Our Programs
(6 weeks to 15 months old)
Infant Program
Intellectual Development:
- Language - talking to child during all interactions, incorporating sign language and "simple signs" whenever possible
- Cognitive- showing cause / effect
- Creativity - creating a stimulating environment through the use of sound, music, different textures, vinyl, soft, and board books, art activities (with a little help from the Teachers) and sensory experiences with parents permission
Physical Development:
- Movement- encourage crawling and walking through use of exersaucers, exercise mats, play mats.
- Encourage supportive sitting, rolling over, swings, chairs and infant seats. Occasionally go for buggy rides indoors (outdoor "outings" are weather permitting and with parent permission)
- Health- adequate rest-sleep as necessary for each child, appreciation for quiet play.
Social Development:
- Behavioral skills- intervening when children during disagreement and/or over activity / stimulation
- Kindly redirect behaviors whenever needed (as children of this age cannot yet mediate themselves)
- Staff facilitates infant social interaction when he or she is interested in looking at, touching, or vocalizing to others.
Emotional Development:
- Security - responding to expressed needs, keeping child safe at all times, keeping detailed records of parents requests for their young child to maintain ongoing two way communication. Carrying out schedules directed by parents to establish a partnership with families.
- Love - touching, caressing, comforting, holding during feedings, changing, conversation with infants and play.
- Records- keeping documented detailed records of each child's likes and dislikes and following and carrying out parents instruction for each child’s individual needs.
Extras about our enriched infant program
- Infant cribs are right in our classroom, so Infants can be within sight and sound at all times and this meets all NAEYC accreditation standards.
- Infant staff are First Aide, CPR & SUIDS certified. We have on-site monthly health consultant visits. These services are provided by our certified health consulting firm, HCCC.
We support breast feeding mothers.
Infant children are supervised and within sight and sound of our staff at all times.
(16 months to 33 months old)
Toddler Program
Intellectual Development:
- Language - encourage speech and vocabulary, conversations, show and tell, stories, songs, reading, tape stories, and incorporating "simple signs" and Spanish
- Cognitive- exploration, nature, matching, sorting, stories, shapes and colors, books, puzzles
- Creativity- dramatic play, art activities, music activities.
Physical Development:
- Large Muscle - encourage movement, climbing, sliding, ball play, riding toys, swings, balance, creating obstacles, creative movements, outdoor play, buggy rides
- Small Muscle- playing on the floor with staff and other children, hand / eye coordination activities, cutting, pasting, large blocks, beading strings, etc.
- Health- develop healthy eating and food choices, appreciate the need for rest and quiet times.
Social Development:
- Behavior skills- encourage cooperation and assistance during activities, discuss limits and the needs for them
- Interactive skills- large and small group activities, stories, games, music, dance, song, show and tell.
Emotional Development:
- Self esteem- positive reinforcement and encouraging self-exploration, discussion of feelings, role-play, story time, dramatic play.
- Independence- providing choices, encouraging self motivation, self- help skills
Lit'l Sprouts promotes "Hands-On" activities and for Toddlers to encourage creativity, and sign language is used daily .
Toddler children are supervised and within sight and sound of our staff at all times.
(33 months to 4 years old)
Preschool Program
Intellectual Development:
- Language - encourage speech, develop language and increase vocabulary, reading books, stories geared towards school readiness.
- Cognitive - problem solving, use of the alphabet, flash cards, counting, colors, sorting, weights and measures, activities involving letters and numbers, calendar time, nature & science, water & sand play, social studies, art and block play, and computer time.
- Creativity - exploration of art mediums, art activities, music, song and dance.
Physical Development:
- Large Muscle – hand -eye coordination activities: climbing, riding, lifting, kicking, throwing balls, jump ropes, test body strength, self movement, and balance.
- Small Muscle - cutting, printing, tying shoes, puppets.
- Health - try different foods, develop healthy eating and food choices, and appreciate the need for rest and quiet times.
