Learning Years Day School

INFANTS AND TODDLERS

Learning Years' Infant and Toddler programs serve as a nurturing education center for children 6 weeks to 2½ years of age. The aim of this program is to offer expert child care and encourage infants and toddlers to explore and develop physically, mentally and emotionally within a safe and secure environment.

Activities planned will encompass:

Emotional Development
Motor Development
Language Development
Socialization

The Nursery is for infants aged 6 weeks to 12 months. Infants are cared for on their own schedule. Our staff feed the infants on demand, change their diapers every hour and/or as needed, the infants sleep as often as they like, and the staff hug and cuddle the infants throughout the day. The infants are ready to move on to the next room when they are walking (toddling), eating school lunches and taking one nap per day. Every child is individual in his/her development, which means that some children will move before 12 months and some will move later.

The next program is for Infants & Toddlers who are between about 12 and 20 months. This program is a transition program for infants who are quickly growing into toddlers. They are very curious to explore their surroundings. They focus of this room is sensory exploration. Sight, smell, taste, touch and sounds are so vivid to these little people that they want to investigate everything around them.

Our Toddler program is for children aged from about 20 months until they are 2½ years old and potty trained. The children in this class are active and quick to respond to any stimuli brought into the classroom. At about 24 months, children begin to focus on potty training. We work and-in-hand with our parents to help the child achieve this goal. No child is pushed or pressured into potty training; however, potty training is introduced to all of the children through watching their peers, story books about potty training, and through more acute self-awareness. Potty training is very individual - each child will become potty trained at his/her own pace. We have found that most children are potty trained and ready to move to the next class by 30 months. Once again, children at this age will be moved to the next class when they are developmentally ready, not by chronological age, although no child will advance before the age of 30 months.

PRESCHOOL

The Preschool Program is designed for children aged 2½ and potty-trained to 4 years old. The class offers age-appropriate preschool activities, like: reciting the alphabet, color and shape recognition, counting skills and basic number recognition, fine motor coordination. This class emphasizes social skills and self-skills, which are tremendously helpful to children as they begin their journeys through early childhood education and the transition from the "me" stage to the "we" stage.

JUNIOR KINDERGARTEN

The Junior class is a class designed to prepare your 4-year old to begin Kindergarten the following year. Basic math is introduced. Fine motor development is encouraged. The children can usually recognize and write their name during their year in the Junior program. This class is academically structured, but social skills are still an important part of this program. The 4-year old is very independent, but is still unsure of himself/herself at times, and needs constant praise and encouragemet. Memorization plays a crucial role in this class, and facts are a must! 4-year olds love to quote fascinating information and relay advice on a daily basis.

KINDERGARTEN

Learning Years provides on-site Kindergarten for 5-year olds at the Landmark and Jenkins locations. It has the advantages of a private school in the areas of one-on-one attention, smaller ratios, field trips, and it meets requirements of the local school districts. All thre Learning Years Day Schools bus Kindergarteners to and from local public schools for Kindergarten.

SCHOOL-AGE PROGRAM

Our school-age program is a sports and crafts program geared for the elementary-aged child. We offer a fun, relaxed, but structured atmosphere for our elementary-aged children. Since they have been in a controlled, academic program all day, a few of our activities include self expression; such as: quite play, group art projects, group sports activities, individual homework time, and a hearty after-school snack.

The Learning Years school bus is used to pick up the elementary school children from the local grade schools. Only trained staff drive ~ a key person at each school or their substitute. All drivers hold a current Oregon CDL (Commercial Drivers License).