Thank you for your interest in the Child Learning Center (CLC), an inclusive early childhood learning toddler and preschool classroom. We have been serving the Boulder community for over 50 years! We are proud of our award-winning inclusive classroom environment and our loving and highly educated early childhood team. The CLC was awarded the Dan B. Davidson Award in 2018 by the Developmental Disabilities Council, which recognizes individuals and organizations that have demonstrated visionary practices (see introduction to the award).

This program is a learning platform for Speech and Language graduate students to learn best practices for supporting the whole child during the most important years.  Child building lego tower

Approach to Learning
The CLC welcomes ALL children, including children with needs and typically developing children. We use the Storybook Journey curriculum, a child-centered and play-based apporach that responds to each child’s interests, strengths, and areas for development. Our highly qualified team supports all areas of development: communication and early literacy, social-emotional, gross and fine motor, & cognition and pre-academic skills. We follow family priorities and our families are highly involved. Our team implements evidence based supportive classroom practices.

Unique Features

  • Low teacher-student ratio
  • Notes sent home to families every other week
  • Portfolio of development created each semester for every child
  • Emphasis on family involvement
  • Healthy snack provided
  • Large outdoor natural space and newly built playground

Location: Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic (SLHC)
                  University of Colorado
                  2501 Kittredge Loop Drive, Boulder, CO 80309-0409

2019 – 2020 School Year
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 8:45am – 12:00pm

Typical Daily Schedule and Routine:

[Remember to wash your hands and put sunccreen on before coming to CLC]

8:45 – Drop-off/Welcome: Parent sign-in, children put back pack in their cubby, and chose an activity for free play. Parents can decide when during the drop off routine they will say good bye to their child. Please let your child know when you are leaving. As the school year goes on, children will say goodbye at the door and do the complete drop off routine independently, including checking themselves in. 

8:45 – 9:00: Free play in the classroom until clean-up for circle. Various activities will be set out

9:05 Welcome Circle: We say/sing good morning to our friends with actions and movement, review classroom schedule & rules, listen and participate in an action song to get our bodies moving & have a social skill lesson from our puppets Max & Shari. Our morning circle sets the tone for the day and helps the children to understand what to expect, get some exercise and provide them opportunity to share, learn & connect with their peers. Please arrive prior to welcome circle. The transition to snack includes each child doing a circus trick in the middle of the circle.

9:20 – 9:40 Snack Time: The children will be exposed to diverse foods and textures. They will practice feeding themselves and share in conversation with their peers. Independently they clean up and get ready to go outside

9:40 – 10:30 Outside Time: We go outside during most weather conditions! We play lots of fun games on the playground and provide opportunity for planned physical activity (parachute, bear hunt, obstacle course) and we have riding toys, basketball, sand area, climbers & more! Our transition to the inside is structured with a teacher leading the children in actions using visuals.

10:35 – 10:50 Story Circle: The children participate in the storybook reading through conversations, asking questions and exploring different ways to retell the story using props, imagination, actions and language. The repetition of telling the story offers an opportunity for children to learn concepts, language and gain confidence in participating and bringing the themes and language from the story into their play. The team intentionally plans the story and the activities to support each individual child’s goals.

10:55 – 11:40 Centers: This is “free play”. The teachers support the children in play and activities throughout the classroom. The classroom environment reflects various themes from the storybook we are reading and supports all the developmental areas and each child’s individual needs. We often have special art projects planned, cooking activities & the gym is open for climbing & other planned physical activities such as music and movement, obstacle course, swings & more!

11:45 – 12:00 Movement/Yoga & Good Bye Circle: This is a time when we come back together, reflect on the day, do some movement and sign goodbye to friends. Please peak through the classroom door window to let the teachers know you are there and then you can meet your child in the cubby room after we sing goodbye to her/him. We try to stagger the children so the cubby room does not get too busy. Don’t forget to sign out!

Transitions: All major transitions in the classroom include movement, action & learning activities.

