The St. Paul Early Learning Center provides quality child care for children ages 6 months to 5-years-old. Our Center is fully licensed by the state of Michigan and provides a safe, nurturing place for your child to learn and grow in Christ.
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The St. Paul Early Learning Center is open from 6:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and offers a Christ-centered learning environment filled with caring teachers and experienced educators.
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Please call (810) 239-6733 today to schedule a private tour, and see what makes St. Paul Early Learning Center a "Great Place to Grow."
FIRST STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
The St. Paul Early Learning Center is focused on building a solid foundation for your child. The Center is a place where your child can grow spiritually, academically, physically and socially, all while learning about God’s world around them. Our program is led by caring and experienced educators who are highly trained in early childhood education. You child will explore a variety of academic subjects and also have the opportunity to experience enrichment programs including music, art and technology. Here, our students form life-long friendships built together in Christ.
Pre-School
Here at St. Paul Early Learning Center, we introduce young children to school through a loving and engaging environment. Our dedicated staff and educators create a positive experience, while building each child’s knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ. We value each child and encourage them to reach their highest potential. St. Paul Early Learning Center offers both half-day and full-day programs to children ages 3-5 years old, including Junior Kindergarten.
A PLACE OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
We utilize a caring, multi-sensory approach to learning, based on Michigan's Early Childhood Standards of Quality from the Michigan Department of Education. This curriculum is process-orientated and is based on the premise that children learn best when they are actively involved in experiences to make them meaningful.
A PLACE FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Here at St Paul Early Learning Center, our goal is for each child to develop a relationship with Jesus as their personal Savior and friend. We focus on character development by modeling Christ-like behavior. Children learn about God’s love for them and others through daily Jesus time, weekly school chapel service and our Praise Kids Choir.
A QUALITY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
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An average 9:1 student-to-teacher ratio
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State certified teachers with advanced degrees in Early Childhood Learning
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Educational field trips
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Flexible extended-day childcare until 5:30 p.m.
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Teachers Assistants in most classrooms
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Gymnasium for physical education
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Outside playground with age-appropriate equipment
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Nutritious hot lunch program
Each day our toddlers continue to learn and practice self-help skills and social relationships. It is important for children to learn things such as wash and dry their hands, find their shoes, put away their toys and learn to make choices. While doing these things, your child will be building adult and peer relationships. We want them to develop positive friendships and interactions with others. They will continue to learn how to follow simple directions, start the process of learning how to share things with others and learn about self-control how to join in on activities. All our teachers encourage positive communication, emphasizing expression of emotions and social interactions, all in a loving Christian atmosphere.
The purpose of the Early Pre-School program is to prepare children for a preschool experience while building on the self-help skills, social skills, following of directions and problem-solving skills they were introduced to in our Toddler Program. 'Striving for independence' is a way to describe the children in this class. As they are learning to make their mark on the world the teacher will be introducing and teaching routines and expectations. You will see this in circle time, lining up, cleaning up, moving from one activity to another, problem solving and using materials.
Learning activities at this age are child-initiated and teacher-supplemented. Learning through child-initiated play is very important to the development of your child's brain, and provides the building blocks for how the child approaches learning tasks in future years. Hands-on learning is key at this age. Here, children are ‘learning to learn’ and doing largely so through their senses. Sensory exploration is a large part of our art, math and science experiences.
The toilet training process is a major focus in the Early Pre-School program. Remember that children are ready for toilet training at different ages and will let you know when to start. In order to progress to the next classroom, your child will need to be fully toilet trained.
Each day, children in this program will have circle time. They will be developing language and learning to express themselves. Children this age are learning to talk about what is happening around them. They are trying to make sense of their world and figure out how it all works together. We will provide lots of experiences for them that will help them sort this out!
Children who are three years old and fully potty-trained are ready for the Preschool 3 program. They will continue to work on peer relationships, following directions and other self-help skills. They will focus on colors and shapes and move at their own pace while learning math and language concepts.
Three-year-olds are still focusing on play which is key to their learning. During this time, they will learn more valuable math concepts, problem solving, enhance their creativity and imaginations, as well as learn skills of negotiation, problem-solving and friendship.
Center time is introduced in this class, which allows for free exploration and teacher mentored activities in a small group setting. Developmentally appropriate activities are performed in a fun, enthusiastic, Christ-centered environment.
Our Preschool 4 program is designed to prepare children for Kindergarten. Children progress through their preschool years at different rates and have a wide range of abilities. It is our goal to build on these abilities and interests as we guide and teach them. We will provide opportunities for learning to meet the individual needs of each child to the best of our ability.
We partner with the families to continue teaching by example not only preschool skills but also the love the Lord has for them through our daily devotions, prayers, and learning Bible stories from the curriculum “One in Christ”. The program begins with building a positive relationship between the teacher, family, and the child. Once this relationship is built we are ready to learn in a positive way.
The Pre-School 4 program is built strongly on language arts which includes a letter of the week, story time, handwriting skills and communication skills. Our program also includes science which we do hands on activities to encourage critical thinking skills. The math curriculum introduces concepts through exploration at their level. Physical activity is an integral part of a child’s development therefore our program includes opportunities for participating in activities to encourage health and fitness.