Our Programs

INFANT CARE ROOM

Student Teacher Ratio 3:1

From the moment your baby enters The Childhood Center’s infant care room, they feel at ease. The product of years of infant study and observation, our nursery provides optimal comfort, safety and learning and development opportunities for your child.

Because young children develop at their own pace, our child development staff focuses daily on the skills in which your baby expresses interest. We encourage you to speak with our Developmental Specialist or your pediatrician if you have concerns regarding your baby’s development.

A Safe Learning and Developmental Environment for Babies

From the age of six weeks through 11 months, your baby expresses a need and desire to explore their surroundings. Our nursery features a warm, inviting design that calms your child and gives them a feeling of security. We decorated the room in soothing colors and placed extra padding under our carpet to give your baby a soft place to crawl and roll as they begin to navigate the world.

Unique features like our bubble wall fascinate your baby and passively encourage them to pull to a standing position. Mirrors, bars and other wall-mounted activities further promote the desire to stand and walk.

Nurturing Relationships

At this young age, your baby seeks the security of familiar places and people. Our low student-to-teacher ratio creates the opportunity for our childcare experts to spend one-on-one time with your baby. To encourage their desire to communicate with others, we bond with your child during their daily activities, such as story time and feedings. Your family’s role in your baby’s development is extremely important as well. For this reason, each child will have a picture of their family placed above their crib. This ensures your child’s familiarity and trust in your family as well as our child development specialists.

Daily Infant Development Activities Include:

• Indoor Floor Exploration
• Socialization
• Outdoor Exploration
• Story time
• Singing and Musical Enrichment
• Bonding via Rocking
• Diaper Changes and Cleanup
• Nap Time
• Bonding via Holding and Cuddling
• Feeding Time(s)

TODDLER CARE ROOM

TODDLER I/II CLASSROOM

Student Teacher Ratio 4:1

At the Childhood Center, our Toddler Classrooms offers your child a home away from home. Our Toddler areas features a design which enhances your child’s transition to independence as well as an arrangement that encourages learning and child development while simultaneously nurturing your toddler’s needs.

Because toddlers develop at their own pace, our child development staff focuses daily on the skills in which your child expresses interest.

A Child Development and Learning Environment for Young Explorers

Toddlers spend much of their time moving and exploring. The Childhood Center’s toddler classrooms are wide, open spaces designed to encourage play and movement. Much like our infant nursery, interactive features are incorporated into the architecture. Our unique color wall encourages movement and provides visual stimulation, while our large, soft blocks invite your toddler to crawl and climb. All of these elements combine to aid your child’s muscle development and coordination.

Additionally, we incorporated art, reading, math, science and music centers in the room. Guided by our caring child development staff, your toddler learns independently while receiving the motivation they need.

Creating Lasting Bonds and Unlimited Opportunities

Although your child grows quickly, at this age, they still need individualized care and attention. While The Childhood Center’s staff of child care experts gently guides your gently guilds your toddler into a more structured child development and learning routine, they also ensure that your child’s social needs are fully met. Our low student-to-teacher ratio gives us the opportunity to bond with your toddler during everyday activities such as feedings, diaper changes and hold and cuddle times. This further reinforces your child’s familiarity and trust in our child development staff.

Daily Toddler Activities Include:

• Indoor Floor Exploration
• Socialization
• Outdoor Exploration
• Story time
• Singing and Musical Enrichment
• Bonding via Rocking
• Diaper Changes and Cleanup
• Nap Time
• Bonding via Holding and Cuddling
• Feeding Time(s)

TODDLER III CLASSROOM

Student Teacher Ratio 6:1

At 2-years-old, your child continues along their path to independence. At The Childhood Center, our Toddler III classroom provides the many tools needed for your toddler to further their ability to navigate the world. By incorporating more learning with child development, our child care staff helps mold your toddler into a well-adjusted, intelligent individual.

Because 2-year-olds develop at their own pace, our child development staff focuses daily on the skills in which your child expresses interest.

Child Development for the Independent and Inquisitive

During this critical development stage, your child needs open space, structure and the ability to assert their autonomy. At The Childhood Center, we provide large, age-appropriate and manipulative activities that aid coordination development. Additionally, in our 2-year-old room’s more structured environment, our staff guides your child through constructive play and learning via exploration centers that incorporate fundamental skills in science, math, art, music and language. By exciting and stimulating your child’s desire to learn at an early age, our child development specialists help create a life-long love of learning.

