Parent Handbook

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Welcome

Thank you for choosing the Child Development & Learning Center (CDLC) for your child’s early education needs. We are looking forward to a new and exciting year. Thank you for sharing it with us. This handbook is designed to help explain our program. We hope you read it carefully and keep it for future reference.

Our History

CDLC ministry and outreach of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, is a nationally accredited, non-profit Christian preschool for children ages 3 to 5. It was founded in 1971 and began with 30 students. Currently CDLC serves over 125 children each week.

Our Mission

Child Development and Learning Center welcomes all families and celebrates each child as a gift from God. We develop strong self-esteem in our children by guiding them to grow spiritually, socially, emotionally, physically and cognitively.

Standards

CDLC is licensed to serve 100 children per session by the Department of Human Services in the State of Minnesota. Ten children are enrolled per class. CDLC meets and exceeds the State’s guidelines for preschools.

Parents may review CDLC’s Program Plan and Behavior Guidance Plans as submitted to the State upon request in the office. Questions to Human Services may be directed to 612-296-3971.

Accreditation

CDLC is a nationally accredited program through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  NAEYC Accreditation of Early Learning Programs provides a transformative quality-improvement system—a rigorous process programs can engage in to meet the highest program standards for quality early learning. NAEYC has set 10 standards (Relationships, Curriculum, Teaching, Assessment of Child Progress, Health, Teachers, Families, Community Relationships, Physical Environment, Leadership and Management) for early childhood. To earn accreditation, programs must meet all 10 standards.  For more information about the NAEYC you can visit families.naeyc.org.

Parent Aware

CDLC is a Parent Aware four star rated program.

Programs receive a Rating of One, Two, Three or Four Stars. Parent Aware Ratings are based on demonstrated use of practices that best prepare children for kindergarten. Each rating level builds on the previous.

Our Staff

CDLC is blessed with wonderful and highly qualified staff.  Many of our staff members have been a part of the CDLC family for many years as parents, staff members and even as CDLC students. Our staff consists of teachers, aides and administrators. Our staff members hold Associates, Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees as well as participating in on-going training to maintain the high standards of our program. All of our staff members are certified in CPR and first aid.

Advisory Committee

The Advisory Committee is a resource for CDLC to help to facilitate the decision-making processes of our school. The Advisory Committee is composed of 9 members plus a Staff Representative and the Director. A liaison of Prince of Peace Church Council and representatives of the Prince of Peace administration will also attend Advisory Committee Meetings. Parent concerns may be addressed to administration or the Advisory Committee.

For Whom

Children who are toilet trained and 3 years old by December 1 of the current school year through 5 years of age are welcome and valued at CDLC.

Nondiscrimination Notice

CDLC admits students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the preschool. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs.

Home Language

It is important to CDLC that all families are given the opportunity to fully understand, interpret, and become involved with their child’s assessment and goals. CDLC will work with the family to provide an interpreter for any family that makes a request.

Class Size

Our teacher-student ratio is one to ten. Classes, formed according to age, are typically comprised of children whose birthdates are within months of each other.

• 2-day classes: Tuesday & Thursday, All Day & AM
• 3-day classes: Monday, Wednesday & Friday, All Day, AM & PM
• 5-day classes: Monday-Friday, All Day & AM

• Morning Classes: 9:00 – 11:30 am
• Afternoon Classes: 12:45 – 3:15 pm
• All Day classes: 9:00 am – 3:15 pm

Curriculum Information

The curriculum developed at CDLC has evolved over a period of years since 1971. In the 70’s psychologists and educators, Jerome Bruner, Benjamin Bloom, and Jean Piaget formulated theories on the development of intelligence in preschoolers. The conclusion was that young children are more capable learners than given credit for and they absorb more than at a later age. The focus swung to intellectual stimulation with heavy academic instruction for preschoolers to give them a jump on their elementary years.

In the 80’s Dr. David Elkind, a professor of Child Study at Tufts, warned of the dangers of “pushing our preschoolers.” Elkind states, “Early childhood is a very important period of life. It is a period when children learn an enormous amount about the everyday world. It is also the time during which young children acquire lifelong attitudes towards themselves, toward others and toward learning. It is not the time for formal academic instruction.”

