What COL Offers

This class is for our youngest children. They must be 2-years-old by September, or turn 2 in September. Children in the Rainbow Room do not need to be potty trained. This class offers an inviting setting with developmentally appropriate toys, arts and crafts, and story time. Play is how we learn! 

Children in our Beginners room must be 2 and a half years old and potty-trained by September. A warm, nurturing preschool experience, this class offers an inviting setting with toys, housekeeping center, dress-up clothes, arts and crafts and story time. 

Three year olds are full of questions about the world around them. Who, what, where, and why? These are the questions every three year old asks! So the experiences provided for this age group are designed to develop the "whole child" - intellectually, socially, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Our daily routine consists of activities the children love to do - signing, arts and crafts projects, puzzles, manipulative toys, dramatic play objects, science experiments and stories. All of these activities help answer children's questions about the world around them. In a variety of age appropriate ways, children will discover letters of the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, science, art, and music. Each day includes time for exploration, dramatic play, large motor activity, a snack, and quiet/rest time during the first part of the school year. The children's spiritual growth is central to our ministry. Each day, our preschoolers learn about Jesus Christ through Bible stories, verses, songs, prayer, and drama. They learn that Jesus loves them, cares about their needs, and is their special friend and Savior. The "threes" teaching staff provides a calm, secure, loving, and nurturing environment for the little ones in their care. 

We are getting ready! In our classes for four year olds, emphasis is provided on the skills that are foundational for success in kindergarten and the elementary grades. Our goal is to make learning fun!

We incorporate reading readiness, language development, thinking and listening skills, printing readiness, and math readiness activities into our daily routines. Each day includes time for singing, exploring learning centers, dramatic play, large muscle activities, science, and arts and crafts. "When we play, we LEARN!"

Four-year-olds will learn about Jesus Christ and His great love for them through Bible stories, songs, verses, prayer, and dramatic arts. This is a truly special time in a child's development.

Pre-K is an essential year to prepare for Kindergarten. The social-emotional, physical, cognitive, and spiritual development that occurs in this year is vital in setting the foundation for future learning. Let Circle of Love Preschool make this important year of your child's life fun, educational, AND developmentally appropriate!

We are excited to offer parents another option for their children who have completed a four year old program, but need an extra year to develop physically, socially, emotionally, or academically prior to entering kindergarten.

TK at Circle of Love will serve as a bridge for children who need the gift of time - time essential to absorb and express ideas and concepts, to learn more about social skills and friendships, to develop independence and examine the world around them. This will allow young five year olds the added time needed to develop the confidence and maturity necessary for success in kindergarten.

Early Drop Off is available for drop-off between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Speak to the School Office about adding this service.

Note: Half Day Students should not be dropped off earlier than 9:00 a.m. If your Half Day Student(s) require Early Drop Off before 9:00 a.m., please speak to the School Office about adding Early Drop Off.

Late Pick Up is available for after your normal scheduled time but please call or email the school office to inform us. Children become anxious when left beyond their normal pick-up time.  Please call if you are going to be late so we may tell your child what to expect.
 
If you pick up your child after closing (5:30 p.m.), you will be charged a fee of $10.00 per five minute increments, or any portion thereof.

School chapel is held once a week, see the Chapel Schedule posted in every classroom. Chapel alternates between Mondays and Tuesdays at 9:40 a.m. Children are encouraged to wear their school t-shirts on their scheduled chapel days. Our Chapel Time consists of Bible Stories, songs, honoring those with a birthday, Chapel offering, and lots of praise and fellowship!

Regarding the offering is taken during chapel, we support our district's Grantparent Program every year. All of the offerings are donated to the Grantparent Program which helps other children attend Lutheran schools. We provide offering envelopes at the beginning of the school year to help teach your child about giving.

Join us online at our weekly Chapel Time via Facebook Live!

Music is very important to First Lutheran Circle of Love. Every child receives a half hour of Music class every week. This program is included in the tuition.

Learn more about our music teacher, Mrs. Devine, on our staff biographies page.

