By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
The crowd that formed to toast, with cups of sparkling cider, Saturday's grand opening of Girdwood’s new early learning center had something more in common than many likely knew.
"If you've gone to Little Bears [Playhouse], have a child who's gone or have a grandchild who's gone please raise your hand," the center's director asked the crowd.
Nearly every hand went up.
Parents, children and grandparents and others roamed the new facility Saturday, many getting their first glimpse at a building that's been 10 years in the making.
The new center, within walking distance from Hotel Alyeska, fulfills not only the community's support for expanding child care services, but the vision of Little Bears and its executive director, Rachel Byers, who helped design a building that is child-centered and play-based.
Toilets in some of the classrooms are enclosed with walls hip-high for an adult, but reach above a small child's head, an accommodation that gives children a classroom custom sized for their real world.
"All the tables, sinks, toilets, shelves; they are all accessible to the children so that they can become independent in their self care and engagement with the environment," said Byers, who formerly worked as an assistant director at the Early Learning Center in Anchorage.
In a text message later, Byers laid out what parents can expect with enrollment.
"We have a monthly themed curriculum that is taught through the play materials in our classrooms. We encourage children to explore the environment freely and to learn about the world around them through the presented works," she said.
Byers said children have 15-20 minutes of "circle time" then "hands-on art activities, STEM, or free play with intentionally-chosen materials" that give the kids a chance to apply their learning.
"For example, we are discussing Alaskan animals in preschool this month. Our teacher will show children photos, or actual furs of animals that live here. They will play the animal sounds for the children to hear," she said.
Read the entire story at the link below:
