Program
Rainbow Kids Learning Center encourages children to choose freely from a wide range of play and learning experiences, and in doing so, help them to recognize, understand and express their own emotions as well as to sympathize with the emotions of others.

The variety of experiences include; opportunities for creative self-expression through the media of dance, musical rhythms and art; development of manipulative skills and motor coordination through carpentry, puzzles, blocks, gross-motor equipment; the increase of knowledge through cooking and science activities; the development of concepts through exposure to materials which stimulate basic awareness; growth of language skills through stories, songs and dramatic play; and relaxation through water play and other quiet activities.

The program is administered by a full time Director and a part time assistant director, with over 20 years of combined experience.  Please contact us directly for more detailed information or to schedule a visit to the center.

We provide full and part-time schedule options, and have many learning enrichments that include our exuberant musical classes, hands on learning experiences through local zoo and farm visits as well as practical living experiences that include visits from our local police and fire departments, dental hygienists and other community workers.

Our space is full of large, spacious and open classrooms with lots of light and viewing windows. We believe that having children play outdoors is very important. We spent a lot of time designing the outdoor playgrounds to reflect this belief. We have four age appropriate playgrounds and many grassy areas to enhance the children's outdoor play experiences.

Our teachers are all certified by EEC. We require that all of our staff is CPR & First Aid trained, even the assistants. Our teachers get at least 20 hours of training in early childhood to keep up with the ever-changing field.

Our Program consists of 8 classrooms:

Infant Room
ages 1 month to 15 months*
*Infants can transition to the Toddler Room as early as 12 months depending on their developmental needs*
Our classroom ratios in the Infant Room are 2 teachers to 7 children or 1 teacher to 3 children.

The Infant Room is setup with many activity areas and equipment that provide sensory stimulation for your baby. This is crucial for all of the ever-changing stages of development your baby goes through.

There is a bar with a mirror for little ones to pull them up and cruise along. We start literacy skills early at Rainbow Kids Learning Center. Infants will find lots of books around the classroom, to explore with all of their senses.

Our staff is sensitive to the needs of each infant and takes great care to accommodate each baby’s individual daily schedule, referencing parent notes to staff and providing notes to parents about their child's day. Parents can call during the day to check on their baby or come by and visit anytime with our open door policy. Nursing mothers are always more than welcome to visit and feed baby if the mom’s daily schedule allows for it.

Toddler Program (Toddler Transition Room (TTR) and Toddlers)
ages 12 months to 2.9 years. 
The toddler classrooms have a 1 teacher to 4 children or 2 teacher to 9 children ratio.

The Toddler Rooms are a place full of activity! We truly believe that toddlers tell us what they need through their actions. For example, if they are climbing on things, they are saying they need to climb, so we would bring in a climber. We provide an open area where the children can strengthen their walking skill as well as have lots of room to wander from activity to activity. We have also established smaller spaces where children can go to be alone. We provide multiples of the same type of toys to help reduce conflicts over toys.

As this age group makes the transition from infancy to toddlerhood, the teachers work with the children to develop self-help skills, such as feeding themselves, putting away toys or helping a friend. This age is a prime time for children’s' language to start to blossom. Teachers keep that in mind and provide a language rich environment by continuously talking to the children. Teachers talk through every process, such as diaper changes, to help the children learn new language, as well as help them understand what is going on around them. We have a structured schedule that helps to provide a consistent routine. The class follows a theme curriculum that is changed weekly using songs, finger plays and stories. The children are also provided with an expressive art activity, emphasizing process over product.

Preschool Transition Room (PTR)
Ages 2 to 3.5 years
1 teacher to 4 children/2 teachers to 9 children ratio

The PTR Room is an active place where all kinds of learning occurs throughout the day. You will see lots of hands-on learning experiences and children physically trying out new things to learn how to do them. The PTR age group is getting ready to transition into Preschool. We help get them ready by focusing on independence and self-help skills, such as by having low shelves that allow the children to make free choices as to what toys they would like to use. Teachers encourage the children to clean up after themselves, to get their own coats on, get their own tissues when they need one and even fix their own mats before nap. After naptime the children are part of the clean up process by helping put away their own mats. We look at these accomplishments as big steps that we praise.

