The Principia

Do you believe it's never too early . . .

. . . to begin nurturing and establishing a spiritually based sense of growth and development? Then Acorn is for your family!

Principia’s Acorn Toddler program—on-campus and online supports Christian Science parents and their children through three years of age by providing early social and learning experiences outside the home and family.

Why Acorn?

Given the abundance of psychologically, physiologically, and developmentally based parenting guidance in bookstores and on the Internet, even well-meaning advice can sometimes seem overwhelming—and contradictory. Principia’s Acorn Program provides a positive, spiritually grounded forum for Christian Science families to link up with each other and with experienced educators to discover the joys and rewards of early childhood.  

As a community, we explore how to support our children’s growth on the basis of spiritual unfoldment, rather than external triggers of development. Both on campus and online, Acorn will share with parents information and strategies relating to creative play and learning, character education and independence, discipline and communication.

Acorn On Campus

Our Acorn program has supported St. Louis-area families since 1975.

On campus activities and facilities include:

• Tuesday play-ins: In our new Acorn room in the Lower School building, we engage in play-based activities to help gain knowledge of the world we live and work in. We create with a variety of art materials and develop our language and social skills as we sing songs and practice positive interactions with friends. Parents or guardians help supervise the children and have an opportunity to interact with each other.
• Co-ops one to three times a week: Also based in our Acorn room, co-ops are a good first school experience for children. On these days students engage in hands-on activities that center around a theme and include introduction to colors, basic shapes, and counting through singing songs, playing games, and reading storybooks.
• Weekly parenting seminars—presentations by guest speakers will be videotaped and shared online with local and Acorn Online families. 
• Toy library: The Acorn program offers access to a well-stocked toy library, from which enrolled families can borrow toys, puzzles, and books.

Acorn Online

For families not living in the St. Louis area, Acorn Online provides a number of resources to support and enrich this special time. The Acorn Online program is active throughout the year. Sign up for access to the Acorn Online web portal.

Online activities include:

• A web portal that houses articles, activities, videos, and other resources that support spiritually based parenting, home-based teaching, and creative activities for toddlers and parents.
• A private, curated Facebook discussion group for Acorn families, which will address key questions and share innovative ideas and information from Principia’s own resources as well as other reliable sources. 
• Monthly discussions with Acorn Online member families, to address issues of particular interest to them.