Leicester early learning center: Leicester Early Learning Center – Home
Leicester Early Learning Center – Home
Message to Parents
The Leicester Early Learning Center, the perfect center for all your Child Care Needs!
We offer the highest quality care and educational programs for the best prices in the area. We are licensed by The Department of Early Education and Care and accept vouchers through Child Care Resources. Visit our warm, loving, nurturing and healthy environment where our children are happy and actively learning in our well planned educational programs. Our center is conveniently located on Rt. 9, Main St., near the center of town! Come in to meet our loving, caring, educated staff and our devoted director. We all work together to do so much more than simply care for your child!
Our hours are Monday – Friday 6:45am to 5:30pm, year round. We strive to meet the service needs of all families by offering full time and part-time programs as well as full and half day pre-school programs. We are only closed for the 6 major holidays and the day after Thanksgiving. We are open all summer but allow for you to take your vacation when it is convenient for you. We will hold an opening for families who do not need care all summer long.
We encourage you to explore our website further to learn more about our staff, our center, and its programs! Feel free to contact us now for more questions or a tour of our facility. We hope to see you soon!
Sincerely,
Patricia Shevory
Director/Founder
Programs
Infants
Preschool
Toddlers
1-15 Months
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Toddlers
Preschool
Toddlers
15 Months – 2 Years 9 Months
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Preschool
Preschool
Preschool
2 Years 9 Months – 4 Years
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Pre-K
School-Age
School-Age
4 and 5 Years
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School-Age
School-Age
School-Age
Kindergarten-Age 10
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Forms for Enrollment
Enrollment Packet (pdf)
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Infant/ Toddler Handbook (pdf)
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Preschool Handbook (pdf)
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Programs
Infants 1-15 Months
In our infant program, interactions with your child are the most important aspect of the program.
With low teacher to child ratios, your child’s teacher is able to hold them, talk to them, read to them and bond with them throughout the day.We realize the importance of working hand in hand with you to support your child’s growth and development. Hand written notes will be provided daily in order to give parents a snapshot of what has been going on during their child’s day. Some of the information you will receive includes feedings, diapering, naps, projects and outside time as well as what areas of development your child has been working on. Knowing how difficult it can be on parents leaving their young children in the care of others, we offer an open-door policy. Parents can feel free to call throughout the day to check on their child and parents are always welcome to stop by throughout the day for a visit.
Because of the individual needs of young children, the daily schedule varies to meet the needs of each child. A typical day in an infant room would include the basics such as feeding, diapering and napping as well as tummy time, floor play, music and movement and lots of one-on-one attention.
Walks and outside time are incorporated into your child’s daily schedule as well.
Toddlers 15 Months-2 Years 9 Months
In our toddler program, we believe in providing a nurturing environment so that your child feels safe, secure and comfortable. Toddlers are so full of energy and they are always looking to learn new things. Our curriculum is designed to support and reinforce natural curiosity and independence that toddlers exhibit by providing them with hands on, fun and interesting activities.
The teachers in this program encourage social, physical, language and cognitive development through reading, art, music, dance and play. We will also assist children with learning to share, taking turns, cooperating, expanding language and vocabulary, as well as with self-help skill such as potty training.
Preschool 2 Years 9 Months-4 Years
Our preschool program offers a developmentally appropriate educational curriculum for both full and half-day children.
This program allows teachers to plan an enriching learning experience for children. This is often a child’s first school experience so we want it to be a wonderful, positive, fulfilling experience that will help develop a love of learning. This program has an emphasis on teaching social skills such as listening, sharing, cooperation and communication but we are also able to incorporate many aspects of learning into the daily schedule. Activities that teach not only math skills, language arts and science are included in the daily learning experience of our preschool children but we also make sure to provide activities to enrich your child’s problem solving skills, self-esteem and understanding of healthy living. The daily schedule of a preschool-age child would include:
- Free play at the learning centers (learning centers that are offered daily include; block area, science table, texture table, math center, library, dramatic play, writing center, creative art, and something special)
- Circle time including calendar, weather, jobs, introduction of theme or letter of the week
- Two snacks & lunch
- Outdoor time: the children will have outdoor time once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
- Learning centers, small-group activities and teacher directed activities
- Large-group circle time activities- with language art experiences such as books, music and movement, finger plays, flannel stories etc.
