Caminitos Grandin

Yenny Lorca
Director and Teacher
9844-110 Street
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
T5K 1J2
(780) 916-9053
(780) 475-9419

Caminitos is a Spanish-English bilingual playschool for children who are three and four years of age and toilet trained. It is based at École/Escuela Grandin School in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Caminitos Grandin is a non-profit school that has been running since September, 2003. It is a play-based program designed to meet two objectives:

• To provide support to families who are attempting to raise their children to be proficient in both the Spanish and English language.
• To introduce Spanish as a second language to children from non-Hispanic backgrounds.

Children are active learners who learn best through their direct sensory experience with the world. Play provides the opportunity for children to explore their experiences and experiment with their environment while learning to express themselves and to interact effectively with others. Through play, children learn new language and concepts as well as problem solving skills and creativity. Involvement in meaningful experiences within a supportive, language rich environment provides the best opportunity for children to develop their language skills.

Hours of Operation

Although the hours of operation are currently being discussed and possibly revised, the times are as follows:

Tuesday and Thursdays mornings: 9:00 -11:30 am.

Punctuality is greatly appreciated. If another family member or friend will be picking up your child, please mention it to the teacher.

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Fees

As we are a non-profit organization working with a break-even budget, each monthly cheque is critical to our survival.

Registration fee: $40.00 non-refundable
Monthly tuition: $85.00

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Holidays

Caminitos follows the same holiday schedule as École/Escuela Grandin School, with the exception of teacher convention day(s).

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Instruction

This program provides instruction in Spanish. No previous knowledge of Spanish is required. The program encompasses the cultures of all Spanish-speaking nations. Everyone, regardless of Spanish language skills, is welcomed to this program. However, in keeping with the philosophy of Caminitos, always give preference to your use of the Spanish language while interacting with the children during play school (as is your ability).

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Parental Involvement

We ask the parents or any other family members such as grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, etc. to volunteer to spend a full morning in the program. There is a calendar in the classroom to sign up. It is mandatory to have two adults at all times when there are more than 8 children.  The parent or family member volunteer has to help the teacher in watching the children when they are playing making sure that sharing and friendly words are present, help with bathroom breaks and especially during circle,  gym, and craft time. Tasks such as wiping the tables and sweeping after snacks and crafts are essential. Due to the reduced budget we have, we are responsible for the maintenance of the classroom and toys.

If enrolment is high, the program can afford to hire an assistant to perform these duties.

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Communication

To promote timely and effective communication, regular newsletters will sent out to each family. Please remember that the teacher needs time between classes to eat lunch and prepare for the next group of children. Alternatively, you may arrange an appointment with the teacher.

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Toys and Clothing

Please do not bring toys of any kind to school. We have a variety of toys for the children.

Indoor shoes are required. An extra set of clothing including underwear should be bought to the school in case your child requires it. Please label all clothing. Each child will have a cubby and coat hook to place his/her personal belongings. Children will be going outside, therefore clothing appropriate to the season is necessary.

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Illness

When children are sick, please do not bring them to school. Furthermore, if your child catches a highly contagious disease, such as chicken pox, whooping cough, fifth disease, measles etc. please tell the teacher as soon as possible. We will attempt to inform the parents of their children possible exposure to disease.

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Program Routine

The program starts at 9:00 am. The teacher welcomes the children individually and lets them play for 20 minutes in the center of their choice. This enables the teacher to talk with each child while surrounded by their favorite activity and also gives the opportunity to discover their preferences. The teacher takes this time also to review or introduce significant vocabulary. For example, if a child is playing with blocks, she could introduce or review colors or shapes.

Afterwards is the time to clean up. The instruction is given in English and Spanish (after a month, only Spanish is used). The children then go to the carpet for circle time where they sing a song, learn the day of the week, month and season and the teacher introduces the unit (monthly units are prepared). Generally, there is a song related to the unit at the end.

The children get ready to go to the gym or playground where they are involved in guided games as well as non-guided games.

After a washroom break, they come back to the classroom and eat their snacks. Craft time is planned afterwards which is closely related to the monthly unit.

Finally they go back to circle time to read a story and say good bye.

This routine may vary if there is a special celebration such as birthdays, Mother´s day, etc.

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Teacher

We generally look for a person to be in charge of the program who is a native Spanish speaker with proficiency in English as well to facilitate communication with the children and parents. Our experience so far has been with people trained in Early Childhood and update First Aid Certification which is a requirement from Child Services.

Unfortunately we do not have a permanent teacher available at this time.

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