Safe Outdoor Play That Encourages Health

This stage of development is the optimal time to introduce your toddlers to outside play. The Childhood Center’s playground features one-of-a-kind equipment, designed specifically for children under 4. In the safety of our outdoor grounds, your child develops their large muscles while enjoying our tree house slide made by Toddler Trees and our ping pong house from Crooked House.

Critical Skills Development with Positive Reinforcement

The Childhood Center uses a natural, positive method to promote your child’s desire to perform many necessary skills, including dressing, undressing, feeding themself and, perhaps most importantly, use the potty.

While designing our Our Toddler III classroom, we catered to the needs of the independent child, including the need to use the restroom. Our easily accessed facilities and the encouragement of our child development staff help your 2-year-old complete the potty training process without fear.

Daily 2-Year-Old Activities Include:

• Indoor Floor Exploration
• Socialization
• Outdoor Play
• Story time
• Singing and Musical Enrichment
• Bonding via Rocking
• Diaper Changes and Cleanup
• Nap Time
• Bonding via Holding and Cuddling
• Feeding Time(s)

Preschool Three’s Room

Student Teacher Ratio 8:1

During preschool, your child completes their transition from independent learning to a more structured environment. To encourage your preschooler to play with friends as well as learn a variety of subjects, we arranged our room to allow your child to move easily from one activity to another. Though your preschoolers individual development is still important, this is the year that they begins to work in groups and you begin to hear about friends, art projects, and learned songs and stories.

A Structured, Fun Preschool Environment

Throughout our preschool room are teacher-guided learning centers which encourage your child’s natural curiosity. The subjects available to explore teach the fundamentals your preschooler needs to be a successful student.

Academic Skills Developed Include:

Mathematics

• Familiarity with numbers 1-10
• Understanding of one-to-one correspondence
• Ability to sort objects that are alike
• Understanding of quantifiable terms such as full, empty, long, short, big and little
• Knowledge of different shapes
• Familiarity with colors
• Ability to complete simple puzzles with 8-10 pieces.

Science

• Awareness of the five senses
• Ability to observe objects and discuss their common traits
• Creating hypotheses
• Recognizing what is missing in a picture
• Familiarity with different animals and how they move
• Understanding that plants come from seeds and that they need water and sunlight to grow.

Communication

• Paying attention for several minutes at a time
• Listening and following two-step directions
• Sitting still and listening to a story
• Answering questions
• Communicating needs and wants
• Constructing simple, four- to six-word sentences.
• Understanding pronouns
• Repeating memorized songs, poems and finger plays
• Telling stories
• Making predictions based on pictures
• Understanding and verbalizing their name, age and gender
• Asking questions
• Labeling family members, including mom, dad, sister, brother, aunt, uncle and cousin
• Understanding the difference between letters and numbers
• Tattling
• Expressing fears

Reading

• Recognizing their printed name
• Spelling their first name correctly when given the right letters
• Sequencing 3-4 pictures to form a story
• Asking to be read to
• Retelling a story from memory
• Singing the “ABC Song”

Writing

• Understanding that spoken words can be written
• Drawing a face with its features in the correct places
• Drawing a person as a stick figure
• Drawing lines and circles
• Exhibiting interest in drawing with different media

Prekindergarten Four’s

Student Teacher Ratio 8:1

With the anticipated transition to Kindergarten approaching, Pre-K at The Childhood Center is all about preparing your child for the challenges ahead. Our STEM and Language Arts curriculum are educational as well as fun. While aligning our curriculum with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), we do above and beyond what is required. More independent and outgoing than ever, your Pre-Kindergarten student socializes with both teachers and peers while playing and learning. Our structured environment helps further develop essential skills.

Featured prominently in the Pre-K room are learning centers that excite and stimulate your child’s desire to learn. From the always important reading station that encourages your child’s love of reading in conjunction with our extensive library to our math and science centers that instill confidence in your Pre-Kindergartener, the child development staff at The Childhood Center helps instill the knowledge and confidence that your child needs to be a successful student their entire life.

Academic Skills Developed Include:

Mathematics

• Completing a puzzle with 20-50 pieces
• Counting up to 10 objects
• Identifying and sequencing numbers 1-20
• Sorting objects based on visual measurements
• Using words to describe locations, directions and sizes
• Understanding ordinal numbers first through 10th
• Understanding halves and wholes

Science

• Utilizing the scientific method by making predictions, testing hypotheses, observing and forming or revising hypotheses
• Identifying common traits
• Recognizing the importance of adaptation for survival
• Understanding habitats
• Recognizing seasons
• Understanding that all living creatures and plants have basic needs
• Classifying items by similar traits, such as texture, color and shape