Social Development:
- Behavior skills- discussion of rules, limits, develop self discipline and expectations through appropriate behavior in all aspects of the daily activities, self control in a group, pleasant conversations, helping other children, games, songs, and dance, listening skills, appreciate the value in others, clean- up of toys / materials.
- Interactive skills-small and large group activities, understanding the rights and responsibilities of others, learn to play with other children, diplomatic medication, music, dance, sharing, taking turns.
Emotional Development:
- Self esteem- positive feedback and supportive environment, dramatic play, self expression activities, body awareness, and helping others.
- Independence - participation in class planning, making choices, and the importance of self help skills.
Preschool enriched curriculum & individualized learning opportunities are KEY to your child’s success in Kindergarten!
Preschool age children are supervised and within sight and sound of our staff at all times.
(4 years to Kindergarten Entrance)
Pre-Kindergarten Program
Intellectual Development:
- Language - encourage speech, develop language and increase vocabulary, reading books, stories geared towards school readiness.
- Cognitive - problem solving, use of the alphabet, flash cards, counting, colors, sorting, weights and measures, activities involving letters and numbers, calendar time, nature & science, water & sand play, social studies, art and block play, and computer time.
- Creativity - exploration of art mediums, art activities, music, song and dance.
Physical Development:
- Large Muscle – hand -eye coordination activities: climbing, riding, lifting, kicking, throwing balls, jump ropes, test body strength, self movement, and balance.
- Small Muscle - cutting, printing, tying shoes, puppets.
- Health - try different foods, develop healthy eating and food choices, and appreciate the need for rest and quiet times.
Social Development:
- Behavior skills- discussion of rules, limits, develop self discipline and expectations through appropriate behavior in all aspects of the daily activities, self control in a group, pleasant conversations, helping other children, games, songs, and dance, listening skills, appreciate the value in others, clean- up of toys / materials.
- Interactive skills-small and large group activities, understanding the rights and responsibilities of others, learn to play with other children, diplomatic medication, music, dance, sharing, taking turns.
Emotional Development:
- Self esteem- positive feedback and supportive environment, dramatic play, self expression activities, body awareness, and helping others.
- Independence - participation in class planning, making choices, and the importance of self help skills.
Preschool enriched curriculum & individualized learning opportunities are KEY to your child’s success in Kindergarten!
Preschool age children are supervised and within sight and sound of our staff at all times.
(Kindergarten to 12 years old)
School Age Program
Intellectual Development:
- Language - engage in conversations with children and teachers, reading, and vocabulary.
- Cognitive /Technologically advanced equipment- science, math, cooking, board games, blocks, problem solving, nature and computer time (with our cutting edge computer technology), video game equipment and occasional movie time options
- Expression of ideas, arts and crafts, make and take days and stories
Physical Development:
- Large Muscle - outdoor activities and climbers, organized sports, movement games, hop scotch, bean bag toss, jump rope, relays.
- Small Muscle - manipulation of toys, craft projects, carpentry projects, creative moments.
- Health - try different foods, develop healthy eating and food choices, and appreciate the need for rest and quiet times.
Social Development:
- Behavior skills- discussion of rules, limits, expectations, helping others and the importance of group involvement and team building.
- Interactive skills- self control in a group, pleasant conversations, group cooperation on field trips, work on team building skills (incorporating those activities), helping staff and other children, games, songs, and dance
Emotional Development:
- Self esteem- self-expression, verbal encouragement and reinforcement, acknowledgment of moods and feelings, develop appropriate ways to express feelings, use of films, age- appropriate books.
- Independence - Explore familiar and unfamiliar environments develop relationships with others, individualized and self-motivated activities through encouragement, dramatic play and free play opportunities.
School Age pm Activities Offered:
- Monday: Game Day
- Tuesday: Art / craft
- Wednesday: Science / Math / Exploration
- Thursday: Writing & Reading
- Friday: Free Day
School Age program offers additional transportation from Targeted Services
*additional charges apply
School age children are supervised and within sight and sound of our staff at all times.
