At A Mother’s Touch, we empower children to become lifelong learners as they confidently come to know themselves and the world around them.
We believe deeply in the power of a positive early childhood experience. In our classrooms, this looks like:
Every child wants to be known. Do you hear me? Do you see me? We do! Our practice is built upon a deep understanding and respect for each and every child and family in our school. When we know each child, we respond with thoughtful direction and connection.
The paths to understanding are carved by curiosity! Learning is exploratory, playful, and messy! Children learn by doing, and no two children do things exactly the same way. The most valuable part of learning is the process. Children develop flexible thinking as they see that there is always more than one path forward.
Our children do it themselves! Our classrooms and our schedules are designed with the child’s desire and need for independence in mind. Our classrooms are arranged in clearly defined interest centers. Low, open shelves hold baskets full of inviting, open-ended materials. Labels, often created by children, help children know exactly where everything belongs. Teachers build enough time and playfulness into routines and transitions to encourage children to participate fully and independently - taking care of themselves and their environment and also helping others along the way!
Confidence grows from independence! Our children are trusted to make choices and try challenging things, and they learn about themselves in the process. Our teachers narrate what they observe, helping our children’s confidence grow from within: “That was tricky, and you stuck with it! How do you feel?” “I can’t do it,” always becomes “I can’t do it yet!" Our teachers focus on process and effort, empowering children to become flexible thinkers, creative problem-solvers, and full of grit.
We nurture genuine connections at A Mother’s Touch. We grow together, care for each other, and find joy in the process! At A Mother’s Touch, the classrooms are humming with warm, positive interactions between children and staff. Our teachers notice what children need and respond lovingly, playfully, flexibly, and with experience. Our community of teachers is passionate about early childhood education and is dedicated to our A Mother’s Touch community (each with an average of 8 years at AMT and counting!). Our families grow with us too. Our playgrounds are full of excited exchanges between siblings. Our relationships are grounded in trust and understanding of your specific child and family. We connect by knowing the details, by sharing the details, and with an open invitation for families to engage at A Mother's Touch. We are dedicated, across generations, to caring for families as if they were our own.
We help each child grow at their own pace, formally and informally observing progress towards developmentally appropriate goals and milestones using the following tools:
On average, our educators possess 8 years of experience with A Mother’s Touch, share a passion for early childhood education, and are committed to taking care of each other like family.
Our classroom is organized to build independence and encourage collaboration and creativity. Our teachers prioritize social-emotional development.
They focus on teaching skills for future learning and friendships such as asking for what you need or want, identifying and managing feelings, identifying and saying the problem, and thinking of solutions. Our pre-kindergarten & junior kindergarten programs use the Second Step Early Learning curriculum to explicitly teach executive function skills, which research has proven to be the foundation for self-regulation and social-emotional competence.
Our classrooms are organized in interest centers, welcoming exploration with art, blocks, dramatic play, nature & science, math, engineering, and literacy! We ensure all curriculum choices align with this belief, directly and creatively engaging our children through play.
Our curriculum library is rich and varied and serves as a resource for teachers as they design learning experiences uniquely for your child. These learning experiences are always aligned to the Illinois Early Learning Guidelines and Standards. The result is engaged and busy children learning through play. Our learning experiences prioritize:
A Mother’s Touch is DCFS licensed by the state of Illinois. On top of this, we have achieved the Silver Circle of Quality accreditation through ExceleRate Illinois, the state’s quality rating and improvement system for early learning and development programs. ExceleRate Illinois recognizes a program’s commitment to quality beyond basic statement licensing requirements, focusing on four areas:
The Silver Circle of Quality programs meet or exceed quality benchmarks on learning environment and instructional quality, along with program administrative standards, staff qualifications, and professional development.
A Mother’s Touch Arlington Heights is accredited by NECPA, the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation. As articulated by NECPA, the organization assesses quality in the areas of adult and child interaction, staff framing, health and safety; physical environment, administration, and parent and community relationships. A strong emphasis has been placed on current developments in health and safety, brain research and risk management. Learn more about NECPA here.
Our school is dedicated to continuous quality improvement. We regularly invite in and consult with infant-toddler specialists through Illinois Action for Children. We are committed to staying at the forefront of best practices for early childhood education in knowledge and in practice.
Excelerate Illinois
Silver Circle of Quality
National Early Childhood
Program Accreditation
Feedback to Feature from NECPA Accreditation Parent Survey:
*117 survey responses, 2025
Above all, we are committed to creating a safe and loving environment for your child. Our program features a state of the art safety system, including cameras, an on-site nurse whose background is in pediatric intensive care at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, and CPR and first aid certification requirements for all teachers. Continuous attention to the quality of our learning environment is an integral aspect of our NECPA and Silver Circle accreditations.
We partner with Food2You Catering to provide healthy options for all children. Fresh fruits and lightly steamed veggies are organic, locally sourced, and packed with nutrients. Our milk is organic. Breakfast and lunch are made from scratch in a nut-free facility. You won’t find high fructose corn syrup in our breads. Our vegetarian options are delicious, and we offer an allergy-sensitive lunch menu that is free of gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, egg, fish, peanuts and tree nuts. All meals come with allergy & ingredient information. We are proud to provide meals with an extensive variety of flavors and nutritional benefits.
Our curriculum aligns with the Illinois Early Learning Guidelines and the Illinois Early Learning Standards for teaching children in infancy through pre-kindergarten and junior kindergarten. Teachers plan learning experiences that focus on specific learning standards across a wide range of developmental domains.
From infancy through 36 months, domains include: self regulation, social and emotional development, physical development and health, language development, communication and literacy, cognitive development, and approaches to learning.
In preschool, domains change: language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical development and health, the arts, English language learner home language development, and social-emotional development. Domains are interconnected, and learning experiences are open-ended and multi-faceted.
Our teachers create a dynamic, fluid curriculum from infancy through junior kindergarten to support age-appropriate development and to respond to your child’s individual interests, competencies, and needs over time. The result is always an interesting day with engaged and busy children learning through play.
Lesson plans involve a balance of child-initiated and teacher-initiated experiences, all with the understanding that the most meaningful context for learning in early childhood is hands-on exploration and play!
