Welcome to Children’s Safari Learning Center
We invite you to take a virtual tour of our center. The tours include descriptions and are separated by classrooms and other areas.
Exterior
Reception Area
Joey’s Classroom
Our first set of classrooms are named the Joeys rooms. Joeys are the adorable baby kangaroos that hang out in their mother’s pouch. We take a similar approach with our infants; loving and meeting their individual needs.
We have two separate rooms each with a capacity of 8 infants. With two caregivers, the ratio ends up being 4:1. Each room is separated not by age but by milestone. The first room enrolls 6 week old infants to crawling. This allows our newest members of our CSLC family to be down in bouncy seats, laying on the mats with toys, practicing tummy time and they won’t be crawled on, sat on, or poked by a curious crawler. In the second room our crawlers have more freedom to be mobile and explore their surroundings and begin to interact with their peers more.
As you take a look around the room, you’ll see that we have cubbies, labelled with first and last name, for any extra personal items we should have for your baby (extra clothes, diapers, wipes, etc.). You’ll see our diaper changing station with cubbies above that store a couple day supply of diapers, wipes, creams, etc. All items must be labelled with first and last name. We then fill the cubbies with your labelled items in our labelled cubby creating a check and balance system ensuring each child receives only their own products. You’ll see inside the cubbies a document that outlines your infants current feeding schedule and any special instructions we may need.
The refrigerator is in the corner and we store your child’s lunch box with pre-made bottles there until we need to serve to your child. We have access to bottle warmers to be able to take the chill off the breast milk or formula.
The rest of the room has multiple items available for us to you to help your child learn and grow. We keep them close and cuddle them as much as possible hence the classroom name of Joey.
You’ll see in our second Joeys classroom that we have kept the cubbies for diaper bags and extra items outside of the classroom. Our mobile little ones love to explore so to keep them safe from items in diaper bags we keep the items outside the classroom. As we go inside the room you’ll notice a mirror image of the first room. The only difference is the ability of the infants and the age range of toys.
Our Joeys classrooms have 5 exceptional women running these two classes. I hope you’ll come by to meet them in person.
Joey’s Classroom 1
Joey’s Classroom 2
Koala’s Classroom
Koalas are relatively small animals which are shown in pictures hugging trees and their young. Because of that we’ve named our 1 – 2 year old toddlers classrooms the Koalas rooms.
Children will be promoted to this first classroom after they are 1 year in age and walking. We prefer that the infants are steadily walking to help with keeping the children safe. In our Koalas rooms we’ve limited the capacity to 10 children per room on any given day. With two teachers assigned to these classrooms the ratio ends up being 5:1.
In this classroom we try to meet individual needs as much as possible however we do follow a schedule in this room. The schedule does not change and you’ll find a copy both inside and outside of the classroom. A consistent schedule is key to the children feeling safe and secure in our care.
Also posted outside the classroom is our lesson plan. The lesson plan begins with a theme that runs throughout the center and changes on a monthly basis. The lesson plan is age appropriate and all play based however there is always a learning concept planned behind the play. You’re children may get messy with some of our sensory activities but they will have a ton of fun and experience new things. Activities cover learning concepts such as fine and gross motor skills, self help skills, social and emotional skills.
Inside the classroom you’ll see small cubbies labelled with the children’s first and last names and in here we store any personal items we need for their care (extra clothes, blankets for nap, etc.) We ask that you label all personal items so we can keep the items separate from other children. Many times we shop at the same place and have the same items and we try to eliminate sharing of personal items to lesson germ sharing.
We can move over to these awesome tables. The tables are designed to keep our little ones safe by sitting in buckled chairs but having them all together at the tables promotes socialization during table activities and meals. Throughout our center you’ll provide your child’s meals (two snacks and a lunch) and we will store his lunch box in the refrigerator over here. We do keep sippy cups outside of the lunch boxes and stored in the door of the fridge as children can get a drink whenever they’d like. We just ask that when the children get a drink they do so at the table to avoid other children taking their cup from them.
Our diaper changing station is here and you’ll see the cubbies above that store a couple day supply of diapers, wipes, creams, etc. All items must be labelled.
