At The Learning Experience (TLE) in Newtown, philanthropy is part of the curriculum, as shared by owner Indra Sen, Center Director Keshia Gregory, and Curriculum Co-Director Lauren Patrick recently.

Mr Sen explained philanthropy has been part of the curriculum since the center’s start, and Ms Patrick shared that the curriculum begins for children in the child development center’s programs at as young as three months old, when sharing is introduced.

At TLE, Mr Sen said, there is an emphasis on teaching children to have an impact on the community, and philanthropy plays a big part in that. Students learn both through classroom lessons and through witnessing different programs and efforts the adults take part in, the trio described.

The philanthropy curriculum includes lessons with two puppets, Grace, a greyhound; and Charity, a chihuahua. Ms Gregory shared that children learn about philanthropy and other concepts through skits with the puppets. According to a release about the philanthropy program, the puppets help children as young as 3 years old learn about kindness, inclusion, giving, and more.

Preschoolers in TLE centers across the country followed along in October as Bubbles the Elephant, a cartoon mascot, had an “educational journey” across the country in a program created in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. According to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Bubbles Road to Wishes program raised $537,187 in 2019 for the effort, and the Newtown TLE was part of that total contribution.

Mr Sen said that at the Newtown TLE, other recent efforts to support the community have included supporting the 45th Annual Rooster Run that benefited the Newtown Scholarship Association in June and an in-house Feed the Turkey program this November that will go toward Newtown Congregational Church’s fifth annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive to help feed those who rely on Bridgeport Rescue Mission. TLE also has an in-house collection for The Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys For Tots drive, too, and in February, a children’s art auction will go toward supporting a program or cause. Last year’s children’s art auction supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation, according to Ms Gregory.

“The real point is to get the children involved,” Mr Sen said.

And they are. As Mr Sen and Ms Gregory walked the hallway at TLE on November 14, they asked children if they “fed the turkey yet?” The preschoolers did not hesitate to say they had. The turkey was a set-up cardboard box decorated to look like a turkey near the center’s main entrance. It was filled with food donations.

The TLE preschoolers also learn songs in the philanthropy curriculum, like a “Remember to Be Kind” song and a sharing song, according to Ms Gregory and Ms Patrick. Smartboards are also used in lessons to engage the students. Books in each classroom share vocabulary words and scenarios that help enforce the lessons, Ms Patrick added.

Some of TLE’s preschoolers shared why they like helping people.

“It’s nice,” DJ Macaluso, a 4-year-old, shared. DJ said he helps put out snack, and he enjoyed participating in a lemonade sale, which, according to TLE’s leadership team, was done through the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation’s Cups of Kindness program.

Helping people, DJ said, feels good in “my heart.”

Justin Kubik, a fellow 4-year-old at TLE, said he likes helping because “it helps.”