The extra mile

28 Feb The extra mile

Charlotte Kitchen was prepared to go the extra mile to find the right nursery for her daughter – in fact she didn’t mind a 50-mile round trip.

And Charlotte is so pleased at how Doris took to Baldersby Park that younger brother Ernest has now followed in her footsteps.

“We are fortunate in that we have plenty of family support, so nursery was more about socialising and learning than childcare,” says Charlotte.

“I looked around nurseries more local to us, but the approach seemed to be very regimented, I wanted something more focussed on the individual child.”

Charlotte says she didn’t know too much about the Montessori teaching methods used at Baldersby Park beforehand but liked what she saw.

“There is an emphasis on learning through social play and discovery rather than a rigid timetable, I see it as low pressure learning environment using traditional wooden toys with a purpose behind them,” she says.

Doris is four now and will soon be leaving to go full time into primary school whilst one year old Ernest will continue at Baldersby Park.

Charlotte says her children have different personalities which the nursery has catered for.

“Doris likes to be grown up and independent and will talk you to death, she loves doing art and being in charge of making apple crumbles. Ernest was a Covid baby. He was more clingy and found starting nursery more daunting. He took a bit longer but loves it now, especially the wooden toys.”

Both children enjoy going outside exploring in the nursery’s spacious grounds. Doris likes climbing whilst for Ernest it’s the mud garden.

Charlotte, a mental health researcher at the University of York and her partner, dairy farmer Robert, are impressed at how the nursery combines outdoor fun with fundamental early years learning.

“Doris really enjoyed going out on a pinecone hunt, she came back with a bucket full and then counted them all out and was able to describe their colour and texture to us and how pinecone is spelled” says Charlotte.

“It’s all done in such a natural way,” she added.