About Us

The staff here at Doc’s all have the desire to inspire the next wave of global citizens with a unique program not offered anywhere else in Southern Maryland. From first interviews with parents until transition to pre-k or kindergarten, we continuously endeavor to tailor and update our program to reflect the needs of diverse individuals, world events, and child interests.  We welcome friends from a variety of cultural, health, religious, economic and social backgrounds. Children with disabilities and special needs are encouraged to join us as all staff members have undergone (and will continue to pursue) training for how to best meet the needs of each individual child. We focus on bilingual early learning with exposure to both English (the home languages of all our currently enrolled children) and Japanese. This means that all instructions for artistic and academic activities are given in both languages. Circle time is done the same way; and all guidance for transition times as well as normal procedures (lining up, turn taking, etc.) is recited in both languages too.If a newly enrolled child has a different home language than those listed above, our providers will strive to incorporate it within all activities (we will acquire the necessary toys, books, flashcards, etc. to do this at no cost to the family) and be encouraged to participate in self-study of the language to further their own understanding and proficiency in order to assist all the children in their language and literacy development.

In addition to a focus on language development, we also place a strong importance on cultural and social emotional learning- helping our little friends learn how to cope (both verbally and non-verbally) with big feelings in a variety of settings. In today’s society, the people we meet (children included) often come from different backgrounds and cultures. It is necessary to gain an understanding and respect for these differences; and as such we strive to include activities geared towards acknowledging and celebrating other countries, cultures, religions and emotions every month. Wherever possible, we incorporate these lessons into our field trips and family events as well. 

In terms of our schedule, we take a Montessori based approach to encourage learning through play combined with academic literacy activities. While a number of activities are provider planned, we encourage our little ones to express what interests them through numerous free play sessions as well as freedom of choice in literacy or art tasks. Through observation and discussion (both with the family and the children), our providers make it a goal to identify themes and topics that everyone finds fun and appealing. We use that information to inform our lesson plans, toy rotations, and the acquisition of any new materials. Furthermore, it should be noted that children are never forced to participate in any activities but instead are provided with a variety of learning opportunities to choose from (independent, group, one-on-one). Due to our mixed-age and ability group settings, Vygotsky’s theory of proximal development shines through in our full schedule as our youngest friends learn from observing and interacting with our older and more experienced ones.

Doc's has numerous substitutes on call in the event of illness or injury. These subs may be present at any given time covering for Doc or Lauren, but put your mind at ease knowing they are all trusted (and state approved) friends and family of our team! Big shout out to Ms. Ashley, Ms. Aaliyah & Mr. Evan!