Welcome

A child's earliest years include some of the most unique and valuable stages of life. At The Nativity Early Learning Center (NELC), our most important responsibility is to provide a safe, healthy, nurturing and responsive setting for every child.  We are committed to supporting each child's development by recognizing and respecting individual differences and potential.  The NELC is open to the public.
 

We invite you to share and discover with us the beautiful treasures that lie within each individual child.

If you walk into our classrooms you will hear the faint laughter of young children engaged in play and learning at our Nativity Early Learning Center (NELC). The NELC's preschool programs are designed to maximize the educational and social benefits for your child's future success. 

Your child will experience the joys of learning in their preschool classroom as they explore the following academic areas:

There are six areas of development that our youngest children focus on throughout their days in the preschool programs at the NELC.  These areas follow the MN Early Childhood Indicators of Progress.  We have also added an additional area on Religious Education.

• Social and Emotional Development

  • Emotional Development, Self-Concept and Social Competence and Relationships

•  Different Approaches to learning

  • Curiosity, Risk-Taking, Imagination and Invention, Persistence and Reflection and Interpretation

•  Language and Literacy Development

  • Listening, Speaking, Emergent Reading and Emergent Writing

•  Creativity and the Arts

  • Creating, Responding and Evaluating

•  Cognitive Development

  • Mathematical and Logical Thinking- Number Concepts and Operations, Patterns and Relationships, Spatial Relationships/Geometry, Measurement and Mathematical Responding

  • Scientific Thinking and Problem Solving- Observing, Questioning and Investigating

  • Social Systems Understanding- Human Relationships and Understanding the World

•  Physical Motor Development

  • Gross Motor Development, Fine Motor Development and Physical Health and Well Being

•  Religious Education

  • The children will develop an awareness of God, the bible, learning prayers, empathy, respect and values through developmentally appropriate activities including being kind and loving to each other. We also celebrate all Catholic holidays.

The NELC has convenient hours for parents’ work schedules. The NELC is open from 6:30am-6:00pm Monday-Friday.

Low Ratios allow the teacher to spend more time with individual children and to know more about their learning readiness and interests. It also creates a more comfortable environment for children.

The NELC meets health and safety standards to make sure your child is safe. The NELC is licensed by the MN Department of Human Services.

The NELC has knowledgeable teachers in the field of Early Childhood Education and developmentally appropriate practices.  All teachers are Rule #3 certified and complete Professional Development training annually.  All teachers are CPR and First Aid Certified. All teachers also have Abusive Head Trauma (formally known as Shaken Baby Syndrome) training.