Monkey’s Classroom
You’ll notices the two classrooms named appropriate the Monkeys Rooms (2 – 3 years old and potty trained) are much bigger. In this classroom we will enroll up to 12 children per day with two teachers. These two rooms are the busiest of the center. In this classroom your child(ren) will be exposed to preschool like curriculum while focusing on potty training.
From the doorway you’ll notice sinks hanging on the walls with a changing table between them. We have two sinks located outside of the classrooms to be sure we wash the children’s hands often. We teach the children to wash their hands, using soap, and rinsing completely. Having the sinks in the main room helps with washing hands while others are potty training in the restrooms. Behind the doors we have the restrooms. Each restroom door has a window so if we are not with the child potty training we can be watching the child through the open door or window. The toilets in these restrooms are child size but typical flushing porcelain toilets.
In the back corner you ‘ll find the refrigerator that stores the children’s lunch boxes and the microwave we can use to take the chill off of their meal.
The remainder of the room is organized by activity and allows the children access to a variety of toys and learning activities. There is a combination of both small group centers and large group activities each helping children learn concepts such as taking turns, patience, negotiation, and communication skills. Many times, throughout the day you’ll see the staff sitting on the floor with the children helping them through their play-based learning activities and interactions with the other children.
Up against the window wall are the cubbies we use to store children’s personal items. Backpacks can hang from the hooks if needed.
Jaguar’s (Preschool) Classroom
The main milestone that must be reached by these children is to be fully potty trained. Once a child is potty trained, we look at his / her birthday and enroll into either Jaguars 1 or Jaguars 2. The children in Jags 1 will enter kindergarten in 3 school years and Jaguars 2 will enter kindergarten in 2 school years. Our goal is to have a class that will remain together for the next 2 – 3 years of their career at Children’s Safari and enter Kindergarten together.
The layout of the classrooms are mirror image of each other and maintain an 8:1 ratio and capacity of 16 children. Restrooms are located inside the classrooms with the sinks outside of the restrooms to allow children privacy while others can maintain good hygiene. You will notice more structure in Jaguars 1 than you saw in Monkeys and even more structure in Jaguars 2 than Jags 1. The structure of the day gently increases at each age of life to prepare the children for kindergarten.
Our school year starts the first week of August and ends in July. At that time, the entire class will move into the next age group together. We can talk with you to determine what year your child is expected to start kindergarten and find the best fit for him/her.
As the children in these rooms get older, they may not nap as much however we do have a scheduled rest time. The children will be asked to sit or lay on their designated cot to allow the staff to clean and sanitize the classes and prepare for afternoon activities. The quiet time also allows the children to regroup for more fun in the afternoon!
Kangaroom – Multi-purpose Room
Giraffe’s (Pre-kindergarten) Room
The largest class of the room for the tallest children in the center. Hence the name Giraffes Classroom!
Children’s Safari Learning Center will enroll 18 children into this classroom running with a 9:1 ratio. This is much lower than you’ll find at other centers because we feel this is the age children grow so much both physically and emotionally. Having staff available for more one on one interaction helps these children with their emotional regulation and independence. The more secure a child feels the better the academic learning experience.
The layout of this classroom is relatively similar to the others. Children have their own cubbies to store personal belongings. There is a restroom located in the class, refrigerators for lunch boxes and a microwave if needed.
The Giraffes students will be ready to share the alphabet, count to 50, write their first and last name, etc. They will be able to be responsible for their belongings and they will be encouraged to help others in need.
Playgrounds
Children’s Safari Learning Center has two playgrounds designed for different age ranges. The playground off the side of the building is for our toddlers. Our Koalas and Monkeys classes will come to this playground two times per day (weather permitting). If the temperature is above 100 degrees, we limit the amount of time the children are outdoors. The toddler playground has a variety of activities and riding toys. The house, the stairs, the slide are regulated heights for this age group. Children have riding toys since many aren’t able to coordinate to pedal trikes.
The preschool playground has bigger play equipment and higher slides. There are more complex gross motor activities such as the play structure ladder and spiral. There are not only pedal trikes but scooters for the children to ride on the asphalt.
The playgrounds are fenced separately from each other allowing the bigger children to run freely and the littler children to play in a safe environment. We also only allow one classroom to be on the playground at a time making sure there is enough equipment for the children to be safe and have fun. All playground gates are locked as are the doors from the outside forcing all visitors to enter through the reception area.