We partner with parents to provide a rich care environment where infants can thrive! Partnering with parents begins before enrollment. We openly discuss methods of parenting, safe sleep, breastfeeding, child-led weaning, and more. Aunty’s won an award in 2020 for its dedication to breastfeeding mothers! We encourage parents to come breastfeed in the classroom if they feel comfortable doing so. With a clear understanding of the milestones infants reach throughout their time in the infant room, our lead teacher and her assistant focus on aspects of growth and development for each infant. They provide opportunities throughout the day and encourage the infants to learn and grow! Please note, infant care is only available at Aunty’s Lakeside location.

Your infant will be in a safe and comfortable environment designed to stimulate and amuse him or her at all levels of development. The infant program is flexible and accommodating to each child’s schedule and needs, with activities based on the children’s interests.

Our playroom includes an assortment of age-appropriate toys. We provide high chairs and cribs for the younger children.

Staff in the Infant Area don’t just care for your child’s needs. They stimulate your child’s curiosity and eagerness to learn through:

• Songs
• Music
• Stories
• Sensory Activities
• Playing

Our Toddler program serves children approx. 16 to 33 months, with a maximum capacity of 14 children at our Lakeside location. The goal of the toddler room is to provide a safe environment for children to learn through their senses! Toddlers will learn language skills, and develop their social and emotional skills in an environment where they feel secure and loved. Our toddler teachers establish clear and predictable routines, help with separations and reunions, and use natural consequences.

We foster a strong relationship and bond with our students by using positive phrases and guidance in the classroom. We stay away from phrases such as ‘no running’ and use positive phrases such as ‘walking feet inside, running feet outside!’ Our toddler room also is potty training ground zero! All toddlers are potty trained at a young age and are taught through positivity and praise to listen to their bodies and use the bathroom. We work on hand muscles and finger dexterity as it directly relates to pulling pants up and down to potty. The toddlers play outside regularly, and our teachers make it a point to include lesson plans out of doors and with outdoor elements. Art and exploration are key to developing the toddler brain, so this class also gets messy often with art projects!

Your little toddler is busy learning, approaching the world with curiosity and seeking a sense of belonging. Our toddler program encourages the children to build a community in an environment that supports learning together and caring for each other.

A toddler’s day consists of:

• Self-selected play
• Reading books
• Arts & Crafts
• Focused learning
• Potty practice
• Sensory experiences
• Outdoor play
• Outdoor walks

Our Preschool program consists of two classrooms of 20 students each. In order to be eligible for preschool, a child needs to be fully potty trained and typically at least 31 months of age, although some age exceptions are made as developmentally appropriate on a child-by-child basis in partnership with parents.

The goal of the Preschool years is to prepare a child for kindergarten! A solid social-emotional foundation is key for our preschoolers. A child who can respect himself and others is a child who can learn in school! Therefore, we guide children through their preschool years to learn through play by cooperating with other children, following rules and directions, expressing feelings appropriately, using words instead of actions when angry, recognizing when they need a break, paying attention to adult-directed tasks, asking questions, and exploring the classroom and environment around them.

In addition, we focus on fine motor skills such as holding a pencil or crayon properly, holding scissors properly, trace basic shapes and lines, and putting a 10-12 piece puzzle together. Academically, the preschool program encourages children to enjoy having books read to him or her, to speak clearly and in full sentences, recite and recognize the alphabet, learn rhyming words, learns to write his or her name, sort objects by color, size, and shape, develop an interest in science and the natural environment, and care for our environment through compost and recycling. A preschooler ready for kindergarten knows his or her full name, can manage bathroom needs, knows his or her age, can button, zip or fasten pants and coat, cleans up after him or her self, recognizes feelings in one’s self and others, shows empathy and caring, and is generally ready to learn!

A preschooler’s day consists of:

• Reading/listening to books
• Rhyming
• Focused learning
• Puzzles
• Sensory experiences
• Practicing writing and speaking patterns
• Sorting and organizing by category