Bubbles the Elephant and the Learning Experience Curriculum: A Comprehensive Overview
The Learning Experience (TLE) offers a unique approach to early childhood education with its character-based curriculum. Since its inception in 2002, TLE has been employing a cast of unique and beloved characters, each embodying a specific learning purpose, to create a fun, engaging, and effective learning environment for young children. The Southlake location, which opened in 2023 at 100 River Oaks Drive, is one of many TLE centers that integrate these characters into their daily curriculum.
The Core Philosophy: Learning Through Play and Exploration
The Learning Experience's core philosophy centers around empowering children to learn through play, exploration, and hands-on activities. This approach enables children to develop mastery in a fun and engaging manner. The characters serve as a bridge between abstract concepts and the child's world, making learning relatable and meaningful.
The Cast of Characters: A Curriculum Overview
TLE's curriculum is brought to life by a diverse cast of characters, each designed to impart specific skills and knowledge. These characters cover a wide range of subjects, from literacy and math to philanthropy and physical fitness.
Bubbles the Elephant: The iconic blue elephant mascot of The Learning Experience, Bubbles takes children on a daily adventure in the classroom, making them happy to learn, play, and grow. Bubbles embodies a positive attitude and a love for discovering new things.
Grace The Greyhound and Charity Chihuahua: This dynamic dog duo teaches children the importance of generosity and giving through philanthropy.
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Flexi Flamingo: As the fitness guru, Flexi Flamingo helps children discover the benefits of an active lifestyle by sharing the joys of fitness and making healthy choices.
Lionstein: The wise and creative scientist, Lionstein, makes science captivating and engaging, even for the youngest learners, helping children explore the power of STEM learning through self-discovery and problem-solving.
Phoebe Phonics: The literature-loving llama, Phoebe Phonics, instills a passion for reading through TLE's early literacy program.
Two Plus Toucan: This creative mathematician helps children explore the wonders of math, a fundamental component of TLE's robust STEM curriculum.
Penny Polite: The well-mannered etiquette coach, Penny Polite, helps children understand the importance of having manners.
Bongo Bear: The musically talented bear shares his knowledge and passion for music, helping children recognize instruments and their sounds, explore rhythms, and discover that music is all around them. Bongo Bear is the face of the Little Musicians enrichment program.
Tito Toro and Ping Panda: These tiny travelers enjoy visiting countries around the world as they explore different cultures and teach foreign languages to curious learners.
Pablo Pigasso: helps children discover the beauty of self-expression through the power of art
Techni Cal: The computer-savvy giraffe, Techni Cal, loves sharing his passion for technology and innovation. He leads TLE's Little Engineers enrichment program and STEM efforts in the classroom, helping children explore the power of STEM through technology and innovation.
Gibby Gibbon: Gibby Gibbon teaches children how to communicate with sign language, embracing the abilities of others and teaching children that everyone is unique in their own way.
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Sonar the Submarine: Sonar the Submarine explores the magic of our underwater worlds.
The Power of Characters in Early Childhood Education
Studies indicate that children love to learn from characters, making the character-based approach highly effective, especially in preschool and early education. The characters make learning relatable and meaningful for young learners, creating a happy and engaging environment. According to Center Director Gerri Kelley, "Each character has a purpose and intention. The characters bring the learning to life for the children, and they really respond well to it. It's a very effective tool.”
Enrichment Programs: Extending the Learning Experience
The Learning Experience offers seasonal Enrichment Programs as part of their entire curriculum offering, at no additional cost to the family. These sessions are an extension of the day-to-day curriculum, with programs like music, engineering, and fitness. At the end of each session, children receive take-home kits, providing a home-to-school connection and allowing the continuation of the child’s passion outside of the classroom.
Happyville: Bringing the Characters to Life Beyond the Classroom
The characters extend beyond the classroom into the world of Happyville, via The Learning Experience’s award-winning YouTube series, “Bubbles and Friends.” These videos are crafted by experts in childhood development and kids’ entertainment. Welcome to Happyville - Bubbles and Friends are so excited to meet you!
Summer of Happiness Program
The Learning Experience also offers a Summer of Happiness program for children up to 12 years old. The summer program is extended for kids up to 12, and is running June 3 until Aug. 9. All of the summer events will be on-site, and parents can pick and choose what weeks they want their kids to attend. Similar to the school year, all meals are provided during the program.
Summer activities include:
- Petting zoo
- Reptile visitor
- Face painters
- Spin art
- Storytellers
- On-site splash pad
- Cooking projects
- Technology projects
“We just really want to give the kids a wide variety of activities for the summer,” Kelley said.
Back to School with Bubbles: A September Curriculum Theme
Each month, The Learning Experience introduces a new curriculum theme. For example, the September curriculum theme, "Back to School with Bubbles," helps children explore their classroom, make new friends, and learn through play. During this month, children focus on building their social-emotional skills as they work on developing relationships with their peers and adults. They also learn their role in the classroom and their community and meet all the amazing learning characters. Bubbles the Elephant guides the little learners through this month’s theme, making them excited and passionate about discovering new things.
Family Connections: Supporting the Transition
The Learning Experience encourages families to play a big role in their child's smooth transition into the new academic year. Parents are encouraged to walk through the school routine at home so that their child is comfortable with the process.
Testimonials: Real-World Experiences
Parents rave about The Learning Experience, praising the engaging curriculum, caring staff, and positive impact on their children. Here are a few examples:
- "Our daughter has been at the Learning Experience for over two years, and we could not be more pleased! She has fun, made some great friends, and has learned so much."
- "The Learning Experience hands down is the absolute best daycare / preschool in town. Our daughter has been attending this school for almost 3 years. The staff is amazing, they list…"
- "My son has attended TLE for 2 months now and I have noticed a significant difference in his attitude when compared to the last daycare he attended. He no longer cries at drop off…"
- "The TLE family is great! We love having our child there. The best is the app which provides us pictures every so often showing him eating, playing, or sleeping. It's almost like yo…"
- "We love the Learning Experience. Our son loves his teachers and all the activities that are included within the program like yoga and Spanish. The curriculum it’s amazing and the…"
- "The best place for your child early development very well organized very informative about your child’s day. Easy to manage app gives me as a parent peace of mind of what’s goi…"
- "Our son Archer was home with us for the first to years and we were a little worried about putting him in daycare because we didn’t think anyone else could care for him as we did…."
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