Open House

On Thursday, September 4th we will be having our preschool open house. Please sign up for a time slot that you can come with your child, tour the preschool, and meet the teacher. You can bring your school supplies in at this time or on the first day of school.

We will have a little scavenger hunt for you and your preschooler to participate in. It will lead you to find the cubbies, coat rack, discovery centers, bathroom, playground, etc. You will lead your child around in preparation for the first day of school.

We will also gather around our calendar corner for orientation and a brief story time. Let me know what time works for you.

Our Preschool Curriculum

The Learning for Life Preschool has adopted two curriculums and four educational beliefs. Our preschool day will be divided up into two educational styles with snacks, recess, calendar corner, and bathroom breaks in between.

The first portion of our preschool day will be devoted to the Creative Curriculum learning approach. Our classroom will be organized into “Discovery Centers”, which are areas with a collection of activities and materials. These materials are related by subject, purpose, or projected skills. These activities and materials are used independently by the children, or with teacher direction, to reinforce and/or enrich one or more skills or concepts. Discovery centers are an excellent way to individualize the curriculum to meet the varying needs of young children.


Learning for Life Preschool Discovery Centers
• Literacy Center
• Sensory Center
• Dramatic Play Center
• Manipulative Center
• Creativity and Art Center

The second curriculum we would like to adopt is The Learning Box Curriculum. It is a professionally designed educational preschool curriculum filled with fun hands-on activities, arts and crafts, and early literacy experiences for children ages 3-5.

The Learning Box Curriculum was developed to ensure that children would be introduced to necessary skills and concepts in pre-writing, pre-reading, math, science, social studies, music, creative arts, health, etc in a fun and enjoyable way. This curriculum will be introduced by the teacher using a guided practice approach.

School Supply List

Learning for Life School Supply List

Backpack (your child will need to bring a backpack everyday to and from school)
4 glue sticks
1 pair of small scissors (blunt edge)
1 box of fine line markers
1 box of crayons (24 count)
1 box of Kleenex
1 bottle of hand soap with pump
1 container of Clorox wipes
1 box of Ziploc bags (gallon or quart size)
1 full set of extra clothing (please put this in a labeled Ziploc baggie)
1 extra snack to share (box of crackers, etc)

Each child will take turns bringing a snack to share. I will have a sign-up calendar for snacks days at our open house. The extra snack on the supply list will go in our cupboards as a back-up.

Please label only the backpack and extra clothing from the supply list. It is important to remember to write your child's name on coats, hats, gloves, etc.

Parent Participation Preschool

The Learning for Life Preschool will be a parent participation school. Some of the many benefits of the parent participation are:
• Lower preschool costs, making it more affordable.
• Higher adult/child ratio.
• Provides parents with a quality educational experience for their preschooler.
• Provides parents with the opportunity to increase their parenting skills and share information and experiences about child rearing with other like-minded parents.
• Parents are directly involved with their child's preschool experience and can make great school to home connections.



Family Choice

Your family has the choice to be a “parent/participant family” or a “non-participant family” based upon your child and your families needs. The responsibilities for a “parent/participant family” are as follows:

• A parent/guardian is required to participate in two to three duty days per month (2 days for the am session, 3 days for the pm session) for 3 hours each duty day assisting the teacher in the classroom. Duties in the classroom include helping the teacher set up activities for the day, facilitating the children's play, and cleaning up in preparation for the next day.
• To complete an Oregon Criminal History Background Check request. The results of the background check will be confidential, and will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
• To attend the Parent Participant Orientation Session at the beginning and middle of the school year. Any person who will parent help during the school year must attend the orientation session. Specific duty instructions will be given at this meeting.

Registration Information

Thank you for your interest in the Learning for Life Preschool Program. We are very excited to have a successful preschool in the small town of Carlton, Oregon. We are located inside Carlton Elementary School. The Learning for Life Preschool opened Fall 2008. We look forward to many great years to come!


Follow these steps to register your child:

• Complete a registration form for each child.
• Enclose a $50.00 non-refundable deposit
• Return the registration form and deposit to the below address

Carlton Together Cares
PO Box 821
Carlton, Oregon 97111

Schedule/Cost:

3 year old class:
Tues/Thurs 8:15am -11:00 am
Non-participant tuition: $75 per month
Parent-Participant tuition: $55 per month

4 year old class:
Tues/Wed/Thurs 12:15 pm-3:00 pm
Non-participant tuition: $100 per month
Parent-Participant tuition: $75 per month



If you would like to request a registration packet, please contact Amber Horne: learningforlifepreschool@gmail.com or by phone 503-852-7161

Learning for Life Preschool

The Learning for Life Preschool is underway! It has been a busy summer getting everything organized and set up. We are so excited to open our doors on September 9th for our first day of school.

For years there was a preschool in place at Carlton Elementary. In 2001 it was lost due to budget restrictions. Parents, teachers and district administrators have all expressed interest in this endeavor.

May 16th, 2008- A survey was sent home with each student at Carlton Elementary School to evaluate the need for a preschool in Carlton. We immediately heard back from over 30 families in support of a preschool. At this time we knew Carlton needed a preschool.

June 16th- The Y-C school board unanimously accepted our preschool proposal. The school district is in full support of our preschool. They will be providing us with classroom space at Carlton Elementary School. In addition they are willing to provide us with costs associated with electricity, water, and custodial services.

The Carlton Preschool is a go!! We are excited for this positive contribution to the community of Carlton. The Learning For Life Preschool will open Fall of 2008.

We are in the beginning stages of organization; there is a lot to accomplish. The first steps are getting the word out, registration, and applying for grant dollars to cover start up costs.

June 16th- Y-C school board unanimously accepted our proposal in support of our preschool. The school district has donated a classroom at Carlton Elementary. They will also absorb soft costs associated with the preschool (electricity, water, janitorial services). We are so grateful for their support.

June 18th- Carlton Together Cares accepted our proposal to be our acting fiscal agent. This will enable our preschool to:

• Be a non-profit organization, which allows us to apply for grant money
• Allows contributions to be a tax write-off for contributors
• Connects us to the greater community
• Covers us under the CTC insurance policy
• Acts as a support in helping us get started

General Preschool Information

General Preschool Information

The Learning for Life Preschool will be offering two preschool classes for 2008-2009. There will be a Tues/Thurs morning session held from 8:15 am –11:00 am for 3 year olds and a Tues/Wed/Thurs afternoon session held from 12:15 pm –3:00 pm for 4 yr olds. The preschool will follow the Y-C school district calendar. We have left Mondays and Fridays off of our preschool schedule. As a result, throughout our preschool year we will have very few days with no school!

Our preschool day will be 2.75 hours. For your convenience, we have taken into consideration the start and release schedule of Carlton Elementary School. We realize that many of our preschool children will have older siblings attending the school.

You will be happy to know that Carlton Elementary is willing to make special accommodations for your family this preschool year. In working with the school, we will do our best to coordinate your child’s schedule with a sibling’s schedule. For example, if you have a 3 year old preschooler, the school is flexible in the possibility of placing your kindergartner in the am class. Let us know what will work for your family. We would like to keep all 3 year olds in the am class and 4 year olds in the pm class.

*Please note: In future years this flexibility may not be possible