- Rest time is required daily for children in the preschool age range. Each child will be provided with his/her own mat. For those children who do not sleep during the day, a book or quiet activity will be provided.
Pre-K 4-5 Years
This is a preschool program and we offer all of the same curriculum experiences as our preschool program (see above). However, in this classroom it is the year before kindergarten so we put an emphasis on exposing your child to even more reading readiness skills such as phonological awareness, print awareness and oral language experiences. Planned lessons and units also include more complex activities in the areas of math, science, and social studies than in the preschool program.
School-Age 5-10 Years
At Leicester Early Learning, we understand the demands of hard working parents and take pride in offering flexible schedules for school age children. We offer both before and after school care as well as care for days the public school is closed, including summer time, school vacation days, snow days, early release and delays. Parents are able to drop children off as early as 6:45 am and we are open until 5:30 pm. The school bus will drop off and/or pick up your child right out our front door to transport them to school.We realize that the children have been in school all day so they are offered a variety of activities to choose from. Some of these activities are homework help, snack, outdoor play, indoor free play at the centers, table games, art, cooking etc.Best of all we will allow for part-time and families to choose the days and times when care is needed and only pay for what they need.
During excavations in Leicester Cathedral, the remains of an ancient Roman sanctuary were found – News – Church Research Center “Orthodox Encyclopedia” Excavations by archaeologists from the University of Leicester at Leicester Cathedral have unearthed evidence that the site has been used for worship and religious observance for nearly 1,800 years.
To make way for the construction of a visitor and education center, the cathedral was closed in January 2022. The £12.7m Leicester Cathedral Revealed project unearthed thousands of finds during the excavations.
Excavations have unearthed the basement of a Roman building containing the base of an altar stone, raising the possibility that this room was a sanctuary or other place of worship.
When the archaeologists reached the level of the Roman period, about 3 meters underground, they found evidence of a well-made semi-subterranean structure with painted stone walls and a concrete floor.
Decorative painting suggests that the approximately four by four meter space was used as a reception area rather than storage space, possibly in a larger building.
The room was probably built in the 2nd century AD and was deliberately dismantled and filled in, possibly at the end of the 3rd or 4th century, according to a press release from the University of Leicester.
Archaeologists also found the base of an altar stone in this space. It was broken and lay “face down” among the rubble. The altar measures 25cm x 15cm, carved from local Dane Hills sandstone, and has decorative embellishments on three sides. The back is smooth, indicating that it was intended to be placed against a wall. It was originally taller than wide, perhaps about 60 cm high, but it has a broken shaft in the middle and the top of the pedestal and the capital are missing.
Matthew Morris, Archaeological Survey Project Manager at the University of Leicester, who led the excavation, said: “Given the combination of the subterranean structure with painted walls and the altar we found, an interpretation emerged that seemed to gain momentum as we unearthed more: perhaps , it was a room associated with the worship of a god or gods.
What we are probably considering here is a private place of worship, whether it be a family shrine or a cult room where a small group of people participated in private worship.”
“Such underground chambers were often associated with fertility and mystery cults, as well as with the worship of gods such as Mithras, Cybele, Bacchus, Dionysius and the Egyptian goddess Isis. Unfortunately, no trace of the inscription has been preserved on our altar, but it must have been the main place for sacrifices and offerings to the gods, as well as a key part of their religious ceremonies,” said Matthew Morris.
“The discovery of a Roman altar in Leicester Cathedral, the first ever found in Leicester, is an amazing find for the Leicester Cathedral Revealed project. For centuries, there has been a legend that a Roman temple once stood on the site of the current cathedral. This folk tradition was confirmed at the end of 19century, when a Roman building was discovered during the reconstruction of the church tower.
The origin of this story has always been obscure, but given that we found a potential Roman shrine, along with burials deliberately buried in it after it was demolished, and then a church and its burial ground appeared on top, we see a memory of this place that was special in the Roman period and which has survived to this day,” said Matthew Morris.
