Enrichment

Every child who attends Little Miners, regardless of their schedule, is included in the art program once per week for 45 minutes. While the art program includes lessons and works modeled from the classroom curriculum, its main goal is to impart an independent set of art-specific concepts.

By taking into consideration the developmental skills that are being built in the classroom (cutting, holding a pencil, gluing, tracing, etc.) the art program strives to implement these skills in lessons that help the students develop age-appropriate art milestones outside of the classroom. New works are introduced to the art room weekly. Typically one of these new works will reflect either a theme being taught in the classroom or the letter of the week, and another will introduce a new art skill or medium.

While there are some craft-based projects (coloring in a template, making a holiday-related craft, etc.,) the art lessons are focused on the components of fine art: line, form, shape, texture, composition and color. The teaching philosophy within the art room stresses process over product. Students are encouraged to try new things and to form a dialogue about their process with the teacher and the other students.

Little Miners offers a seven to eight week ski program beginning the first Friday in December each year.  This program is an extra cost in addition to the yearly tuition. The program is held at Park City Mountain Resort from 9:30-11:30 A.M. The cost of the program includes a certified ski instructor and lift tickets. Each instructor has a maximum of 3 children who are grouped according to their ability.

In November, one month prior to the first ski lesson, parents are required to complete all the necessary paper work and submit to the office no later than the scheduled deadline.  Parents needing transportation for their child are asked to sign-up in the office by filling out a Ski Program transportation form.  An extra transportation cost will apply. Little Miners’ parents also help to transport children to and from the ski resort for this wonderful winter experience (limited space is available in the school van).

Little Miners is proud to offer a Learn-to-Skate Program through the Park City Ice Arena. Our students have the opportunity to sign up for a 6-week session (usually beginning on a Wednesday in March). Students will learn the basics of ice-skating, which include forward skating, gliding and stopping. They then progress to more advanced skills such as backward skating, swizzles and one-foot skating. Each session includes a 30-minute class and 30 minutes of practice time.

The cost of the program includes skate rental and 6 lessons. Parents are responsible for transporting their children to and from the ice arena. There will be a limited number of transportation spots available in the LMM van at an additional cost.

Let’s Talk Speech and Language Services provides private speech and language therapy to children and adolescents in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah. ​We provide one-on-one treatment before, during and after school at many private schools in the area. We also provide in-home and in-office therapy as schedules permit. All of our speech pathologists are nationally certified through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and hold an active license in the State of Utah. Speech therapy treatment may include the areas of: speech and sound production (including articulation), resonance, voice, fluency, language, cognition and social language. ​We offer school-wide speech/language/hearing screenings through many private schools in the area.

You may consider having your child’s speech, language and hearing screened if your child shows one or more of the following:

• You suspect your child may have difficulty hearing

• Your child has a difficult time learning , using new concepts and vocabulary

• Your child has chronic ear infections

• You and others have a difficult time understanding your child’s speech or their speech is less intelligible than their peer’s

• Your child does not combine 2-5 words in their speech

• You suspect your child may have a fluency disorder (i.e. stuttering)

• Your child has difficulty asking and answering “wh” questions

• Your child becomes easily frustrated when trying to tell you something

Little Miners is pleased to offer students the opportunity to learn Spanish as a second language. Ms. K is a trilingual teacher who has taught English, Japanese, and Spanish as a second language for decades. She was brought up in an immersive environment and school system (English and Japanese) and Spanish came into her life at the age of 12. She continues to teach/tutor the three languages to students in Park City as well as independent schools in Salt Lake valley. Forthwith, Miss K has been contracted with LMM since 2020.

At Little Miner’s K meets with Aspen, Birch, Willow, Poplar, and Maple classes once a week for 45 minutes. The Lower Elementary class meets twice a week. Miss K has an energetic style and is action-packed. She touches on all learning styles (kinesthetic, visual, aural, social, solitary, logical, and verbal) so that She can reach and accommodate all types of learners. Students are constantly engaged with chanting, singing, reciting, repeating, and movement. Spanish children’s songs, many times with actions, are introduced to them via very short (2-minute max) YouTube video clips. The fun visuals and catchy songs are learned fastest via this method. Please be assured that these video clips are all VERY age appropriate and are only used sparingly for teaching the songs. As a result, once they intuitively acquire the meaning of the song, we frequent the songs without the clips.

Literacy is introduced early in Early Childhood classes. While working on their letter recognition in English during their school day, the young student is simultaneously learning the alphabet sounds in Spanish. Crossing over in two languages has been proven to be very effective for the young brain. The vocabulary sheets that come home are always accompanied by an action for the word. Many of the students have already mastered the vocabulary words we have learned this far because we always incorporate movement in a fun way.

As Spanish class can often be exciting and energetic, we always practice mindfulness at the end of our sessions to bring down our energy level. Miss K calls their mindfulness practice “balloon breathing” with toddler classes (their bellies are balloons), breathing exercises with early childhood friends, and meditation for the lower elementary friends. Class management is never an issue thanks to their ability to regulate their energy level and emotions. They are all amazing breathers and peace seekers.
Should you ever be curious about what our Spanish classes are like, please feel free to drop in at any time for observation. You are more than welcome! All Little Miners are enthusiastic and participatory; you will be delighted to see them in action!

greetings song

months song

counting in 10s song

5 patitos

De que color es (longest clip = 4 minutes)