MeadowEarly Learning
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Programs

Five rooms, and the numbers that go with each

Children move up when they are ready rather than on their birthday, in small groups, with a settling-in period of about three weeks. Every room runs below Oregon's certified-center maximum for its age band.

  • 6 weeks – 12 months

    The Infant Room

    Six infants, two educators, one room that never gets loud.

    Ratio
    1 educator to 3 infants
    Group size
    6 children
    Staffing
    2 educators, one of whom is the room lead
    Hours
    7:30am – 5:30pm, Mon–Fri

    Inside the infants room

  • 12 – 24 months

    The Toddler Room

    Walking, climbing, carrying, dropping — and finding out what happens.

    Ratio
    1 educator to 3 toddlers
    Group size
    6 children
    Staffing
    2 educators, one of whom is the room lead
    Hours
    7:30am – 5:30pm, Mon–Fri

    Inside the toddlers room

  • 24 – 36 months

    The Twos Room

    The year of “I do it” — and the year clay arrives.

    Ratio
    1 educator to 4 children
    Group size
    8 children
    Staffing
    2 educators, one of whom is the room lead
    Hours
    7:30am – 5:30pm, Mon–Fri

    Inside the twos room

  • 3 – 4 years

    The Preschool Room

    Long projects, real questions, and a studio that stays open.

    Ratio
    1 educator to 7 children
    Group size
    14 children
    Staffing
    2 educators plus a shared atelierista
    Hours
    7:30am – 5:30pm, Mon–Fri

    Inside the preschool room

  • 4 – 5 years

    The Pre-K Room

    The last year before school, spent making things that are genuinely hard.

    Ratio
    1 educator to 8 children
    Group size
    16 children
    Staffing
    2 educators plus a shared atelierista
    Hours
    7:30am – 5:30pm, Mon–Fri

    Inside the pre-k room

Ratios and group sizes

Meadow's own staffing, with Oregon's certified-center maximum beside it. Ratio is counted per room and held continuously — including at nap, outdoors, and at five in the afternoon.

Regulatory — never recoloured

RoomAgesMeadow ratioMeadow group sizeOregon maximum ratioOregon maximum group
Infants6 wks – 12 mo1 : 361 : 48
Toddlers12 – 24 mo1 : 361 : 48
Twos2 – 3 yrs1 : 481 : 510
Preschool3 – 4 yrs1 : 7141 : 1020
Pre-K4 – 5 yrs1 : 8161 : 1020
  • The director, the kitchen and the atelierista are additional to ratio. They are not counted in it.
  • Where an educator takes a break, a named qualified relief educator covers the room. The room does not run short.
  • Group size is capped independently of ratio. A legal ratio with too large a group is still too large a group.
  • Oregon's maximums are published by the Office of Child Care and are revised from time to time. Confirm the current rule with the state rather than relying on any centre's website, this one included.

Moving up

How a child changes rooms

Transitions are the part of childcare that goes wrong most often and gets described least. Ours takes about three weeks and follows the same shape in every room.

  1. Visits with a familiar adult. The child's current educator takes them into the new room for short visits, and stays. Three or four of these across a fortnight.
  2. A morning alone. The child spends a morning in the new room without their old educator, and goes back to the old room for lunch and sleep.
  3. A full day. Then the move is done, and the old room is still down the corridor and still says hello.

We move children in small groups of two or three wherever we can, so a friendship makes the move with them. Infants moving into Toddlers get as long as they need, and we will hold a place rather than push a date.

You get told the plan before it starts, and you get told how each step actually went. If a transition is not working we stop it and go back, which is not a failure and does not cost you anything.

Come and see the light in the rooms

Tours run Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30am, deliberately while the rooms are full and working. Bring your child if you like. Allow an hour.

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