News from The Learning House
Ernie going in the tank!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! 7th Annual Family Carnival to Benefit The Learning House is August 18, 2012 at the Hill at City Park 10 AM - 2 PM. The 7th Annual Family Carnival to Benefit The Learning House features carnival type games and food for children between the ages of 1 and 8 and their families. Come dunk Ernie in the World Famous Dunk Ernie Tank and have some fun for the whole family. Entrance is free and tickets are required for games. Tickets are 50 cents each or 25 tickets for $10. All proceeds benefit The Learning House.
Newsletter in Brief
2012-2013 Registration Pre-registration for families currently enrolled at The Learning House is on Saturday January 28 from 9-11 AM. Open enrollment for new families begins February 2 at 8:30 AM. The 2012/2013 school calendar and enrollment packets will be available on our website and at school on January 17. Please call or email to schedule a visit.
We have a few open spots in our Preschool for January through May.
Ernie's article takes a look at the last 10 years and where we want to be in the next 10 years.
Upcoming dates:
January 4 Kindergarten comes back to school.
January 9 Preschool and PreK come back to school.
January 10 Fabulous 4's come back to school.
January 16 No school
January 20 First day of 1 year old playgroups.
January 23 First week of 2 year old playgroups.
January 28 First day of registration for 2012/2013 school year for Learning House families.
February 2 First day of open enrollment for 2012/2013 school year.
February 20 No school
March 12-16 Spring Break
Family Carnival to benefit The Learning House August 18th 10 AM - 2 PM It’s our 7th year bringing affordable family fun to our community! Enjoy games, food, special events, learning opportunities, and the World Famous Dunk Ernie tank.
Science Experiment: Can you believe it?
Download our December Newsletter
Join our Board of Directors! We are looking for professionals to sit on our Board of Directors. If you are interested in joining our Board, contact Ernie for more information. Meetings are once a month.
Board of Directors:
Karen Borch (Chair)
Virginie Vernon
Brad Kerekes
Dola Sawyer
Jennifer Corbin
Chris Howell
Crystal Blea
My View from the classroom
by Ernie Batson, M.A.
On February 4 The Learning House will be celebrating its 10th birthday and I thought I’d take time to reflect on where we’ve been and where we want to be in the next 10 years. We opened our doors with a belief that young children needed to do Science and Math so they can learn about their world while practicing thinking and problem solving skills. We had our work cut out for us because our school was extremely unique in that we didn’t provide any type of childcare; simply a school for young children. Now, 10 years later the message is getting out and The Learning House continues to get stronger.
Our school actually started 16 years ago when Mary and I left the public schools and began teaching Science classes for 3-8 years old and playgroups for 2 year olds through the Parks and Recreation Divisions of Fort Collins, Loveland, and Berthoud. At that time we were the only ones doing Science with such young children and it turns out we were on the right path. Eventually, the downsizing of city programs forced us to move on to bigger and better things and The Learning House was born. Now, we’re sitting on the threshold of celebrating 10 years of successes; and there are so many!
Since opening our doors, more than 1,000 children and adults have walked through our doors and into our classrooms. We have provided advocacy for many families of children with special needs so Mom and Dad will better understand their rights and help their child learn side-by-side in a classroom of their peers. We purchased our building and added a Kindergarten room to our school. And, we have received over $170,000 in grants and $100,000 in cash and in-kind donations. While we are very proud of these accomplishments, we are even more proud of the successes and memories we’ve had with children and adults at our school ; and there are many!
For example, there was a 2 year old who looked around the corner of the playroom door and asked, “Is there a Starbucks out there?” Or the 3 year old who, after being told she needed to shake our hands and say “Good Morning! I’m glad you’re here.”, responded with “I’m too young to say that!” We wish you folks could be flies on the wall during a class so you too can hear and see all the wonderful things children do when given the opportunity.
In the next 10 years we have two more goals to reach. First, we see The Learning House as a research center that focuses on how young children learn and the role that Science and Math play in this process. We want to be the place that CNN and others come to when they have questions about early childhood education. To get there we need to conduct research studies proving that a combination of our curriculum, teaching methods, and fully inclusive classrooms is exactly what young children need to be successful learners. This we will do!
Our second goal is to raise $6 million to build a new school. The new school will combine all our existing programs with First and Second Grade so we can cover the entire early childhood range, which is birth to age 8. In addition to being a school for children, we will be a “teaching” school for early childhood professionals and educators. We’ll use a hands-on approach that mixes learning about theory and practice with working with children as an equal partner during the Science experiments. From this we believe professionals will gain a greater understanding of how children learn and see the value of a solid Science and Math education. For every teacher we teach many more children will use Science and Math to explore and learn how to use thinking and problem solving skills.
