Welcome to Smart Love Preschool
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Smart Love Preschool is a fully-licensed, not-for-profit school providing child care to children ages 2 to 6-years-old. We offer a play-based curriculum, focused on creating a positive relationship with learning in a nurturing environment.
At Smart Love, we foster children’s social and emotional development as the portal for their academic growth and success. All learning—from how to get along with others to finding joy in learning new things—flows from the well-being of the child. Widely considered by child development experts around the world as key to success in school, social and emotional development translates into having:
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Confidence: A willingness to ask for help when needed but not because of feeling incompetent
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Curiosity: A long-lasting desire to learn that doesn’t depend solely on subject matter
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Love of Learning: An ability to enjoy the process of learning and not just the grade
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Resiliency: A capacity to stick to the learning goal despite difficulty level, setbacks and confusion
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Focus: An ability to study despite feeling tired or being distracted
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Our students move on to elementary school with a desire to learn, a sense of confidence in the classroom and a resiliency that keeps them engaged in learning.
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Smart Love Preschool offers financial aid for eligible families. Please contact us at 773.665.8052, ext. 1 or to learn more.
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"It is not when children learn to read or add or subtract that matters, it is whether they love these activities and want to do more of them. If this goal is met, your child will enter elementary school with optimism and self-confidence."
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-Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D., Author of Smart Love
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News & Events
Accepting Applications!
Schedule a private video chat with Kelly Perez to learn more about the Smart Love approach to early childhood education here.
Smart Love Preschool's Garden Program Wins Illinois Schoolyard Habitat Award
The Natalie G. Heineman Smart Love Preschool is pleased to announce the receipt of an Illinois Schoolyard Habitat Award from the Education Division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. This award and accompanying grant was made through the IDNR’s annual Illinois Schoolyard Habitat Award competitive application process – and the Smart Love was the only preschool in Chicago to receive the honor.
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The Nature Garden is composed of several plots within Smart Love’s Logan Square campus and features 28 species of native Illinois wildflowers, grasses, and other plants. The Garden is cared for by members of the Smart Love staff with the active assistance of the 3-5 year-olds Preschool students.
With its native plant/pollinator/prairie garden theme, the Nature Garden is an integral element of the Preschool’s gardens and nature curriculum, which engages preschoolers in learning about their natural world around them, understanding the importance of caring for the environment, and growing and tending their own plantings. The preschoolers are involved in every step of the seed-to-table cycle of the edibles garden, produce from which even features in their snacks and take-home gifts for their families. The children also raise butterflies from eggs laid in the garden, and watch and learn about birds and other wildlife that use the garden for food and shelter all year long.