Welcome Parents!

These pictures are a sample of the unique experiences our children enjoy daily.

Thank you for visiting our website.  Please take a few minutes to explore our site and learn more about us. 

Our mission is for children to have the opportunity to: learn by doing; develop an active curiosity about the world they live in; and become an enthusiastic learner.

Peter Pan Day Schools and Little Shepherd Day School provide excellent, interactive learning environments.  We believe play is a very important aspect of every child’s development. We also feel children need to experience academic curriculum goals to set them up for success during their elementary grades and the years ahead. Interesting nature concepts and activities have been woven throughout our curriculum since the school’s inception.

Our schools are owned and managed by Helen Hochstetter, who has had the fine reputation of administering outstanding early childhood programs since 1962. Our private ownership allows us to reinvest right back into each of our schools, continually providing the best daily experiences possible.

Our administrative team and long term early childhood teachers take great pride in our program and the excellent care and education we provide for our families.  Each and every day, our staff makes a conscientious effort to provide a kind and nurturing environment, with meaningful learning experiences.

We realize that you want only the best for your child and know that choosing an early childhood program is a very important decision. We can assure you that you will find excellence in every aspect of our care, programming, and facilities.  

While our website provides you with basic information, the quality and depth of our program is something you must see to appreciate, particularly the nature that our children experience every day. Our website pictures will provide you a nice preview, but most parents are amazed when they visit and see how our schools operate day to day.

We encourage you to visit our schools and personally see the outstanding care, curriculum, and facilities, both indoor and outdoors that are available for your child. You can contact us through this website or give us a call at 630-961-3950. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our March Nature Experience Learning about Maple Syrup

For today’s Nature Chat, we talked about Maple syrup! We began by discussing what we already know. One child said, “It comes from Maple trees!” Another child said, “I put it on my pancakes!” We also knew that Maple syrup is something we eat and buy at the grocery store. We also agreed that it is sticky and tastes sweet like candy. After reviewing what we know, I then read a book written by our Regional Director, Ms. Doris! She wrote out a step by step guide on how to make Maple syrup based off of her wonderful experiences with her family at her daughter’s farm.

We learned that Maple syrup is made from the sap of Maple trees. I explained to the children that tree sap contains nutrients and minerals that are carried through the tree and down to the branches. Tree sap is important because it is the blood of the tree, just like how we have blood that carries oxygen to all parts of our body. Someone said, “Our blood is red!” Sap looks very different from our blood, and is a clear sweet liquid. I then showed photos of a Sugar Maple tree and leaves. All trees have sap, but Sugar Maple trees produce the best tasting sap for Maple syrup!

We then discussed the process of making Maple syrup. First, holes have to be drilled into the Maple trees. A metal spout is then put into the hole so that the sap can flow through. Jugs are then tied to the spout with twine. One friend said, “So that the sap doesn’t get all over the place!” The sap flows through the spout and then fills the jug. Once filled, the jugs are emptied into large buckets where the sap is stored. We discovered that it takes forty gallons of Maple sap to make one gallon of Maple syrup! Between February and April is when Maple syrup is made. The sap flows when the temperature is freezing at night and warm during the day. Since this weather phenomenon is happening now, this is the best time to collect Maple sap for syrup! After sap is collected, it needs to be cooked over a wood fire. It cooks for most of the day and requires a lot of firewood! The sap is then poured into long, shallow pans to cook. I told the children that these pans look similar to the pans cookies are baked on. Before being cooked, the sap is clear and looks just like water. The taste is very bitter which is why we don’t eat sap directly from the tree! Once the pans are placed over the fire, the sap heats up and starts to steam. The steam is the water evaporating from the sap. When the sap gets really hot, it will boil for several hours. As water leaves the sap, it gets thicker and starts to turn the amber color we know and love on pancakes! The flavor is sweet and ready to be taken to a kitchen. The sap is then strained through cheesecloth to remove any dirt. For the final step, the sap is boiled in a big pot. The syrup is ready to be bottled when it is thick and sweet!

We then went outside to see how the process looked up close. We had tapped one of our Maple trees on Monday and the Maple tree sap was already filling our milk jug. The children were so excited that we are doing this at our school. We have a few more nights of freezing temperatures and will continue to measure how much sap our tree will provide.

We were all excited with the next part of our lesson - getting to taste pure Maple syrup! Absolutely everyone enjoyed the taste! We then shared our favorite food that we put Maple syrup on. Just about everyone said either pancakes, waffles, or french toast. This was such a sweet lesson and lots of fun too!

Until next time ~ Ms. Julie