Infant & Toddler

TLC recognizes the hectic schedules of modern families, and offers the same high-quality early education atmosphere of our preschool classrooms for the littlest of learners in our infant nursery and toddler classrooms.

Childcare at TLC serves children as young as eight weeks old up to 2½ years old, when children can transition into our preschool program, if they are ready.

In our infants and toddlers program, expect small class sizes and low child to teacher ratios. This structure helps build strong relationships and ensures individual attention for each child. The exceptionally experienced staff at TLC brings their strong knowledge of child development to support infants and toddlers in their physical, emotional, social, and linguistic growth.

Overview
Ages served in the infant program: Eight weeks to approximately 12 months.

Ages served in the toddler program: Approximately 12 months to 2 1/2 years.

Hours: Infant and toddler program hours are 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. We ask that no child be on campus longer than nine hours per day.

Months: All TLC classrooms are open year-round. Semesters run 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.

Infant nursery capacity: 10 children

Teachers in the infant nursery: Two highly-qualified infant teachers with additional staff, as needed.

Toddler classroom capacity: ]TLC currently has three toddler classrooms with 8-9 children in each.

Teachers in the toddler classroom: When at capacity, each classroom has two highly-qualified early childhood teachers per classroom, with additional support staff as needed.

Academic curriculum used: TLC uses the Creative Curriculum, Storybook Journey, Learning Without Tears, Zoophonics, and a variety of hands-on STEM activities.

Social-emotional curriculum used: All TLC staff are trained in the Pyramid Plus approach, which are evidence-based practices that support inclusion and healthy social-emotional development, while also fostering strategies to mitigate challenging behaviors in children.

TLC has one all-staff training day per month. On this day, all classrooms will open at 10AM.

Preschool

Our Longmont 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 until they are ready for kindergarten. We place high value on diversity, empathy, and respect while instilling a love of learning and delivering a strong academic foundation.

Our preschool classrooms work with children in a deliberately diverse, literacy rich, project-based learning environment. Our inclusive classrooms include students with various learning styles and abilities, and our teachers’ strong knowledge of child development helps them to successfully teach and challenge young children of many talents and interests. We utilize a variety of curricula that teach reading, math and science exploration, and social skills, while also fostering a child’s cognitive and motor development. Additionally, children increase their independence and strengthen their social and emotional development through peer interactions and play-based learning.

Overview
Ages served: Approximately 2 1/2 until kindergarten-ready.

Hours: Preschool program hours are 7:30am to 5:30pm. We have full- and half-day enrollment options. We ask that no child be on campus longer than nine hours per day.

Months: All TLC classrooms are open year-round. Trimesters run 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.

Classroom capacity: 10 to 14 children per room. TLC has four full-day preschool classrooms and one half-day classroom..

Teachers in the preschool classrooms: Two highly-qualified early childhood teachers with additional support staff, as needed.

TLC has six to eight late start days per year for additional professional development. On these days, all TLC staff will attend training from 7:30-10am, with children arriving at 10am.

Student growth monitoring: TLC uses Teaching Strategies GOLD to monitor milestone development in every student.

Academic curriculum used: TLC uses the Creative Curriculum, Storybook Journey, Learning Without Tears, Zoophonics, and a variety of hands-on STEM activities.

Social-emotional curriculum used: 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.

All of our classrooms are rated by Colorado Shines, which is Colorado’s Quality Rating and Improvement System that oversees early childhood programs across our state.

Preschool Curriclum

We provide a developmentally appropriate learning experience using a literacy based (Storybook Journey) and Project-Based Learning approach to support children’s cognitive, social-emotional, motor, language and self-help skill development. We utilize The Creative Curriculum for all ages, a quality, developmentally appropriate Eriksonian program with influences that include Montessori, Steiner/Waldorf, Vygotsky, Culkin, and McCord.

The curriculum takes into account each child’s learning style, strengths, and challenging areas. The program is play-based, and children from birth to 5 learn in eight interest areas: manipulative toys, dramatic play, project-based activities, music, art, technology, literacy, and the outdoors, of which our playground is a major component. The daily lessons of the curriculum are developed by our Educational Services Manager in coordination with our teaching staff and therapists. The activities are modified based on observation and feedback, as well as discussion of developmentally appropriate activities at staff meetings.

Teachers support children in the development of core academic (language, reading, writing, and math), social, fine/gross motor, and emergent science and technology skills through an inquiry-based learning approach. Our nurturing, inclusive, and diverse environment provides an opportunity for young learners to develop empathy, leadership, and independence. These are all part of the foundation that will ensure the successful development of critical thinking skills, peer collaboration, communication, and creativity. Daily activities for preschoolers include art, music and movement, storybooks and literacy extension activities, games, sign-language, yoga, dramatic play, sensory play, cooking, science exploration, cultural awareness, and outdoor fun. Learning activities in each classroom are influenced by each child’s interests and developmental level, and follow the Creative Curriculum.

Our nationally research-based curriculums align with the K-12 Common Core State Standards, prepare students for kindergarten and allow our teachers to focus on the needs of every type of learner:

The Creative Curriculum
The Creative Curriculum® is widely regarded as a forward-thinking, comprehensive, rigorously researched curriculum that honors creativity and makes learning exciting and relevant for each child. Teachers use the curriculum to deliver a developmentally appropriate program that promotes children’s social-emotional development and learning in the core areas of literacy, mathematics, science and social studies. You can find more information at www.teachingstrategies.net.

The Storybook Journey
The Storybook Journey is our literacy program, a curriculum we utilize to promote early reading skills and a love of books in young readers. It is an experience-oriented literacy immersion program, creating a classroom where all subjects focus on different aspects of concepts connected to stories. The Storybook Journey program has a profound effect on the language and literacy skill development of all children. By anchoring a curriculum in a single story over an extended period, teachers offer children opportunities to experiment, grow, and overcome challenges in new and exciting ways. More information about this curriculum is available in her book Storybook Journey: Pathways to Literacy Through Story and Play.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
STEM programming for the summer takes place in both our classrooms and around two large garden beds, located in our fenced playground area. This living discovery lab integrates classroom instruction, ecology lessons, self-sufficiency through food production/gardening, cooking with our garden’s fruits and vegetables, math and measuring, and team work. In the fall and winter, teachers conduct hands on activities that utilize the inquiry-based learning method in their classrooms, take children on field trips to museums, botanical gardens, and discovery centers, and work with parents to help children engage in inquiry-based learning and STEM subjects at home.

Handwriting Without Tears
Handwriting Without Tears award-winning Get Set for School™ Pre-K program uses lively music and playful activities to help young children build a solid foundation for school success. This upbeat program introduces a readiness curriculum full of developmentally appropriate activities that teach children about letters, body awareness, numbers, sequencing, and sharing in a fun, engaging, and informal manner. Parents can easily access additional information, handouts, words to engaging songs and more on their website:http://www.creativecurriculum.net

Zoo-phonics
Zoo-phonics is a Multi-sensory Language Arts Program with a kinesthetic, multi-modal approach to learning all aspects of language arts. The principle of Zoo-phonics maximizes understanding, memory, utilization and transference to all areas of the reading, spelling and writing process in a playful and concrete manner. You can find more information at: www.zoo-phonics.com/home

Evaluating Student Progress
Children’s progress is closely monitored using Teaching Strategies GOLD virtual portfolios. This assessment tool is used for observation, planning and assessment of student progress, helping teachers focus on what matters most for each child’s success. It is founded on research-based objectives that include predictors of school success and aligns with the St. Vrain Valley School District standards.