Cottage Preschool began as a very small school , September of 1985.  Mrs. D and her family (husband and 3 children) had moved to Laguna Niguel. Their youngest son, needed a preschool experience and so she looked for one.  Mrs. D, a Credentialed Teacher, had taught since 1972 in either a public school, or as a Resource Director for a private school, decided that she would open a preschool, in her home, for 1 year until her son entered Kindergarten.

24 years later, her son is 27, she has added 2 sons in law and 6 grandchildren to her family. The son, who needed the preschool . . .got married this May and Mrs. D has added an amazing daughter in law to her family.  The school is still going strong! 

Cottage Preschool is an in-home school.  We are licensed by the State of California to serve 14 children per session.  There are always two teachers, sometimes three teachers during a session. We have classrooms, a large outside play area, and a kitchen that is used for lunches, snacks, and cooking activities. Lunches are always homemade.

Our school is both developmental and academic in philosophy.  We marry the two philosophies to provide a very tactile, hands-on approach to learning.  Our goal is to nurture our children's self esteem, to prepare them for Kindergarten, and to assist them in becoming independent children.  We teach the Open Court pre-reading program which is a phonetically based reading program teaching the sounds of the letters of the alphabet.  We also use a very hands-on, manipulative methods for teaching math skills.  Our curriculum introduces science, art, literature, and language skills. 

Our staff is well trained, nurturing,and most importantly loves children.  We encourage you to call for an appointment to see our facility, meet our teachers and see for yourself the many plusses that come from an in-home facility.