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.
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.