The Learning Experience To Host Curriculum Night This Tuesday

The Learning Experience (TLE) of Newtown owner and operator Danielle Van Riper, Director Cara Bellamy, and Assistant Director Meghan Markey are all preparing for the center’s first curriculum night, scheduled for this Tuesday, June 24, from 6:30 to 8.

The evening event will give interested parents a taste of what TLE is about, say Ms Van Riper and Ms Bellamy.

At TLEs across the country other curriculum nights will be held at the same time.

TLE is more than a daycare, said Ms Bellamy, and the Curriculum Night will highlight some of the ongoing programs and efforts happening at the Newtown TLE and at other TLE’s across the country.

The center teaches students to read through a phonics-based system, according to Ms Bellamy. Each student, she said, works through a phonics kit a his or her own pace.

“The curriculum is very different depending on a child’s needs, which is nice,” said Ms Bellamy.

All three women will be available Tuesday to speak and answer questions.

The next year will also mark a new Leap Into Spanish program, according to Ms Bellamy. Ms Van Riper added other parts of the TLE curriculum focus on manners, etiquette, and physical education.

The Curriculum Night will offer a chance for the Newtown community, Ms Bellamy said, to learn more about the importance of prekindergarten programs, which Ms Bellamy said are important for preparing students for a successful year in kindergarten. TLE’s prekindergarten program, Ms Bellamy said, provides a strong foundation for children before they enter kindergarten.

Throughout the past year, TLE has also been working with Middle Gate Elementary school to align TLE’s prekindergarten program with the Newtown Public School District’s kindergarten curriculum. Ms Van Riper said through working with kindergarten teachers from Middle Gate, TLE learned that its readers are reading at a high level.

Ms Bellamy said TLE prepares children through each step of their early education for their upcoming time in public or private school.

The Curriculum Night has been built around the theme “What I Learn When I…”, and will showcase cutting-edge, proprietary LEAP (The Learning Experience Academic Program) curriculum, according to a release from TLE.

The company, also recently modified its tagline to “Academy of Early Education.” According to TLE, the change from “Child Development Centers” to “Academy of Early Education” highlights the company’s commitment to education.

Meghan Kelly, director of curriculum at TLE, said Curriculum Night will offer a fun-filled experience where “parents are placed in the child’s seat and invited to explore the TLE curriculum from learning basic American sign language signs to properly setting a table, to how the children complete their LEAP workbooks on a weekly basis.

“We felt it was important to exhibit to parents what makes our curriculum the best,” she explained. “The fact that we introduce Manners Matters to children as young as toddlers or that we include our comprehensive Fun with Phonics program to all preschool children will show parents that our children look forward to coming to school each and every day and cannot wait to share what they learned,” said Ms Kelly.

Anyone interested in attending the Curriculum Night is asked to notify TLE they plan to attend as soon as possible by calling 203-304-9130 or by visiting its website at www.thelearningexperience.com. 

The event will also mark the launch of TLE’s Summer Safari programs and will offer parents the opportunity to register their children for the summer sessions; parents who do so will receive a voucher for $100 toward their child’s tuition.