I believe that the early childhood education program I started [in 1969] was relevant to that period and in many ways ahead of its time. Today, our program is a product of years of training preschool teachers and exposing them to new approaches and countless resources that will enhance their skills and knowledge of Early Childhood Education.

Mary Anne Abella Alfonso

Program

The Learning Child School offers a preschool program, offering the following levels:

  • Pre-Toddlers (1.2 -1.11 years old)
  • Toddlers (2 – 3 years old)
  • Nursery (3 – 4 years old)
  • Pre-Kindergarten (4 – 5 years old)
  • Kindergarten (5 – 6 years old)

Curriculum

Our present Early Childhood Education program is one that is developmentally appropriate and rich in content. It starts with a basic understanding of the different stages of child development and is grounded on meaningful teacher-child, teacher-parent-child partnerships. It is our belief that a child learns best when he is self-confident, responsible, independent, and loving.

Opportunities to discover, explore, challenge and problem solve are many. There is a balance of daily activities: structured/unstructured; informative/creative; active/quiet; indoor/outdoor; observe/participate; and alone/together.

The TLC Method

THE CHILD
A happy, learning child is the mission of The Learning Child School. Therefore, the well-being of his mind, heart, body and spirit are put first above all else. Faculty, staff and all support personnel, therapists and psychologists are aligned in ensuring that their presence, demeanor, and level of professionalism support his ability to harness his talent and love for learning during his formative years.

THE TEACHER
The fundamental characteristic of every TLC teacher is a genuine love for children. The professional early childhood educator, trained in play and arts based approaches to ensuring the success and holistic development of every student. The TLC teacher knows each student’s strengths, challenges and learning potentials, adapts the class to suit their needs and gives them the attention they need.

THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
The Learning Child School’s safe, joyful, and nurturing environment makes it every student’s second home, where parents are also involved in their child’s education. It insists on a small student-teacher ratio to ensure thoughtful, personalized, quality instruction and relevance, evidence-based play and arts-oriented approaches that encompass all early childhood development domains.

Multiple Intelligences

One unique feature in our educational program is the importance we give to the development of the different aspects of a child’s intelligence – this is known as “multiple intelligences” – or SMARTS as we call it. Multiple Intelligences is a theory of learning, first developed by psychologist Howard Gardner in 1983 and widely used today as a framework for learning and teaching.

WORD SMART – students who have highly developed verbal skills and often think in words. They like reading, playing word games, telling stories and getting into involved discussion.

NUMBER SMART – students who generally enjoy working with numbers.

VISUAL SMART – students who are visually stimulated. These kids are often aware of objects, shapes and colors. They like to draw and paint.

NATURE SMART – students who have a profound love for animals and plants and almost any natural object. They are fascinated and are noticeably affected by such things.

MUSIC SMART – students who have high musical/ rhythmic intelligence. They love music and rhythmic patterns and also love singing.

BODY SMART – students who have a keen sense of body awareness. They like physical movement, hugging, dancing, making and inventing things with their hands and role playing. They communicate well through body language.

PEOPLE SMART – students who excel in interpersonal intelligence. They learn through person-to-person interaction. They generally have lots of friends.

SELF SMART – students who excel in intrapersonal intelligence. These students like to work alone. They are self-reflective and self-aware and thus tend to be in tune with their inner feelings, values, beliefs, and thinking processes