Communication

• Recognizing printed first and last name
• Recognizing rhyming words
• Completing three-step tasks
• Further developing his/her vocabulary
• Speaking in complete sentences
• Retelling stories in the correct sequence
• Rejecting the urge to use “baby talk”

Reading

• Identifying uppercase and lowercase letters
• Forming stories to match the pictures within a book
• Memorizing the words to his/her favorite book
• Reenacting a favorite story
• Recognizing if mistakes occur during the reading of a favorite book

Social and Emotional Development

• Handling transitions to new activities
• Playing with friends in a more traditional manner
• Creating rules and roles for play
• Showing empathy toward others
• Working independently or in a group
• Solving conflict verbally
• Sharing
• Respecting others and their property
• Taking turns
• Engaging in fantasy play

Writing

• Printing his/her name
• Working from left to right
• Drawing shapes that resemble actual objects
• Copying basic shapes
• Asking for someone to write a story to go along with the picture he/she drew
• Holding writing implements correctly
• Recognizing classmates’ printed names
• Using scissors to cut lines, curves, swirls and acute angles
• Using laces, snaps, buttons and zippers
• Folding papers in halves, quarters and diagonally
• Containing coloring to defined areas

The Childhood Center understands the importance of a strong educational program that encourages a love of learning while offering a challenging curriculum.  Our Kindergarten program aligns with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and takes it significantly further.  The TEKS are the standards that students will master in kindergarten.  The Childhood Center believes that these standards are just the basic skills that a kindergartner should learn.  We have been teaching these skills since even before our Pre-Kindergarten program so we can take these skills and delve much deeper into them.

Our Spanish program invites children to learn Spanish in a fun and exciting way. In our Spanish program, learners are completely immersed in the language in a natural context with native speakers. Daily activities are conducted in Spanish and touch on all curriculum areas as an enhanced part of our STEM program. We include fun books, songs, art, and other activities as well. Exposure to a second language early in childhood is an excellent way to set the stage for fluency as an adult. Children will work on completing the ability to introduce oneself (name, age and where you are from).

The Childhood Center believes that a healthy body is key to successful growth both physically and mentally.  We believe that a healthy diet balanced with exercise is key to achieving the best you.  Licensing with the guidance of the Department of Health and the CDC has provided the basic guidelines that are used to build our health and fitness programs.

Fitness

The Childhood Centers fitness program, also aligned with minimum standards, focuses on individual physical and mental wellbeing.  Children that participate regularly on physical activity have a healthier lifestyle than those that do not.  We believe that implementing these routines at an early age will encourage children to maintain these standards throughout their life.  We do our best to go outside twice daily for 30 minutes each time.  We take many factors into consideration prior to going out such as weather, temperature, air quality, and condition of the playground.  We do consider your child’s clothing but understand that if your child does not have appropriate clothing you may be called to quickly supply the items needed.  Licensing does not permit us to limit outside activity based on discipline for any reason.  Only children with written notice from a physician can be excluded from physical activity.  Below are the guidelines for each age group participating in our daily fitness program.  If outside time is not possible then then guided fitness activities will take place inside. For exact times, your child will be outside please seeing your child’s daily schedule.  Outside time is subject to change at a moment’s notice due to weather or temperature.

For your child to participate in our fitness program effectively please assure that your child is dressed appropriately.  Clothing that is loose or has straps is not appropriate nor is open toe shoes.  Clothing that aligns with our current policy should be acceptable.  As a reminder, please do not send your child to school in clothing that is not able to be stained or torn.  We do our best to avoid clothing damage, but children are busy little beings and we do not discipline for spills or mishaps.

Meal Program

The Childhood Center believes that a healthy body is key to successful growth both physically and mentally.  We believe that a healthy diet balanced with exercise is key to achieving the best you.  Licensing with the guidance of the Department of Health and the CDC has provided the basic guidelines that are used to build our health and fitness programs.

The Childhood Center has milk, two snacks, and hot lunch catered in daily providing us a tasty and fun diet plan.  We provide enough food for each child to have two servings if they ask.  Our meal plan does not include pork, unnaturally occurring sugars or juice.   We also understand that some of our little ones are under diets developed by the physician.  Participation in our meal plan is optional for a monthly fee.  We have a form for you to fill out if you choose to provide your child’s snacks, milk, and lunch.  Please do your best to follow the guidelines below to ensure that your child’s diet aligns with ours.  If you do provide your own food, please understand that The Childhood Center is not responsible for your child’s nutritional needs.  If you accidentally slip an item such as chocolate milk, juice, candy etc.  We will quietly return that item to your child’s backpack to remind you that only healthy lunches that follow the licensing guidelines are allowed and supply an item from our plan for a charge.