PRESCHOOL & PRE-K • AGES 3–5
Preschool & Pre-K in Lincoln Park
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.
Lincoln Park has been part of L&L’s story since 2010. For Preschool and Pre-K children, an animal observed at the zoo or a change noticed near the lake can open a question they want to draw, map, and keep investigating 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 Lincoln Park investigation might begin with an animal observed at the zoo or a change noticed near the lake. One child’s question can stay with the group: Why did it move that way? What changes near the water? A teacher listens for the question children want to keep thinking about.
Back in the classroom, children may sketch what they saw, add words to the drawing, and use a book or map to look more closely. Measuring a block model or comparing two observations brings early mathematics and science into work that began with their own curiosity.
When the idea returns to the neighborhood, children may notice a new detail or compare it with their classroom work. Over time, familiar places—and the people who care for them—become part of the children’s sense that Lincoln Park is a community they belong to.
Learning That Begins With Curiosity
A Lincoln Park investigation might begin with an animal observed at the zoo or a change noticed near the lake. One child’s question can stay with the group: Why did it move that way? What changes near the water? A teacher listens for the question children want to keep thinking about.
Back in the classroom, children may sketch what they saw, add words to the drawing, and use a book or map to look more closely. Measuring a block model or comparing two observations brings early mathematics and science into work that began with their own curiosity.
When the idea returns to the neighborhood, children may notice a new detail or compare it with their classroom work. Over time, familiar places—and the people who care for them—become part of the children’s sense that Lincoln Park is a community they belong to.
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 Lincoln Park neighborhood around them. A question noticed outside can give these experiences a shared point of connection.
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
A child might draw the curve of an animal’s back or mix a color remembered from the lake. We care about the idea taking shape, not whether everyone’s finished work looks the same.
OUR LINCOLN PARK NEIGHBORHOOD
Children come to know Lincoln Park by returning to familiar people and places. For an older group, walking toward the beach on an appropriate day can feel like a real accomplishment—and give the class a shared story to bring back to school.
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 in Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park gives questions room to grow.
L&L began in Lincoln Park in 2010, and we still feel lucky to be part of a neighborhood that gives older children so much room to explore. An animal’s movement at the zoo or a seasonal change in nearby green space can leave a child with a question that is worth carrying back to school.
The question might become a map, a labeled drawing, or a project children return to over several days. Teachers help the group compare what they noticed and look for evidence without taking over the investigation.
On appropriate days, older classrooms can walk toward the beach. The walk itself can become a joyful stamina milestone—one more way children notice how far they can go together, what they remember along the way, and what they want to investigate when they return.
Real places, real questions
The zoo and nearby outdoor settings give children opportunities to observe closely, wonder aloud, and revisit what they saw.
Many ways to show thinking
Maps, questions, drawings, building, and longer projects help children represent an idea and change it as they learn more.
One enrollment conversation for Lincoln Park
Our two Lincoln Park schools are located near one another on Clark Street and share the same L&L approach families have known in this neighborhood for years. Families looking for care do not need to choose a school before reaching out. Our Director of Enrollment can answer questions and help guide families through the next steps.
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.
