Early childhood development

Throughout our multi-year program, we track every component of a child’s development, from cognitive to intellectual to social emotional. We maintain an integrated approach to the care and development of our students and an open line of communication with parents. This ensures that we are aligned in regards to how we can best promote each child’s holistic development.

Individualized Approach

The depth of our individualized approach is unmatched. Our ratio of five or six students to two teachers ensures our ability to truly get to know each child as not only an individual, but also a learner. This allows us to tailor our curated curriculum to the needs of each child and differentiate the lessons to ensure that every student is reaching his or her fullest potential and highest level of engagement. Our goal is for each student to feel empowered to master every component of literacy development with confidence.

Parent Conferences are an integral part of the Little Learning program. We provide each family with a comprehensive review of their child’s/children’s growth and progress per our observations. We speak in detail to every area of early childhood development (cognitive, social-emotional, physical, moral and behavioral, and speech and language) as well as each child’s strengths and areas for improvement. We also act as a confidential sounding board for parents as they navigate preschool and Kindergarten admissions and provide honest, relevant feedback specific to each child in this regard.

Literacy Enrichment

Our curriculum focuses on early skills in all of the five pillars of literacy (Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Comprehension) to support age-appropriate literacy development. Our multi-sensory approach incorporates activities in all of the learning modalities, including visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile, ensuring that our lessons come alive for every type of learner. All of our Directors hold Masters Degrees in Early Childhood Education and Literacy and our teachers are extensively trained in the Little Learning method.

Kindergarten Readiness

Our curriculum from the earliest ages promotes independence in a classroom setting. As children progress through our program, they are familiarized with the routines and rituals of a structured and academic learning environment. Key developmental skills include following multi-step directions, completing tasks independently, and working collaboratively with their peers. Little Learning graduates have gone on to attend the following schools: Allen-Stevenson, Avenues, Birch Wathen Lenox, Brearley, Browning, Buckley, Chapin, Collegiate, Columbia Grammar, Dalton, Ethical Culture, Grace Church, Hewitt, Horace Mann, Lycée Français, Marymount, Nightingale, PS 6, PS 75, PS 267, PS 290, Ramaz, Riverdale, Rodeph Sholom, Sacred Heart, Saint David’s, Spence, St. Bernard’s, St. Luke’s, Stephen Gaynor, Town, Trevor Day and Trinity.