The caregivers in the PTR Room are experienced in caring for and teaching both toddlers and young preschoolers. This helps to provide the appropriate curriculum and activities that all the developmental stages need. The curriculum covers all subject areas like fine motor skills, gross motor skills, music, books and sensory and discovery. Art projects are open-ended; based on the monthly and weekly themes. We have circle time daily and during this time we encourage the children to use language by asking open-ended questions. We also sing songs, listening to stories and working on our listening skills. We talk about the colors and shapes of all the things around us. The children will start to recognize letters and numbers at this early age.

Preschool
ages 2.9 years to 5 years
Your child comes into Preschool as a toddler and leaves a full-fledged preschooler! The classroom is always bustling with activities. The children freely move from one activity to another, and are encouraged to cleanup as they go. Children at this age are becoming very independent. We encourage their independence by setting up activities and the classroom in a way that will foster their self-help skills. For example: We keep the lunch boxes down low and the children go and get their own lunch boxes at lunch time. We encourage them to open up their own Ziploc baggies and straws. This helps them with self-help skills as well as helping them to develop good hand-eye coordination. This is also a typical time for toilet learning. Toilet learning will be done on an individual basis, as your child shows they are physically as well as emotionally ready for it. A big goal of this classroom is to help your child become a self-sufficient individual, while thoroughly enjoying the process.

The Preschool curriculum is based on the childrens' interests. The materials are presented in a “learn at your own pace” manner, which is comfortable for the young child, because children develop at different rates. We practice emergent curriculum which is child directed vs. teacher directed. There is no wrong way to do the activities in Preschool. This will help the children feel successful and free to explore their imaginations and strengthen their self-esteem. Circle time in Preschool is a little longer and more structured. The group will meet in the morning to plan their day. The children will learn new songs, listen to more stories and have discussions that promote language and help the children feel comfortable talking in front of others.

On a weekly basis, the children will learn about a new letter, shape and color. These are posted on the parent board so parents can talk to children about them at home too. We will talk about these in the classroom by reading books, discussions and lots of fun games.

K-Ready
Ages 4.9 to 8 Years
The Rainbow Kids K-Ready classroom is a room that offers a stimulating and fun learning environment for children who are of Kindergarten age but may have missed the cut off date or children who are older fours who need a little extra enrichment in their learning experience.  This room also offers care for children who attend the local public school.  They usually join us before and after school care but are also able to spend the day with us when their elementary school is closed.   Our K-Ready program promotes learning in a small group setting, allowing a more individualized education. The classroom is set up for learning to take place in a more hands-on environment. The day consists of a balanced mix of structured activities and learning experiences, as well as time for children to make their own individualized choices of activities at various centers throughout the classroom, such as dramatic areas, art areas, block areas and library areas. There are enough places for daily activities to occur and also some areas for quiet and relaxing time if that is what a child may be seeking. 

We believe that the love of learning starts at a very young age. That is why we believe it should be made fun. We provide children with the opportunity to learn about the world around them at a "learn at your own pace" manner. Children should be praised for what they are good at. We look for children's strengths and encourage them to build on them by providing a wide range of activities.

Our core curriculum includes the following:

English and Language Arts – We want children to enjoy reading and writing. We will look for books and topics that interest them. The children will be introduced to the basic reading skills, speaking skills, listening skills and writing skills. Phonics videos will be used as an assistant tool to help the children learn about letters.

Math – The children will be introduced to numbers 1-100 and practice writing them, as well as sorting, graphing, looking at patterns, adding and subtracting money, basic measurements, how to tell time and calendar skills.

Social Studies – We will use our community to teach the children about families, different homes, transportation, our country and different holidays that each classmate celebrates. We will also talk about other countries and traditions by the use of books, maps and globes.

Science – We are so lucky to have so much nature right in our own backyard. We will be taking lots of nature walks and discussing the world around us. We have a hands-on approach to science by providing many experiments where the children can see how things work.

Physical Development – We will evaluate each child's gross motor development, as well as fine motor development. This will give us a better understanding where the children are at developmentally. Early writing skills and good penmanship are developed by providing plenty of opportunities for children to work with their hands. We will also provide time twice per day to work on gross motor development through participating outdoors in sports, obstacles or bike riding.

Values – We believe this part of our curriculum may be the most important. Children learn right from wrong at a very young age. They also observe what is acceptable and what is not. Our goals are to:

• Foster tolerance of others' beliefs and appreciation of differences, as well as similarities.
• Demonstrate a sense of community
• Develop teamwork and helping others