Classes
Our preschool program is structured around quality curriculum and routine essential to encouraging development in a fun and caring environment that the children can feel secure in. Little Sprouts Preschool combines education with play-based programming to provide the best learning environment possible. Our 3/4 split classes are designed to allow older children to model behaviour for the younger students, and the younger students to gain experience and knowledge from the older students. We offer this class as a 2 or 3-day option each week.
Little Sprouts Preschool offers a comprehensive and inclusive program that is affordable for parents. Our class sizes remain small, so our adult: child ratio also remains small. We cap our preschool classes at 15 children with two qualified staff on duty at all times.
Our Preschool Program encourages development and growth throughout the year by integrating limitless learning possibilities. Our program is play-based with an emphasis on routine and structure, providing children with opportunities to understand themselves and the world around them. The children in our program develop intellectually, emotionally, physically and socially through play and planned activities. We practice first and last name recognition, recognition and names of colours, shapes, numbers through 31, the days of the week, and the months of the year. All of our transitions and many of our lessons are taught through song. Both of our two-day and three-day per week curriculums are developed around monthly themes, each day the children will complete a corresponding craft and story.
Our program also introduces the children to French through song activities. Once per week, we head across the hall to do gym activities in Community Links’ large space!
Our Junior Kindergarten program offers children a unique opportunity to better prepare emotionally, socially, and physically for life in Kindergarten.
Little Sprouts Preschool offers a comprehensive and inclusive program that is affordable for parents. Our class sizes remain small, so our adult: child ratio also remains small. Our Junior Kindergarten classes are capped at 15 children with two qualified staff on duty at all times.
Little Sprouts Junior K program introduces the children to lower and upper-case alphabets and reinforces the concepts developed in two and three-day preschool program. Our curriculum also integrates lessons from Jolly Phonics and Handwriting Without Tears, as well as the TLC Cutting Program. Following monthly themes, the children will complete crafts and stories to reinforce the concepts learned. The children will learn to write their first name in upper and lower-case, and will learn to recognize colour and shape words, and will begin to understand the role of phonetics in language, promoting early literacy. All transitions and many lessons will be taught through songs, and our curriculum will include special theme days each month. Our program also integrates French Language lessons through song – the children will learn the days of the week, the colours in a rainbow, and to count to ten in French. Once a week we head across the hall to do Gym Activities in Community Links’ large space!
Our Little Seedlings program is designed to allow children who aren’t quite ready for our preschool program, but who are ready for some time away from their primary caregivers to socialize with other children their age and learn to follow the direction of adults other than their parents.
The children follow a routine similar to that in our preschool program, including lining up & washing hands before snack.
Little Sprouts Preschool offers a comprehensive and inclusive program that is affordable for parents. Our class sizes remain small, so our adult : child ratio also remains small. We cap our Little Seedlings classes at 12 students, maintaining a low ratio of 1 Adult: 6 Children.
Our Little Seedlings Program encourages development and growth, and is a great introduction of preschool to those little learners almost ready to start their pre-kindergarten journey! Our program is art, music, and play-based, with a focus on fun! We spend our days engaging in imaginative play, story-telling, and completing open-ended art activities. Once a week, we head across the hall to do Gym Activities in Community Links’ large space!
Our Junior Kindergarten+ class offers an alternative for Kindergarten-aged students during the Covid-19 pandemic. This class runs M-F PM from 12:30 – 3:30PM, and meets the goals and outcomes of Kindergarten by the end of the year so students can successfully transition into Grade 1 at the school of their choice. Our class size remains small (8) and allows students the unique ability to learn in a small, safe, school setting. Taught by an ECE, following direction from board certified Kindergarten teachers, our Junior Kindergarten+ class supports students of all abilities.
Our routine follows that which is set for our Preschool and Junior Kindergarten classes, with lot of body breaks and an emphasis on early literacy and numeracy, as well as the addition of STEM enrichment and emergent child-centred art activities.
