Our Programs Infants & Toddlers       While our total capacity at the center is forty-five children, we enroll no more than twenty children under the age of 3 years. The staff to child ration for all children under the age of three years is maintained at a maximum of 1:4. In our infant group we care for children from six weeks through approximately 16 months. In the infant group every child is on his or her own schedule. We expect to adapt to the child's needs, not the other way around! The infant room is a self contained room designed to provide for play space, resting space, feeding and changing. Diaries are used to record all daily activity as well as routine feeding, changing and rest times. Our staff consists primarily of full time care givers making for great consistency of care. The infants come to count on familiar the faces and voices of the few who provide their care. The appropriate time to transition an infant up to our toddler group is based on a consensus between staff and parents. We take into account the child's development, typical daily schedule, the current make up of the toddler group and the child's overall readiness for a more structured schedule and learning environment. Often we create a transitional group of young toddlers who are of similar age and move up as a group with the staff person who has been caring for them since infancy. In this intermediate group, the children remain on individual schedules for activity, feeding and rest as they gradually join in with more and more of the older toddlers' activities. We cross train all our infant / toddler staff so they are able to "loop" with their children from infants to toddlers and back again. Detailed information on daily activity in the infant program can be found in our Parent Handbook under the Downloads button on our home page. Learn about of Infant Group Staff under About Us. Children join typically join our toddler groups from the age of 17 months to their 3rd birthday. The toddler stage is an exciting time as language develops, social play and friendships begin, and yes there's ….toilet training! Our toddlers engage in a blend of process oriented structured activities and self-directed play during which the teaching staff serve as role models for language and social skills development. Due to the age range in the toddler group, our curriculum is designed to be taught at different levels. Each staff person focuses on a specific age range and works with the same group of children each day. As with the infant group, our staff consists predominantly of full time teachers. So again, there are few faces and plenty of consistency. We have been very fortunate over the years to enjoy long tenure teaching staff. In fact we expect to be celebrating several 10 year and 5 year staff anniversaries along with the center's own 25th anniversary in 2009! Detailed information on daily activity in the infant and toddler programs can be found in our Parent Handbook under the Downloads button on our home page. Learn more about our Infant / Toddler Group Staff under the About Us heading. Preschool Program - children 3 years to 5 years old Our aptly named "big kids group" is all about getting ready for kindergarten. The daily course of events is similar to what the children experience in the toddler group however the learning is even more child directed. Here the children learn many self-help skills and are encouraged to exercise their need for independence but can always count on back-up from caring adults. Activities appropriate for three year old, four year old and pre-kindergarten five year olds are planned daily. Weekly curriculum outlines and daily highlights keep parents informed. As with the rest of our program, the teaching staff are predominantly full time, experienced professionals. Before and After Elementary School Program We provide daily before and after school care for children in the Cromwell elementary and intermediate schools. Many children arrive at the center in time to catch the morning school bus. They are escorted from the bus in the afternoon and each child's program is determined by parental direction. Some parents value an unstructured recreation time after school while others ask us to assist with homework or a combination of both. We can also accommodate school age care on one session school days, school holidays and vacations. School age children from Cromwell and surrounding towns also can enjoy a summer vacation program designed just for them with a staff person dedicated just to this group. Some school age children attend for the entire summer. Other children attend specific weeks in between family vacations or summer camps. We are happy to accommodate most any schedule you require if given sufficient notice. Detailed information on daily activity in the preschool and school age programs can be found in our Parent Handbook under the Downloads button on our home page. Learn more about our Infant / Toddler Group Staff under the About Us heading.