TLC Learning Center offers an inclusive and welcoming community in which each child’s learning experience is tailored to help them reach their fullest potential. We believe that inclusive education benefits every child, preparing them for success in school and beyond by fostering empathy, compassion, and a lifelong love of learning. We care for children in our early learning classrooms from six weeks of age until they are ready for kindergarten, providing a continuity of care that enables kids to build a solid academic and social-emotional foundation in a nurturing and engaging classroom setting.
All TLC staff are trained in the Pyramid Model approach, which are evidence-based practices that support inclusion and healthy social-emotional development, while also fostering strategies to mitigate challenging behaviors in children. Each classroom is supported by a team of two to three experienced teachers, as well as occupational, physical, and speech therapists to ensure that each child receives what they need for the best possible start in life.
All TLC classrooms are open from 7:30am-5:30pm, year-round, with semesters running August to December, January to May, and May to August. We loosely follow the St. Vrain Valley School District schedule from August to June regarding holidays and breaks. We ask that no child be on campus for more than nine hours per day.
Curriculum
At TLC we believe that caregivers are their children’s first and most important teachers, and that positive child outcomes in all areas of development are dependent upon successful collaboration between home and school, and the implementation of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP).
Curriculum tools are research-based and support each child’s cognitive and physical growth in conjunction with healthy social-emotional development. We use a variety of research-based curriculum tools including Creative Curriculum, the Pyramid Model Approach, YogaKids, and Young Athletes, among others.
Children’s progress is assessed throughout the year using the Teaching Strategies GOLD progress mapping system. Teaching Strategies GOLD is an assessment tool used for tracking student progress in the following areas of development: Social-Emotional; Physical; Language; Literacy; Cognitive; Mathematics; Science & Technology; Social Studies; and the Arts. Ongoing observation and GOLD benchmarks are used by the classroom team to select goals and to plan effective instruction for groups as well as for individual students. Progress is checked three times throughout each program year, and teachers will share progress caregiver-teacher conferences. GOLD is part of the Colorado Department of Education Results Matters initiative. For more information, please visit: www.cde.state.co.us/resultsmatters.
Quality Rating: The State of Colorado oversees early childhood programs across our state using Quality Rating and Improvement System called Colorado Shines. TLC has a Level Four Colorado Shines Quality Rating. This means that TLC’s programs have been assessed and rated as high-quality based on criteria such as workforce qualifications, family partnerships, administrative practices, learning environment, and child health.
Infants and Toddlers
Our infant and toddlers classrooms support children from six weeks of age until they are ready to begin preschool around the age of two and half. Each day, children spend time working on achieving developmental milestones, promoting healthy eating and sleep habits, and fostering beginning social-emotional skills, as well as exploring beginning language, literacy, and math skills.
- Infant Classroom: Serves 10 children (6 weeks to 12 months) with three full-time, experienced teachers and one support staff.
- Toddler Classrooms: Three classrooms of eight to nine children (12 months to 2.5/3 years) with two full-time teachers and one support staff per classroom.
Preschool
Our preschool prepares children for academic and life success in kindergarten and beyond. We offer an inclusive education model, which serves children of all abilities from age 2 1/2 or 3 until kindergarten. We place high value on diversity, empathy, and respect while instilling a love of learning and fostering children’s innate curiosity about the world around them.
Young Athletes in Partnership With Special Olympics Colorado
Young Athletes is a gross-motor skill building program that helps all children develop strength, coordination, and endurance while having fun. The program is affiliated with Special Olympics, but it is our physical education program for all of our preschool students, both with special needs and those with typical development. All preschool students have Young Athletes as part of their weekly curriculum. Toddlers also use the Young Athletes room and materials for gross-motor development and play at TLC.
Every May we host a celebration of our students’ achievement and parents are welcome to join us for a torch ceremony followed by an outdoor obstacle course and reception.
TLC won Program of the Year for the 2016-2017 school year from Special Olympics Colorado.