Almansor Early Childhood Education

Almansor's Early Childhood Education Program provides early intervention, pre-school, day care, special and regular education programs for infants, toddlers and children ages birth through 8. Home-based intervention,  parent education and family counseling are available for family members and care providers.

The Early Childhood Education Program is specifically designed to meet the needs of both the regular education student and those at-risk for learning, language, motor or other developmental delays.  Our nationally recognized TAKING CHARGETM programs empower parents and care givers to provide their children with optimum learning opportunities.

ALMANSOR'S LANGUAGE-BASED APPROACH

Long before the emergence of first words, children communicate with parents, siblings and care providers through smiles, sounds and other non-verbal interactions with the people around them. The home is the primary place where children practice their language skills, learn to communicate, and establish the building blocks to reaming and social-emotional development.

The development of language and good communication skills is essential for reaming and later school success. The Almansor Center recognizes that special challenges emerge when children have difficulty communicating.

Almansor staff are trained to address these challenges with specially designed methods geared towards the individual child and his or her parents. Our approach fosters the development of speech and language skills necessary for communication by empowering both parent and child to take charge of their own learning process.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS

Each program component is designed to provide enrichment opportunities in the areas of language, fine and gross motor, cognition, self-care, and social-emotional development.  Staff trained in Early Childhood Education provide supervision in small group or individual settings. Our programs are available to infants, toddlers and young children in regular education and to those who have been identified as having global developmental delays or disabilities, who are high-risk or medically fragile; who have mild to severe speech and language delays; who have been prenatally drug or alcohol exposed; or who show signs of autistic-like behavior patterns. The staff/student ratio in each class is:

• Infant -  1:3

• Toddlers - 1:6

• Preschool - 1:10

• Transition Kindergarten - 1:10

• Primary - 2:12 (1:1 aides for eligible students)

Before and After-school Child Care 
Child care is provided for children six weeks to 6 years of age before class from 7:00 a.m. until classes begin at 9:00 a.m., and again in the afternoons from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.  The emphasis of this program is on socialization skills through play and structured activities.  This program is not offered for children enrolled in the Primary class.

Infant Program
Serves children 6 weeks to 2-1/2 years of age.  The program provides a variety of activities.  Children are given encouragement and love in order to grow at their own rate of development and to reach their full potential.  The infant program, with its specially trained staff, provides an enriched and nurturing environment, which is crucial for a healthy beginning.  Our approach fosters parent involvement in each child's individual program.

Toddler Program  
The toddler program serves children 2 to 4 years of age.  The emphasis is on play that enhances the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of the young child.  The focus is to help each child acquire a healthy self-concept and to reach his/her potential more fully by allowing each child to experience age appropriate curriculum on a developmental level that is challenging and interesting.  Parent involvement and empowerment is a critical component of this program.  

Transition Kindergarten Program 
The Preschool serves children 4 years - until Kindergarten.  The emphasis of this program is on viewing the child as a whole person.  Through their participation in structured and unstructured activities:  arts & crafts, pre-academic, outside/inside play, the children are exposed to basic pre-kindergarten skills.

Primary Program   
This class is designed for children 6 to 8 years of age with multiple special needs including language, learning, developmental, behavior or emotional challenges.  Structured to allow children to build self-esteem by working together in large and small groups, the program focuses on the child as a whole person.  The children are encouraged to express their feelings when upset and are taught mediation skills.  The student/staff ratio is 1:6.  Daily notes are sent home, keeping the family informed of their child's progress.  Children in this program must be referred by a School District.

 

For further information, please contact:

Karin Schankat
Director, Early Education
1955 Fremont Avenue
South Pasadena, CA 91030
(323) 341-7768