We are an Arlington-based educational company dedicated exclusively to arts integration. Together, we use play to help students explore the performing and visual arts, make new friends, and (secretly) learn some school skills along the way!
While the pandemic ebbs and flows, our programming will only grow. Join us as we support our itty bittiest learners and teach them how to soar!
Mission
Soaring Starts Early Learning & Arts (SSELA) is dedicated to bringing children ages 1-8 the joyful, arts-infused, play-based learning experiences they need to truly soar as artists, innovators, friends, and individuals.
Educational Philosophy
Soaring Starts Early Learning & Arts (SSELA) is focused on arts integration learning and experiences. We specialize in putting equal emphasis on arts objectives, academic skills, and social/emotional skills.
We use this approach because our work is based in the body of science known as embodied cognition. Embodied cognition is the understanding that when an individual engages multiple senses and learning styles while experiencing something new, they are also engaging multiple cortexes in their brain. This kind of learning helps a person learn things faster and better, encouraging deeper connections with the material and helping them remember it longer.
Using this approach to create a playful, social, and inviting environment, our practices and curricula challenge students and patrons at their current developmental level. We aim to help students and patrons think creatively and critically about what they see, work collaboratively to dig deeper, and act and speak with empathy and intention. We encourage children to wonder, make predictions, ask questions, support each other, and more. These practices bolster students, their families, and our greater community, resulting in a more innovative, perceptive, and emotionally intelligent community of thinkers.