Sharing Circle

So often parents ask us what we do at TSL. It is hard to answer this question without being generic. We are a small business child care and the answer to the questions "Who are we?" "What do we do?" have to be defined carefully, because that answer sets us apart from everyone else.

My reply is often this..."TSL does not define itself by what we do, but what we do outside of what we do." This can be confusing so I have to break it down for people. As a recreational program we can do 101 things and still sound like any other program. We do games, crafts, projects, outdoor time etc. and the list goes on.

Is your child's school experience affected by the quality of child care he or she receives before school begins and after school ends? We think so.

There is nothing overly scientific about this piece, but I'm passionate about my philosophies and TSL has always believed that child care experiences in the before and after school setting can positively or negatively impact a child's full day experience. Makes sense, right? A child who engages in healthy play with stimulating and well trained adults between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. will walk through the school doors feeling good and ready to tackle the rigors of academia. While the child who is not engaged or is supervised by someone with lesser vested adults in the same time span, at the very least, may not benefit at all from his early morning experience such that it prepares him for the 6 hours ahead. And what about after school. An additional three hours of a child's life...doing what? Do parents and school professionals even know?

So, it was 2009 and I was in the midst of our first year summer program as TSL Adventures, the culmination of lots of hard work as I scurried to get TSL off the ground while finishing my 12th year as an elementary classroom teacher. Then, opportunity knocks. 

Along comes Sacred Heart School asking if we could bring TSL to their school and run their before and after school programs. I hear the words of a song in my head "should I stay or should I go"....I went. After 12 years of teaching I closed the door behind me and never looked back.