THE LEARNING CENTER'S PHILOSOPHY

Our goal is to facilitate your child's growth as a whole person

This means that we care about his intellectual growth, his physical growth, his social growth, and his emotional growth. We are here to create an environment where all these kinds of growth can happen. To do this we will use every interaction we have with your child. Your child is always learning about himself, his environment, and the people he relates to. The conclusions he comes to about what kind of place this world is and what kind of person he is will color and influence the rest of his life. The attitudes he learns from the people around him will be crucial to his success, his happiness, and his ability to learn and be creative.

The TLC program is based on a number of assumptions:

1. Children must feel secure, their basic needs met, before they are free to be curious to explore, to learn fully and to be creative.
2. Children are learning all the time - every minute. We can only facilitate or hinder the process.
3. It is the process of learning and creating and becoming competent that is essential, not the product.
4. Every child is an individual with his own perfect pace and way of learning.
5. Emotional, social, physical and intellectual growth are all equally important.
6. Every situation is an opportunity for learning.
7. Children are just as aware of non-verbal messages as what we say.
8. Children, no matter how young, are capable of making choices and making their needs known.
9. Children are capable of understanding far more and doing much more than we ever suspected.
10. Emotional health is based on knowing what you feel and being able to express your feelings.
11. Children deserve to be loved and respected for just who they are, not for what they can do.
12. Punitive reactions increase resentment and anger, lower self-esteem, and increase the likelihood of more undesirable behavior.

We want to prepare children to interact effectively and be successful outside of the center.

We strive to provide an environment in which children can: learn social skills, positive ways to get what they want from other children and adults, learn how to ask for what they want, learn about trust and safety, learn to be appropriately assertive, develop new areas of competence socially, physically, intellectually and creatively, learn to respect others, learn give and take, learn to be self-regulating, learn empathy, develop age-appropriate skills, develop confidence in their own thinking and problem-solving abilities, develop positive self-esteem, and find joy in accomplishment, learn to communicate effectively and to deal with conflict, learn to know themselves as distinct and unique individuals with likes, feelings, and values.

We encourage the children to: show kindness, courtesy and tolerance, be self-directed, develop their potential as loving human beings, to express their thoughts and feelings.

We want to provide: a safe, secure, caring environment so that children are comfortable with exploring the environment and learning about themselves, to provide the parents with the security of knowing that their children are safe and well cared for, to provide parents with a resource for parenting information and answers to their questions, to provide a nurturing environment that encourages children to be independent.

It is the people and their assumptions, attitudes, values,

and ways of interacting that are our program at TLC.

Child care is probably one of the most demanding and challenging professions that exist. Teachers at TLC care passionately about education and fostering creativity and learning. We believe that a child's early learning experiences have a crucial impact on their capacity to learn and grow and be whole people.

The absolutely crucial variables in a learning environment are how you interact with a child, your assumptions about how learning happens, your attitudes, your values, and how you react to a child's aggressiveness, his fears, his demands, his accomplishments, and his feelings.

The focus at TLC is on organic learning. Let me use the example of ABCs or numbers to talk about organic learning. We do use letters and numbers, point them out matter of factly, use them to block print, answer kids' questions about them, use numbers to talk about the number of kids at the table and the number of glasses we will need. But numbers or letters are not a separate lesson divorced from our everyday routines, and no one is a better or worse person because he knows or doesn't know them.

We help your child to take pleasure in what he can do rather than rewarding him for performing to please us. True happiness and true learning comes from learning what you like; it comes from doing for yourself. We do model behavior we'd like your child to learn. When we genuinely are pleased, we say thanks; we ask for things in a pleasing tone of voice, often using the word please, but we don't ask the kids to learn these things by rote, or to say them when they don't mean them.

Organic learning uses the situation we are involved in to explore, to raise questions, to conceptualize, to look at feelings. A child learns when he gets hurt. If we acknowledge his pain, put his feelings into words, react in a caring and concerned way, then he will grow up able to acknowledge and respond to other people's pain, and he will grow up trusting other people and able to be honest and act congruently with his feelings. If we are fearful and over-concerned, he learns to be afraid of getting hurt. If the child is afraid and we rescue him rather than support him and facilitate his learning, he learns to avoid fearful situations and never knows the joy of learning to do something difficult by himself.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM TEACHERS AT TLC

TLC staff members are the Center's greatest resource. Their experience, understanding and support are vital to busy parents. At the same time, parental interest and support makes the work of our teachers easier, more enjoyable and more effective. TLC's teachers devote hours of unpaid time to prepare activities, plan programs and contribute to the upkeep and maintenance of the Center. The appreciation that parents show them pays off for everyone in a happier and better motivated group of professionals.

TLC's primary focus is the children. Teachers are selected for their skills in working with children of specific age groups and their dedication to the well-being of the children entrusted to them. TLC attracts highly educated, experienced, competent and caring staff only because this one of the most demanding and challenging professions that exist. Teachers are trained to assist in each child's development and have helped children through first day jitters and other difficult stages many times before.