Educational Methods
Lit'l Sprouts strives to give your child the best opportunities in learning. Each month's themes are integrated into your child’s lessons with both weekly and daily activities. Our curriculum is based on the following learning objectives: physical,cognitive, emotional and social development. As your child advances, specific skills are learned, each child's progress is documented, conferences are held throughout the year and the foundation is set for advancement to the next milestones.
We strive to meet the core competencies standards for Early Childhood Education set forth by the Minnesota Association for Education of Young Children (MnAEYC). These standards are designed as a framework for understanding and learning for young children. Throughout the day, children are taught and are able to participate in fun "hands-on" activities and learning games, which shape, but are not limited to their intellectual, physical, social, or emotional development on a daily basis. From Infant to School Age, our staff has age-appropriate weekly lesson plans designed to be within the abilities of the child, yet challenge's their creative talents and imagination. Individuality is encouraged, as our goal is to help children within this diverse community understand and develop as well-rounded individuals.
Our Curriculum
Our curriculum we use is Creative Curriculum. This curriculum is research based and a research-proven curriculum that helps teachers to be their most effective, while still honoring their creativity and respecting their critical role in making learning exciting and relevant for every child. Creative Curriculum allows our teachers to gear the activities and learning for their classroom environment, based on the interests of the children. Teachers do observations daily and assess children's progress, individualize or adapt learning when necessary, and are used as a guide for our teachers' development and implementation of learning opportunities which are consistent with the program's goals and objectives. Curriculum is implemented in a manner that is reflective to the responsiveness of each family home values, beliefs, and experiences and language. Our day is fairly structured in nature. This is to help prepare and give children the school readiness skills they will need for the early years of schooling. The Creative Curriculum helps our practitioners create a high-quality learning environment that enables every child to become a creative, confident thinker. Our classrooms are re-arranged every 10 days to keep things interesting for the students. Variances can arise occasionally to accommodate the changing needs and interests of the class and will be noted on lesson plans. A weekly lesson plan will be posted in each classroom, and is in your child's daily file so you and your child can engage in conversation about their day and most importantly skills learned!
Lit'l Sprouts Child Care Center Objectives
Every child be given the opportunity to:
- Have our center be a comfortable, safe place to attend.
- Have our center be an extension of your family with caring staff.
- Participate in age-appropriate "hands on" activities that are teacher driven and child initiated both in and outdoors.
- Do activities within their own abilities, yet challenge's their creative talents and imagination.
- Learn, play and interact with children who are similar in age.
- Establish caring relationships with both other children and adults.
- Provoke questions, try new things, provide input, and feel good about a "job well done" and their efforts.
- Learn independently and develop good self-esteem.
- Learn about diversity and our community.
General Information & Environment
Lit'l Sprouts Infant, Toddler, and Preschool 1 rooms are self-contained. These rooms have their own restroom and hand washing sinks in accordance with Minnesota Rules, 9503. The Preschool 2 and School Aged space is set up with interest areas being divided between available areas. All of the interest groups required by licensing are offered in each classroom area. A benefit of having interest areas set up in this fashion is to allow children greater freedom to explore within these larger areas without feeling crowded. Large dramatic play equipment is rotated occasionally for variety and to encourage creativity.
Our weekly lesson plans are posted and include such areas but are not limited to: Arts and crafts, music, dramatic play, manipulative, cognitive, group time, math, science, quiet time, games and large motor activities. Schedules and lesson plans are in place to insure an appropriate balance of daily activities. Activities are subject to change upon occasion due to spontaneous activities, which happen naturally. Our staff encourages and supports child initiated inquires and activities and believes that it enriches their educational experiences here at Lit'l Sprouts.
Secure Entry Access System
Lit’l Sprouts Child Care Center has a secure fingerprint access system, which makes pick up / drop off easy, safe and secure. Each time a finger print is read (and a person as appropriate authentication rights), a child is automatically checked in or out for the day. All other individuals who do not have authorization, are not able to enter our building. Our families love this system!
