Welcome
The Dewey School is full of excitement and joy! We offer a bold and dynamic combination of nature, art, and play tied to a community where simplicity, respect, and kindness are daily values. Join us at The Dewey School; a place for children to grow, inside and out!


Nature-Based
We are excited to share the almost 700 acres of the Canterbury Shaker Village with families and students on a daily basis.
Most every day we will explore some facet of the Village; its meadows, orchards, forests, ponds, streams, hills, trails...all that makes the Canterbury Shaker Village such an incredible preservation of natural space.
Read on to find out more about Nature-based education...
Reggio-Inspired
While we are 4,500 miles away from the community of Reggio Emilia, Italy, the influence of the Reggio Emilia Approach (REA) to education has been influential in the United States for many years. Voted in 1991 as one of the best learning approaches, REA is not a program, but a philosophy...a way of viewing children.....

Play-based Early Learning
According to the American Association of Pediatrics, “play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child.” They continue, “Because every child deserves the opportunity to develop to their unique potential, child advocates must consider all factors that interfere with optimal development and press for circumstances that allow each child to fully reap the advantages associated with play.”
Thoughtfully woven together, our program offers early learners a unique environment in which to grow inside and out.
Articles
& Resources

Protecting Kids from Nature Deficit Disorder
September 2016
Today’s kids spend less and less time outdoors, and it’s taking a toll on their health and well-being.....
NH Children in Nature
The Perks of a Play-IN-the Mud Educational Philosophy



