Alerces Spanish Preschool & Kindergarten a gem of Early Childhood Education in Saskatoon

When I became a mom, I thought I’d homeschool. Not because I didn’t value teachers, but because I wasn’t sure I could let go. Attachment parenting and ‘letting go’ is something I wrote about years ago, as I watched my daughter’s confidence grow in unparented ballet classes at 18 months. She loved learning from others & slowly grew proud of her independence. So it was that we toured preschool options around Saskatoon & fell absolutely in love with Alerces Spanish Preschool & Kindergarten. My kids attended for a magical three years each.

Please have a read about this special Spanish immersion preschool & kindergarten in Saskatoon!

This post is sponsored but all opinions are my own (and my family’s). I’m not sharing group photos in this post for privacy reasons, but they’re are most special to me. Many families are still in our lives.

A school created by parents

Alerces exists because its founders, Maru and Bati, were once in the same position as me: Parents, searching for a preschool that aligned with their values and vision. Realizing the niche they were looking for wasn’t filled, they put their backgrounds of education & culture into action to make their vision a reality. Their own preschool-aged kids illustrated the first Alerces brochure!

Alerces opened their doors in 2007, creating something new in Saskatchewan: the first full-time, everyday Spanish immersion preschool program in the province. “There was nothing like Alerces in Saskatchewan,” they told me.

There still isn’t.

A trusted team

Every educator at Alerces is bilingual, with teaching credentials and diverse international backgrounds like Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, and Peru. The team includes not only early childhood educators but professionals with backgrounds in psychology, pedagogy, and environmental education. All of these wonderful folks above taught my children & and are still at the school today!

“We offer consistency for children and their families,” they shared. “Professionals working for many years at Alerces, always taking professional training, always supporting children and families.” You feel that consistency as a parent. And you feel something else important for kids this young: Love.

Class sizes

Good to note that class sizes are very small which is so great for bonding and makes their “child-led” philosophy of teaching possible. I think the most children my kids had in one class was ten, although the whole school collaborated on certain parts of the day & field trips so they had friends in other classes, too.

Why Reggio Emilia?

Bati is trained in Montessori, and both ladies have professional backgrounds in education, psychology, early learning, and forest schooling. They chose to structure Alerces around the Reggio Emilia approach, because it’s what they know helps children soar.

Reggio Emilia views children as capable, curious, competent co-learners, whose ideas shape the curriculum. Teachers build learning opportunities around children’s interests, with the environment being teacher as well. “We were looking for a place where children learn, play, discover love for learning, and have the opportunity to explore with freedom,” they explained.

Flip through the above gallery to see the inside of the school.

Forest School

Alerces has been doing outdoor & forest learning since the beginning & every day, children enjoy the outdoors. Once a week, children spend their full class day in Forest School or ‘La Escuela del Bosque’ exploring nature, learning skills, and building confidence in the expansive park with trees and paths behind the school. It’s a favourite day of the week, no matter the weather. For recess, there’s also a playground & a large basin perfect for observing bugs or sledding, depending on the season.

I loved that my children were gifted freedom to explore, inside of the school and out. I’d often coax them down from trees at the end of the day when they didn’t want to leave! Yes, they did a lot of learning, but it was always guided by the teachers’ thoughtful observation & respect for children as whole people.

Hands-on, sensory learning

One thing I noticed first about Alerces was the materials. Children work with real objects: mirrors, tools, real cutlery, china cups, little bricks, recycled materials, textiles, and found objects. “Learning comes from sensory exploration,” Maru and Bati shared. “Our classes hold unusual, real, and recycled materials.”

Those materials are inspiring and empowering! Children construct, design, test, and interact. Learning is visible all over the school with artworks that all look very different to one another. Unison crafts are cute but don’t foster creativity and independent thought, like the unique works you’ll find on the walls of Alerces! You’ll also see depictions of class adventures, a learning board of the “celebrity” child of the week, and interesting projects on the go, evolving day to day.

“All Alerces belongs to children,” they said. Thanks to class rotation & a variety of activities, children are constantly interacting with the learning space. Every child has a favourite classroom, though. I remember hearing a lot about “Sala Roja”!

Language learning that feels natural

When I would tell people that my kids were in Spanish Immersion, I’d get some funny looks. “Oh, do you speak Spanish?” people would ask. (Nope, wish I did!) But Spanish at Alerces isn’t taught as a subject, it’s lived. Children are sometimes given instruction in two languages, but they also accept Spanish labeling objects, feelings, and ideas. I don’t think my kids even noticed that the songs they sang at home were in another language.

Years later, those little songs still live in my head. And when we travelled to Mexico and Cuba, I watched locals light up when my kids understood what was being said to them. Language builds connection!

Alerces staff speak both Spanish and English, and Spanish is woven into daily routines so children absorb it the same way they learn their first language: repetition & relationship. Both of my kids later transitioned seamlessly into French immersion, grabbed onto ASL, are learning Japanese on DuoLingo, enjoy reading & writing in English, and read music easily. Being a good communicator is an awesome life skill.

Movement & community

There’s also yoga, music, dance, messy art days, cultural celebrations, and more than twenty field trips a year. Children visit places like Persephone Theatre, radio stations, museums, veterinary clinics, city planning offices, and more. It’s such a cool way for them to learn about their community & become interested in Saskatoon.

The special days they put on are often open to parents or grandparents— pictured above is a family picnic, a Mother’s Day event complete with spa products handmade by the children, a Valentine’s Day tea, and a lemonade stand that raised money for the Food Bank. The school subsequently went to the Food Bank to make their donation and to learn about the organization :)

Community that lasts

Both of my kids started at Alerces part-time and asked to stay full-time because they didn’t want to miss a thing. It introduced us to a “village” and many families we met there are still in our lives today. Parents brought in materials from work sites and renovations and we shared of ourselves during our kids’ individual Celebrity Weeks. “At Alerces you can breathe a beautiful sense of community,” Maru and Bati said. I agree.

Looking back

I knew Alerces was special at the time & it remains one of our family’s best decisions. We loved the language, the child-centred learning, the field trips and enrichment, the schoolwide events, and the feel of the whole school. One afternoon, parents were invited to a movie day where the children were ushers, made treats and ran a concession, decorated the theatre, and much to the audience’s surprise… had MADE the movie. Petra, at 5 years old, had Director credit. Every child contributed in some way like script writing, music, costumes, acting, and sets. COME ON. Who takes that on?!

Alerces is a licensed preschool and kindergarten program and not traditional daycare, so like other extracurricular investments, it requires enrollment and tuition. But because children eat lunch together and before-and-after care is offered, the hours can accommodate many work schedules. I’m grateful for the safe, supportive, educational, loving environment they created. My kids still talk about Alerces. If you’re looking for a preschool or kindergarten that honours curiosity, confidence, culture, and childhood, Alerces Spanish Immersion Preschool & Kindergarten is a gem worth discovering.

“Every day is a marvelous adventure of new learnings.” -Maru & Bati