Leicester is one of the most excavated cities in Britain, and much is known about the pre-existing Roman city of Rattay Corieltavorum. These latest excavations have aimed to look at different aspects of the city’s history and learn more about the cathedral’s early history as a parish church. Experts will be able to trace the history of this area of Leicester all the way back to the Victorian era, as well as medieval, Saxon, Roman and perhaps even early Iron Age settlements.
Benefits of learning English early
Now you can enroll your child in English classes almost from the cradle, but can a child’s immature brain withstand such a flow of information? Scientists and teachers are in a hurry to dispel parental fears: with a competent approach, early learning of foreign languages is only beneficial and gives tangible benefits in professional and personal development.
Early English learning is a lucky ticket to the future
When should I start learning English?
English for preschoolers
When we worry about the fragile mentality of children, we reason from the height of our age. Meanwhile, after 9 years, foreign languages are more difficult due to the slow formation of new interneuronal connections necessary to switch from one sign system to another. In younger preschoolers, the system of interconnections between different parts of the cerebral cortex has not yet lost plasticity, so preschoolers master colloquial speech without much effort. On the other hand, two signaling systems that are formed in parallel can conflict with each other, which leads to a confusion of pronunciation, prevents the deep assimilation of speech skills and creates the prerequisites for the emergence of neuroses.
The period of speech development is most favorable for learning foreign languages, when words and grammatical constructions are memorized automatically.
According to most scientists, it is best to start learning English between the ages of 3 and 7, when children are already confident in their native language and are capable of conscious learning. At this time, the system of the native language was already established, but the nervous processes are still quite mobile and free from speech clichés.
Three to seven: time to learn English!
The absence of speech defects is one of the main criteria of physiological readiness for learning a foreign language. If a child burrs, lisps, stutters, or has difficulty finding words, it is better to wait a little with languages.
What will early English education give a child?
Teaching English to a preschooler is worth at least for the sake of training cognitive functions before school. Learning foreign languages strengthens memory, disciplines thinking and teaches concentration, creating the prerequisites for good academic performance in all subjects.
In addition, at preschool age it is easier to develop the correct pronunciation. Speech therapists note that early learning of foreign languages develops phonemic hearing and improves the articulatory apparatus.
Sony founder Masaru Ibuka, who heads the National Association for Early Childhood Development in Japan, observed that Japanese people who started learning English before the age of three speak Lord Byron’s language without an accent and do not even confuse the sounds “l” and “r”.
Group classes are great for developing communication skills. The ability to coherently express one’s thoughts and emotions, effectively present oneself and interact with each other greatly facilitates adaptation in a new team.
Lessons in small groups quickly improve English and communication skills
To consolidate positive results, early learning of English should be based on the psychophysiological characteristics of preschoolers.
Since gaming motivation prevails at this age, and the amount of working memory is limited, teaching cannot be based on memorizing large amounts of material and repeatedly repeating the same type of exercises. The formation of internal motivation for classes based on interest in the language and pleasure in the learning process is coming to the fore. Having entered the taste, the child himself will strive to improve his speech skills, and even frankly clumsy teaching of English at school will not interfere with him.
Learning English means not cramming, but listening, speaking and showing!
Early learning of English, among other things, contributes to broadening the horizons and fostering tolerance among the younger generation. Getting used to switching from one sign system to another, children learn to appreciate the cultural diversity of the world and do not suffer from rigid thinking.
When learning is for the future
Rapid fatigue of the child’s nervous system leads to distraction of attention, so it is necessary to alternate different activities and provide children with the opportunity for emotional release.
At the first sign of overwork and stress, stop classes: study should not cause negative associations. There is nothing wrong with breaks – with a positive attitude towards the subject, the baby will easily catch up.
For preschoolers, the game format of the lesson is preferable with a predominance of communicative exercises based on the children’s hobbies. Visual aids and interactive educational materials come to the rescue, in which fairy-tale characters, cartoon characters and peers from English-speaking countries act.
The optimal duration of daily English lessons in preschool is 15 to 25 minutes; regime moments are accompanied by English speech. If the lesson lasts more than half an hour, breaks for outdoor games are required. You can give children creative tasks related to the topic of the lesson: draw or mold the characters of the fairy tale they listened to from plasticine, prepare an application or postcard for the holiday, come up with a continuation of the story, etc.