Although TLC teachers are motivated and encouraged to turn their attention first to the children, they welcome frequent communication with parents. As you get to know the teaching staff, you will find them warm, engaging, responsible and thoroughly worthy of your trust. If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to speak up. Teachers welcome daily conversations on how a child is doing, or on particular needs or concerns. They will also initiate discussion with you about any concerns they have about your child or observations they think may be of interest to you. Feel free also to ask about your child's day: meals, naps, play time, artwork, music, crafts or any other activities.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT AT TLC

Parent involvement is an important component in the successful operation of the TLC program. There are a number of ways in which parents can participate in school activities and all these efforts contribute to the enhancement of the TLC community for our children.

Workdays

There are two required parent/staff workdays each year. These are held on Saturdays, once in the Fall, once in the Spring. Projects range from painting and cleaning, to skilled carpentry and plumbing. Do not feel intimidated if you do not know a torque wrench from a blowtorch. There are plenty of jobs that require no special skills, just elbow grease. Jobs are posted in advance so parents can sign up and bring the appropriate tools and materials. Some parents complete their projects at home and then bring them to TLC. The workdays are an excellent opportunity to meet other parents, to build community spirit and to contribute substantially to the smooth operation of the school. Snacks and coffee are provided and child care is offered by one or more parents during the workday.

Failure to complete four hours work will result in a penalty fee of $75 per workday. It is our sincerest desire that parents contribute their time and skills to making needed repairs and improvements. However, we recognize that for some families, scheduling conflicts may occasionally prevent their participation.. The resulting $75 contribution will serve as an offset to the additional expense of completing the necessary tasks thereby allowing all TLC families to contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of the Center.

Fundraising

There are two major annual fund-raisers. Funds garnered from fundraising are used replace worn out toys, furniture and equipment and make improvements that are not included in the budget and would otherwise not be accomplished.

Rummage Sale: The Center holds a rummage and bake sale in the Spring which draws hundreds of shoppers in search of good deals. TLC families and friends contribute old clothes, books, household furnishings and equipment, and baked goods so please save your treasures throughout the year for this event! Parents coordinate the planning and operation of the sale. This event has proven to be the single most effective means of fundraising for TLC and typically requires 20-30 volunteers to cover tasks ranging from pre-sale publicity to clean-up.

Direct Appeal: The Direct Appeal campaign for contributions is held in the Fall. This is intended as a purely voluntary opportunity for parents to make a confidential financial contribution to TLC. These gifts are fully tax deductible and this money is earmarked exclusively for improvement for TLC's program and facilities.

Other Volunteer Opportunities

Parent volunteers can be called upon to assist in various projects during the year. We maintain a parent resource directory, which lists the results of an annual parent talent assessment survey. Entries include parents willing to help out with phone trees, the newsletter, preparation of arts and crafts for teachers, cooking, repairs, science projects, field trips and a number of other activities. In addition, there are occasional small fund raising opportunities that are identified and pursued if there are parent volunteers able to manage the effort.

Finally, parents may be asked to serve on the Board of Directors. The board and the staff are always interested in new ideas for improvements to the program. We depend on parents to tell us how we are doing. We hope that all parents will share their brainstorms and their concerns and help TLC to provide the best possible care for our children.

SUMMARY OF PARENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Arrival/Departure/Absences

• Sign your child in and out including expected pick-up time.

• Communicate with teachers at drop-off any pertinent information about your child's physical or emotional condition including any special situations or stresses.

• Pick up your child promptly by 12:30 p.m. or 5:30 p.m.

• Communicate with teachers at pick-up time about your child's day and inform them that your child is leaving.

• If notified that your child has become ill while at TLC, prompt pick-up is required.

• Notify teachers or call the center as early as possible when your child is ill or will be absent or on vacation.

• If someone other than the parent is responsible for dropping off or picking up your child, the parent is responsible for informing the person of these responsibilities.

Personal Possessions

• Provide two changes of clothing for your child and appropriate outdoor clothing for the weather (jackets and rain coats and boots) Please label all your child's clothing.

• Leave your child's toys in the car or at home, except for a soft nap time lovey or items for sharing time in the Big Kids' Room.

Communications

• Read posted information on bulletin boards near sign-in sheets, on white boards outside rooms and on signs on or near doors.

• Check your child's art cubby daily for messages, notices and newsletters. Messages for little kids' parents will be found in their regular cubbies.

• Keep emergency information updated and staff informed at all times as to whom we can reach in case of illness or emergency.

Finances

• Pay fees monthly by the first of the month, or the lst and 15th if you have made arrangements to pay twice monthly. You will not be billed. Please place fee checks in the plastic file boxes marked "parent box" on the Little Kids' Room cubbies or on the Middle Kids' Room refrigerator. It is not necessary to put your check in an envelope.

• Give one month notice to withdraw your child October to May. Departure date for children graduating or leaving in June, July, August or September is required by May 1st.

Parental Participation

• Both parents agree to make every effort to attend parent/teacher conferences held annually in the Spring.

• There are two required four hour parent/staff workdays held each year. Lack of participation in the workday and failure to arrange alternative work projects will result in a $75 penalty fee per workday..

• Participate in yearly fundraising activities.