We have much to do to achieve these goals and we believe, just like we did 10 years ago, that this is all possible. We have grants to write, fundraisers to coordinate, and thousands more children to educate. To make this all happen, we will need your continued support, encouraging words, volunteering, and financial backing through tuition and donations. We rely on grants and donations to keep our programs affordable and, unfortunately, the granting sources are becoming fewer and fewer. We ask that you include The Learning House in your giving plans for the coming years so we can keep the school looking great and tuition affordable so children from all walks of life can get a great early childhood education.
Finally, to celebrate all our successes we’re going to have a birthday party “Ernie and Mary style”! On February 4 from 1-3 PM at the school we will have a birthday cake, music with Ernie, and a story or two; nothing fancy and yet a whole lot of fun. Please mark your calendars and join us for a wonderful celebration. Please invite the families of graduates who no longer get our newsletter about the party so we can connect and share a hug or two, laughs and many great memories. This is the time to honor our past and make plans for the future. We want you folks to be a part of this and hope to see you all there! From the bottom of our hearts we say
THANK YOU!
© 2011 Ernie and Mary Batson
Our school actually started 16 years ago when Mary and I left the public schools and began teaching Science classes for 3-8 years old and playgroups for 2 year olds through the Parks and Recreation Divisions of Fort Collins, Loveland, and Berthoud. At that time we were the only ones doing Science with such young children and it turns out we were on the right path. Eventually, the downsizing of city programs forced us to move on to bigger and better things and The Learning House was born. Now, we’re sitting on the threshold of celebrating 10 years of successes; and there are so many!
Since opening our doors, more than 1,000 children and adults have walked through our doors and into our classrooms. We have provided advocacy for many families of children with special needs so Mom and Dad will better understand their rights and help their child learn side-by-side in a classroom of their peers. We purchased our building and added a Kindergarten room to our school. And, we have received over $170,000 in grants and $100,000 in cash and in-kind donations. While we are very proud of these accomplishments, we are even more proud of the successes and memories we’ve had with children and adults at our school ; and there are many!
For example, there was a 2 year old who looked around the corner of the playroom door and asked, “Is there a Starbucks out there?” Or the 3 year old who, after being told she needed to shake our hands and say “Good Morning! I’m glad you’re here.”, responded with “I’m too young to say that!” We wish you folks could be flies on the wall during a class so you too can hear and see all the wonderful things children do when given the opportunity.
In the next 10 years we have two more goals to reach. First, we see The Learning House as a research center that focuses on how young children learn and the role that Science and Math play in this process. We want to be the place that CNN and others come to when they have questions about early childhood education. To get there we need to conduct research studies proving that a combination of our curriculum, teaching methods, and fully inclusive classrooms is exactly what young children need to be successful learners. This we will do!
Our second goal is to raise $6 million to build a new school. The new school will combine all our existing programs with First and Second Grade so we can cover the entire early childhood range, which is birth to age 8. In addition to being a school for children, we will be a “teaching” school for early childhood professionals and educators. We’ll use a hands-on approach that mixes learning about theory and practice with working with children as an equal partner during the Science experiments. From this we believe professionals will gain a greater understanding of how children learn and see the value of a solid Science and Math education. For every teacher we teach many more children will use Science and Math to explore and learn how to use thinking and problem solving skills.
We have much to do to achieve these goals and we believe, just like we did 10 years ago, that this is all possible. We have grants to write, fundraisers to coordinate, and thousands more children to educate. To make this all happen, we will need your continued support, encouraging words, volunteering, and financial backing through tuition and donations. We rely on grants and donations to keep our programs affordable and, unfortunately, the granting sources are becoming fewer and fewer. We ask that you include The Learning House in your giving plans for the coming years so we can keep the school looking great and tuition affordable so children from all walks of life can get a great early childhood education.
Finally, to celebrate all our successes we’re going to have a birthday party “Ernie and Mary style”! On February 4 from 1-3 PM at the school we will have a birthday cake, music with Ernie, and a story or two; nothing fancy and yet a whole lot of fun. Please mark your calendars and join us for a wonderful celebration. Please invite the families of graduates who no longer get our newsletter about the party so we can connect and share a hug or two, laughs and many great memories. This is the time to honor our past and make plans for the future. We want you folks to be a part of this and hope to see you all there! From the bottom of our hearts we say
THANK YOU!
© 2011 Ernie and Mary Batson