2020/2021 Schedule:
Preschool (3/4 Split)
Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday 8:30 – 11:30AM / 8:45 – 11:45AM or 12:30 – 3:30PM
Thursday / Friday 8:30 – 11:30AM / 8:45 – 11:45AM or 12:30 -3:30PM
5 Day Option Available
Junior Kindergarten (4/5 Split):
Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday 8:30 – 11:30AM / 8:45 – 11:45AM or 12:30 – 3:30PM
Thursday / Friday 8:30 – 11:30 / 8:45 – 11:45AM or 12:30 – 3:30PM
5 Day Option Available
Little Seedlings:
T/W 12:30 – 2:30PM or 12:30 – 3:30
*Classes subject to change based on enrolment.
Friendly
Our staff focus on warm and caring interactions with the children.
Qualified
Our staff possess valid early childhood staff qualifications.
Play Areas
Our classroom is separated into quality learning environments for the children.
Experience
Our staff have experience in the field of early childhood education.
Development
Our staff participate in professional development throughout the year.
Education
All of our staff have education and certification in early childhood education.
What Does Our Day Look Like?
- Free Play
- Craft
- Transitions (Clean Up, Washing Hands, etc.,)
- Movement
- Circle Times
- Free Play
- Craft
- Transitions (Clean Up, Washing Hands, etc.,)
- Movement
- Circle Times
Junior Kindergarten
- Welcome / Attendance
- Centre Time
- Transition / Clean Up
- Morning Meeting / Circle Time
- Transition / Snack Time
- Free Play + Art
- Transition / Clean Up
- Circle Time
- Goodbye Song
- Transition / Coats and Backpacks
- Dismissal
Preschool
- Welcome / Attendance
- Centre Time
- Transition / Clean Up
- Morning Meeting / Circle Time
- Transition / Snack Time
- Free Play + Art
- Transition / Clean Up
- Circle Time
- Goodbye Song
- Transition / Coats and Backpacks
- Dismissal
Little Seedlings
- Welcome / Attendance
- Free Play + Art
- Transition / Clean Up
- Circle / Story Time
- Free Play
- Transition / Clean Up
- Snack Time
- Transition / Clean Up
- Circle
- Transition / Coats & Backpacks
- Dismissal
Throughout the year, Little Sprouts Preschool invites special guests into our classrooms for presentations and workshops. Guests include Musicians, Artists, and Community Helpers. These special days will be included in the newsletter and on the calendar. We encourage our parents with special skills to come forward so that we may invite them into our classrooms!
We have begun adding regular mini-music sessions to our curriculum! Parents can look for information regarding these in our “Week-in-Review” emails. We also walk across the hall and have access to Community Links’ large space for our gym time once per week! Here, we jump, skip, hop, and shake our sillies out!
Each month our curriculum includes special dress-up days, including Crazy Hair Day, Backwards Day, Beach Day and Pajama Day, and every month will have a special colour day. The children are encouraged to dress up, and the activities of the day will be centred around the theme.
Throughout our program, we incorporate Jolly Phonics, Handwriting Without Tears, TLC Cutting Lessons, and the We Thinkers! Social Explorers Curriculum.
In Class Support
Little Sprouts Preschool partners with Community Links to provide and administer Ages & Stages Questionnaires.
We partner with the Airdrie Lions to provide yearly in-class eye screening, which assists in early detection of Amblyopia (lazy eye).
We also partner with I’m For Kids Team to provide in-school screening and support for children in our classroom.
We are an inclusive and differentiated learning program.
What does that mean?
That means, we accept all children into our program, regardless of any developmental delay or advance they may have. Our program is fluid and flexible enough that we are able to accommodate any and all learning supports or programming they may require. This is important for a number of reasons; children need to develop social skills with a variety of peers – including those with needs different from their own. Developing self-regulation, impulse control, and social problem solving are skills all children need to develop, and having the patience and empathy, as well as self-confidence and empowerment to assert themselves in a polite manner while respecting their peers as individuals helps all children to be successful students in Kindergarten and beyond.
Our staff are also trained and qualified in providing Ages & Stages Questionnaires to our students, and have implemented a regular screening schedule to help parents understand their child’s development.
