationship is what allows children to feel secure enough to try, speak up, make mistakes, and grow.
We would love to learn more about your family and help you explore the L&L location and classroom that may be the right fit for your child.
For tuition, availability, classroom placement, or scheduling a tour, please begin by completing our inquiry form. Your child's exact age, preferred location, and schedule help our Director of Enrollment provide accurate information.
For general questions—such as meals, allergies, or program policies—you can call or text 833-623-1959 and ask for Ms. Nadi, our Director of Enrollment, or email enroll@landlschool.com.
Have a general question? Ask L&L first — our virtual assistant can answer many common questions instantly.
Enrollment is still available if you need more help.
