Pedagogy, or how children learn, matters as much as what they are learning. Education and care- inseparable in the early years- impacts a child for the entirety of their life. In each present moment, the child learns about self, others, and the world around them.  The ripple effects of a joyful early learning experience spill outward into the communities they inhabit, ultimately changing society. Developmental psychology and educational research are clear in their support of our pedagogical approach. Investing in early childhood education benefits all society members and is the crucial starting point from which we will be able to solve complex global problems and create a more democratic, inclusive and equitable society. 

Our pedagogical values are presented below. Our nutrition program is a good example on how our values guide daily preschool experience.


  • Progressive, experiential educational approach:

    • We believe that the most powerful way to learn is by doing and so experiential learning is the cornerstone of our philosophy and educational approach. Our pedagogy is grounded in the Reggio Emilia philosophy, a student-centered approach that utilizes self-directed, active learning in relationship-driven environments. When learners direct their own learning, research shows they are more highly motivated and sustain interest and effort over a longer period of time, helping them to understand that effort leads to achievement. Self-directed, active learning also builds self-regulation and executive function skills, critical to academic and lifelong success.

  • Playful Learning:

    • The preschool embraces the importance of play wholeheartedly, understanding that decades of research support play as the essential way that young children learn, building cognitive, social emotional, and physical skills.  Children imagining they are astronauts, building a house out of blocks, or inventing rules for a brand new ball game are all examples of unstructured, child-led play. This type of play strengthens creativity, social-emotional skills such as empathy and conflict resolution, and executive function skills like planning and self control.  Play can also be guided by adults: for example, the adult lays out shape blocks and introduces descriptive language intended to help children learn about shapes while encouraging children to choose how to play with the blocks. This type of guided play is correlated with the development of scientific thinking skills such as causal and counterfactual reasoning as  well as strong understanding of academic outcomes, e.g. learning the characteristics of a triangle.

  • Social Emotional Skills Development: 

    • Social emotional learning is a cornerstone of the preschool experience and many practices at the school actively support children to independently resolve conflicts, self-regulate, and grow into empathetic, kind, respectful and confident people.  Strong social emotional skills in early childhood are linked with a multitude of important life outcomes, including education, employment, mental health and criminal activity in adulthood.

  • Our view of the child:

    • We see children as competent and believe that they depend on the way we relate to them. The manner in which we react, talk and interact with children expresses our acknowledgement of them as individuals. Furthermore, we believe that the role of our teachers is to ensure that children experience our school as a safe and friendly place – a place where the child can be him or herself and is given equal opportunities, a place where friendships form, and a place where children gain positive self worth.

  • Multilingualism:

    • Our full language immersion preschool and language classes benefit both individuals and society by developing multilingual adults and children. A large body of research over the past 50 years clearly demonstrates the benefits of multilingualism to both cognitive and social development, including greater critical thinking skills, creativity  and communicative sensitivity. For both children and adults, speaking more than one language has been correlated with better executive function skills: a set of cognitive skills that allow us to plan, prioritize, and accomplish complex tasks. In turn, executive function skills are more highly predictive of success in life than one’s IQ across a range of domains, including higher salaries and better physical and mental health.  

  • Outdoor Education:

    • All of our preschool students spend ample time in the outdoors, rain or shine.  Research shows multiple reasons why this is beneficial for young children, most notably improved physical fitness and health as well as a strong appreciation for and connection with nature. Spending time outdoors also bolsters mental health: increased anxiety and depression among children has been linked with a decline in outdoor play time.

  • Nutrition program:

    • Our reactions to foods are learned behaviors and our food habits as young children predict how we will eat as adults.  Robust nutrition programming at the school includes organic, plant-based hot meals served family-style as well as weekly kitchen cooking projects.  We also regularly host cultural events celebrating and passing on the traditions of Scandinavian food, such as Danish rye bread baking workshops. Our plant based meals are also in line with our environmental approach and sustainability. 

  • Democracy

    • We believe in creating a positive impact in the world by fostering democracy and equity at school, work and at home. Our school is a place where children can not only learn about democracy but also be part of one. The school is a democratic meeting place where everyone is welcome and everyone should have an equal voice. Having a point of view and using one’s voice, taking part in discussions and listening to what others think and empathizing with other points of view, voting on things that matter… In a way, democracy is about taking on a civic responsibility by actively being part of a society and taking care of each other.  Children in the school participate actively in the creation of the curriculum, in the formation of the environment, and in other  important decisions through their conversations and actions. For example, children voted on what foods to prepare for their monster party at the culmination of a long-term project investigating monsters, which arose as a result of their interests and play.

  • Environmental sustainability:

    • We believe in adopting and teaching sustainable practices both within our Educational programs as well as for the Business of our organization. This value is shared through the many practices of conserving energy and resources at school and allowing everyone to participate in those practices. We serve plant-based food, use compostable diapers, recycle and reuse materials and empower children to participate in our sustainable practices.

  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:

    • Enrollment: We welcome students irrespective of race, gender, disability, medical or other needs. We actively built a culture of inclusion that celebrates and learns from differences.

    • Pedagogy: We believe in giving equal access and opportunities and eliminating discrimination and intolerance. Our teachers are trained in ways to encourage healthy communication, conflict resolution, and celebrations of differences and multiculturalism. 

    • Economic Diversity: We strive to make our school programs as accessible as possible to families from all economic backgrounds while also considering the financial sustainability and operational well-being of our organization. Diversity enriches the educational opportunity for all families, and participation of a wide range of families is critical to our inclusive school culture. 

The Scandinavian School in San Francisco’s Non-discrimination Policy

The Scandinavian School in San Francisco admits students of any race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, ethnic group, religion, mental disability, physical disability, or medical condition to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to its students. The School shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, ethnic group religion, mental disability, physical disability, or medical condition in: administration of its educational policies, of student privileges, employment of faculty and administrative staff, scholarship or loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

“Medical condition” herein has the meaning provided in California Government Code Section 12926.