    Preschool Flyer

    2019 – 2020 School Year
    Tuesday/Thursday 9:00am – 11:00am

    Typical Daily Schedule and Routine:

    [Remember to wash your hands and put sunccreen on before coming to CLC]

    9:00 – Arrival, Sign-in & Welcome Circle: When children arrive (with their parent/caregiver) they can put their backpack in their cubby, and choose an activity to play for a few minutes. Parents/caregiver, please remember to sign your child in. We will begin our morning with a quick welcome circle to sing hello to the children and hear a story. Parents are welcome to stay or leave prior. This helps build a routine, create peer interaction and orient children to the start of toddler group time.

    Parents/caregivers are welcome to stay in the classroom and play with their child if they are concerned about separation. We will follow the child’s lead to ensure they feel comfortable and safe for their parent/caregiver to leave. Parents are always welcomed to stay and observe in our observation booth. Furthermore, feel free to discuss with our team strategies for dropping off and separation. Please know, we would never hesitate to call if your child is having difficulties adjusting.

    9:15 Free Play: Children are self-guided through activities and play in the classroom. The clinicians and faculty are there to support their engagement with their peers and classroom materials. The classroom is set up to reflect all the play schemes and concepts from our storybook journey and supports all areas of development for each child, including language development. The team works together to ensure that each child’s individual needs are met and that the children create a classroom community.

    10:00 Clean up: Children are encouraged to pick up a few items prior to coming to music.  Learning to cleanup and finish an activity is part of literacy development and learning to take care of the classroom.

    10:05 Music and Movement: Each day we will do music and movement as a large group. Children are welcome to come and join the activity or observe from afar. When they feel comfortable and interested they join. Following music, the children take turns washing their hands and going to the snack table.

    Music provides an opportunity for the children to engage as a group and follow a routine. Songs are chosen to support the children’s various levels of development & promote skills, while having fun with their peers. Songs, movement and rhythm are often used a vehicle that promotes language and motor development.

    10:10 - 10:30 Snack & Story: After music the children will wash their hands and get ready for snack. During snack, the children will listen to a story, participate in retelling the story using props and imagination and have discussion around concepts from the story and relate them to their world.  The repetition of telling the story offers an opportunity for children to learn concepts, language and gain confidence in participating and bringing the themes and language from the story into their play. The team intentionally plans the story and the activities to support each individual child’s goals.

    10:35 Outside Play: We go outside in most weather conditions! We have riding toys, sand box, climbers, basketball, horse riding & more! The children will gather their personal belongings and bring them outside.

    Outside time provides many opportunities for large motor activities which often sparks language, positive peer interactions and imaginative play.

    11:00 Parents pick up: Parents/Caregiver pick children up on our playground. You can access the playground from outside or through the building. Please remember to sign your child out. Graduate clinicians and the team will share with you, celebrations from the day, areas where you child may have needed support, along with strategies that have worked. Family communication is a priority for us and we view families as an integral part of our team.

    Toddler Play Group Flyer

    For more information on fees please contact Julie Breidenstein or call 303-492-5375.

    Additionally, feel free to visit and 'like' our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CLCSLHC/

    You will not find a better preschool experience for your child than what they'll get at the CLC. We are in our third year there, and I am confident that my children will go into kindergarten socially, emotionally, and academically ready. I wish they could teach the kinds of interpersonal skills that the kids learn here at every preschool. I am grateful for the compassion and patience that are modelled and encouraged towards peers that struggle with social interactions. I have a son with special needs, and while I wish I'd known about the CLC when he was a preschooler, I am grateful I've given this experience to his younger brother and sister so that they could have exposure to peers of all abilities. I have been consistently impressed with every clinician who has worked with my children, and I cannot say enough good things about the teacher-mentors. Lest my glowing review appear to be suspiciously positive, I will give one critique - the parking situation has, at times, been frustrating. But that is honestly the only negative I've encountered in over two years with the CLC. I will miss it terribly when my kids "graduate" in April, and I will always be grateful for the gifts they have been given there. This place is a hidden gem. You will find nothing else like it in the Boulder area. Thank you, CU, for providing this opportunity for families of special needs and neurotypical kids alike. And thank you, Teacher LJ, for your tireless work and endless love for our kids - you're making the world a better place, ten preschoolers at a time!