Circle of Love utilizes two comprehensive language arts programs:

• Zoo-phonics (Rainbow, Beginners, Intermediate, Pre-K, & TK)
• Handwriting Without Tears (Pre-K) 
• Learning to Read, Write, & Listen (TK)

More About Zoo-phonics:
Reading and writing are difficult tasks to master because they require an understanding of abstract methods and concepts. Zoo-phonics uses pictorial mnemonics (animal letters) and body movements (kinesthetic mnemonic) to teach through games and activities! It is an inclusive, multi-sensory program that teaches phonemic awareness in a playful, stress-free way that introduces pre-writing and pre-reading skills! With Zoo-phonics, children learn phonemic awareness, the alphabet, and how to decode (read) and eventually to encode (spell/write). At Circle of Love, each age group interacts with Zoo-phonics a little differently. For example, our Beginners class works with the program in a developmentally appropriate way for that age group whereas our Pre-K or TK classes would work with the program based on the the development of their age group(s).

​The "Essences" of Zoo-phonics:
1) The Animal Alphabet helps children remember the shapes and sounds of the letters.
2) Letter sounds are taught before letter names.
3) Lowercase letters are taught before capital letters.
4) The body movement for each Animal Letter helps to cement the phonemic information into memory (connecting sounds to letter shapes).
5) The alphabet is taught sequentially, and as a whole entity, "a - z." The alphabet is not fragmented.
6) Short vowels are taught before long vowels.
7) Phonemic patterns (at, bat, fat, sat, etc.) are taught first rather than random word lists (of, it, then, was, etc.)
8) The Zoo-phonics curriculum is fully integrated with other subjects. (i.e. math, science, art, etc.)

A hot lunch consisting of cheese pizza, fruit/veggies, and yogurt is offered on FRIDAYS at Circle of Love (except for July, August, and the first week of school in September).

The hot lunch menu for the month is placed in each student’s folder one week in advance.  Parents need to indicate which Fridays their child needs hot lunch from the school in the space provided.  Lunch purchased in advance (by Thursday morning) will be $4.00 each; lunch purchased after Thursday morning or the day of will be $5.00.
 
The order form and fee need to be brought to the school office. The cost of lunch is handled separately from tuition. Please do not include lunch fees in with your tuition check. Hot lunch is not available the first week of school.
 
Our hot lunch service is not required. Children may bring their lunch prepared from home in a lunch box with their name on it and the date the lunch was brought to school. (Lunchbox date stickers are available in all the classrooms.) There are microwave ovens in each classroom. The teachers will warm up your child’s lunch if needed.

Nick and Sons is pleased to offer lunch for the children at Circle of Love Preschool. You will be able to order lunch for your child via Nick and Son's website (see link below).

Lunch includes: sandwich, fruit, veggies, and cookie for $10 (including delivery to COL.)

1.) Go to https://order.toasttab.com/online/orders
2.) At the top of the page, scroll through the categories to Circle of Love Kids Lunch
3.) This will take you to the menu at the bottom of the page. Choose your option of three sandwiches: Turkey, Ham, or PBJ
4. You must select your child's classroom name and the day of the week
5. In the special instructions section, you must write your child's name.
6. Also in the special instructions, let us know of any food allergies we need to be aware of.
7. Upon checkout, you ca click EDIT to select a future date if desired. (Ignore the select time! We will be delivering the food directly to Circle of Love Preschool.)

ORDERING WILL CUTOFF AT 8PM THE EVENING PRIOR TO DELIVERY.

Ordering:
https://order.toasttab.com/online/orders

Questions:
dorothy@nickandsonsmb.com

Health and safety is the cornerstone of child care. If you have any questions regarding Circle of Love Preschool's healthy/safety protocols or Illness Policy, please contact the School Office and we will be happy to share these with you and discuss them in detail.

Please see our annually updated Parent Handbook for more details.

Circle of Love Preschool is a proud partner with Safe Kids Inc.

After participating in a pilot program for their Early Childhood Curriculum, we became a designated H.E.R.O. School! Do you want to know more about this program? Click HERE to learn more.

Circle of Love Preschool's IPM Plan