CDLC today draws on the High/Scope curriculum to direct our program. Drawing from Piaget’s theory of the “laws of intelligence,” the fundamental premise of the High/Scope curriculum is that children are active learners who learn best from activities they plan and carry out themselves. The program at CDLC recognizes children as unique individuals and presents a curriculum designed to be at the preschooler’s level by allowing them to develop cognitively and socially. Because social skills are vital for us to live together and respect one another, this will be an emphasized area. Children will be encouraged to be active participants and make frequent choices in their daily routine. They will be encouraged and directed to show respect for themselves and for others. It is the teacher’s role to help each child think about what he/she is doing, make observations, notice relationships and define and solve problems. Key experiences are essential to children’s early intellectual growth and the teacher deliberately and systematically helps children predict, observe, describe, explain, manipulate, hypothesize and find alternatives.

The highly trained and dedicated staff at CDLC will work with the parents to provide the best possible early childhood experience for children. We want to build valuable relationships in the community among children, staff and parents. A strong Christian Curriculum based on family values intended to teach children respect for one another and the earth on which they live will be a daily part of our curriculum.

Behavior Guidance

Behavior guidance procedures utilized at school are of concern to all parents. Our methods of discipline (not punishment) are as follows. Our staff firmly believes that a child is not bad but rather at times his behavior does not fit within the guidelines and limitations established for the safety of all children in our school. Our first approach is to talk with the child and remind him of the rules. If this does not correct the problem, the next approach would be to divert the child to another activity. Finally, if needed, the child will be asked to sit on a chair, to give him a chance to pull himself together, to talk with the teacher about the consequences of his actions.  Policies are on file in the office for review by parents.

Procedure to follow with persistent challenging behavior:

1. Teacher will document behavior. What is the behavior? How often the behavior occurs? Teacher can use her daily observation notes as documentation. Look for triggers to the behavior, time of the behavior, and locations for the challenging behavior.
2. Have the director observe the behavior and document triggers, time, environment, rate of occurrences.
3. Parents will be called, and conference will be arranged.
4. Parents and teacher will develop an individual learning plan for school and home.
5. If need and with parent approval the future school district will be called in to assess and evaluate the child.
6. Combined individual learning plan will be developed between CDLC, school district and family.
7. Parent may also choice to have the child evaluated from a private agency and CDLC will work with that agency.
8. When all possible interventions have been exhausted. Parents and staff will meet to discuss if suspension or expulsion is in the best interest of the child. CDLC staff will be supportive of the family in finding services and an alternative placement.

Five Facets of Growth

Spiritual Growth | We celebrate each child as a gift from God. Our curriculum seeks to incorporate Christian values through teachable moments, Bible stories and songs.

Social Growth | We encourage children to work together and show respect for one another in social and play situations. Our focus is to encourage a positive self-image while building the skills of independence.

Emotional Growth | Preschool children are constantly exploring their emotions and ways in which to channel their thoughts and feelings. We strive to provide the tools children need to gain emotional growth while working and playing together in group situations.

Physical Growth | Children are given the opportunity to grow and develop physically in the areas of fine and large motor skills. We build on the natural abilities of each child while offering challenges and opportunities for success.

Cognitive Growth | Teachers carefully plan and develop curriculum based on the emerging needs and interest of their class. Daily plans focus on providing opportunities for children to explore and learn basic skills such as problem solving, classification and recognition, the essential framework for future successes in reading, writing, math, science, art, music and social studies.

Sample Lesson Plan

Vocabulary: September, 2020, outside, inside, first, last, morning, afternoon, here, there, in, out, in a line, playground, fish

Daily Schedule

Arrival | Children are escorted to and from the building at the beginning and end of each day. After being escorted in, each class follows a set schedule to cover the following interest centers.

Large Motor | Indoor and outdoor areas are available to work with children in building large motor skills according to the appropriate developmental level.

Cooking | Children participate in a daily cooking project, providing opportunities to learn math and science skills, increase vocabulary and discover new tastes.

Music | Activities include listening and moving to a variety of music, singing, and playing rhythm instruments.

Creative Arts  | Each child is encouraged to explore their creativity with a variety of art experiences exploring color, shapes and textures.

Science | The children are given opportunities to explore and experiment with a variety of materials.