Your baby receives individual attention, affection, respect, and love. This is a crucial first step in the development of positive self-concepts and feelings of self-worth.

Little People Day Care School of Columbia provides developmental care well beyond the routine custodial care that addresses the infant's basic needs such as being fed, changed, and kept clean and safe. Developmental care can address all of these needs as well as taking care of the infant's need to be held, loved, and talked to, to be stimulated through objects and books to look at and listen to, to play outside the crib and be given help to do more things independently.

Developmental care is care that helps infants develop both their minds and bodies in a safe and healthy environment.

The infant care program at Little People Day Care School of Columbia provides learning in a conscious way, balancing open or free experiences with organized ones. Experiences include:

• Activities for listening and talking
• Physical development
• Creativity through art, music and dramatic play
• Activities to stimulate the five senses
• Learning from the world around them

The group environment of the day care center providing peer socialization and special activities add a special touch - a tradeoff that compensates for being away from home part of the day and a positive addition to your child's life.

At Little People Day Care School of Columbia, your baby's needs are handled promptly, feelings are accepted, and any problems are managed with understanding. The daily schedule is used only as a guide. The day revolves around each baby's individual schedule - including a policy of feeding infants on demand, unless a parent request the use of an established feeding schedule.

Toddlers learn with their whole bodies - not just their heads. They solve problems on a physical level… "Me do it" shows the drive for independence.

Our goal in the toddler room is to provide a safe, nurturing environment where children can feel secure and loved. In the beginning stages of learning, toddlers are full of interest and curiosity with the world around them. Every day is full of new challenges and exciting discoveries.

We believe in encouraging their interests and praising their efforts. This is the foremost building block in helping children develop independence and develop a strong sense of self-esteem and self-worth. We try to channel their energy and exuberance into learning activities and to help them get along with others as they form the first friendships of their lives. Our day consists of many activities, both structured and unstructured. Lessons are designed to stimulate your child, according to age and abilities, and to touch on the following developmental areas:

• Cognitive
• Language
• Gross and fine motor skills
• Creative Arts
• Science - such as nature walks, visits from animals, cloud watching, blowing bubbles
• Math - such as using toys and other fun objects to learn the difference between "big" and "little," finger plays and songs that incorporate numbers, counting objects in the room or on our craft projects
• Social studies - such as group time, learning the names of teachers and friends, and spending time with a special friend while doing a project

Learning centers for art, dramatic play, and tools are also an enjoyable part of your child's day. During this time, your child is engaged in a small group of one or two children. This approach allows your child to express his or her own creativity while interacting with others.

Most of your child's day is spent socializing through play with the other children. Part of the play will be structured - such as marching around the room to music, while other time will be spent doing activities your child chooses.

Our toddlers take an afternoon nap. They go down at Noon and are awakened at 2:30 pm.

For the early three-year-old, it's a life of fantasy and make-believe: where a stuffed animal takes on human characteristics during play….

….But life is not always magical for the older three-year-old, who can be at the same time insecure and self-willed. What was a happy and serene world becomes one of anxious times that require a great deal of patience, understanding, and reinforcement of values.

In the three-year-old classroom, students flourish in a learning community where they feel comfortable and find it easy to ask for help. Families and the community are involved in providing diverse educational programs, with specific "themes" for each week.

The Pre-K I program, designed to meet the developmental needs of your three-year-old, addresses:

• Cognitive skills (memory, logical thinking, relationships)
• Language - your child will receive their first Magaine subscription
• Science
• Math
• Fine Arts
• Hygiene
• Gross and fine motor skills
• Life Skills Program which helps your child learn how to make "good" choices
• Socialization

Our day consists of structured activities such as circle time, learning centers, and group activities, as well as unstructured playtime. This format provides a nice blend of the formal with the opportunity for your child to be creative and imaginative. During circle time, the children come together as a group for shared activities such as the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, review of the calendar and weather, a review about class rules and consequences, and themed activities (finger plays, songs, discussions, or a group activity based on the theme of the week).

Children work in small cooperative groups at learning centers, rotating through four centers throughout the week:

• Math - identifying colors and shapes, counting, measuring, matching, sorting
• Science - discovering which objects will roll, what will float, what will sink, building block towers
• Art - cutting, pasting, coloring, painting, creative expression
• Language arts - recognizing, reciting, and printing the letters of the alphabet, recognizing and printing names, listening to stories, describing and sequencing events in stories and illustrations.

Click here to learn more about our PA Pre-K Counts program.

Lively and adventurous four-year-olds may seem to be quite secure and comfortable with themselves: boasting, bragging, and exaggerating…. But emotions can also be uncertain, with laughter and tears following each other in quick succession.

The main goal of the four-year-old program is to prepare your child for kindergarten. Each child learns at a different pace and in a different way. We believe that through time, preparation, guidance, and lots of love and compassion, your child will reach a level of success. Each child leaves the program with the opportunity to have a good foundation, your child will reach a level of self-esteem and success. A keystone in the four year program is the Life Skills Curriculum which, among other goals, helps children learn how to make "good" choices.

The four-year-old room (Pre-K II) is one of the most important classes of a child's education. In a warm, safe, loving atmosphere, your child feels more comfortable and willing to learn. Your child has the opportunity to encounter many new and exciting experiences including their own Weekly Reader magazine, with the following skills stressed for acceptance into kindergarten:

• Recognize, recite, and print the letters of the alphabet
• Recognize, recite, and print the numbers 1-100
• Count from 1-100
• Recognize their name in print and be able to print in legibly
• Know the month and day of birth
• Know their first and last name
• Know their address and phone number
• Identify the primary shapes
• Identify the colors red, yellow, blue, purple, orange, white, brown, black, green
• Dress themselves (zipper, tie, and button)