The Mother Hale Learning Center meets a tremendous need in Central Harlem by offering high-quality, affordable childcare and education.

The Center, open Monday through Friday, serves children ages six weeks to five years. Guided by Mother Hale’s founding principles and research and innovative practices in early childhood education, our loving staff provides a stimulating and nurturing environment where children can thrive. We adhere to standards of excellence set forth by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and are in the process of gaining NAEYC accreditation.

Serving a diverse population in Harlem, we proudly embrace each family’s perspective and use diversity to inspire our curriculum. We cultivate each child’s unique social, emotional, physical and cognitive development and help them reach their full potential through art, music, dance, play and academics.

Infants
Infant curriculum builds trust through responsive caregiving by meeting each child’s needs in a consistent, yet flexible, manner. Our infant rooms are a sensory rich environment, filled with mirrors, musical instruments, toys with different textures to help babies develop and discover the world.

Younger Toddlers
Our younger toddler program helps children gain more independence while learning about social relationships through group play and projects. This program utilizes “The Mirror Image Model”, based on Mother Hale’s historical use of mirrors, to help children discover and strengthen their sense of self.

Older Toddlers
The focus of the older toddler curriculum is language development, the key to a child’s mental growth. This program allows for child-choice and self-directed play, along with group play and teaching that supports academic fundamentals.

Pre-School
Our play-based pre-school curriculum consists of concrete, hands-on learning experiences that will prepare each child for success in kindergarten and beyond. Special projects and activities help children develop independently and in small groups, while advancing basic reading, math and science skills.

Additionally, we work closely with parents to assist with the kindergarten selection and admissions process for public and private schools. We’re proud that our students have moved on to some of New York City’s most well known schools.

All programs are supplemented by outdoor time, including nature walks, playground time and community field trips, as age and weather appropriate. In addition, MHLC also offers comprehensive meal programming that includes breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner.

Learn More

Enrollment Information
For more information on our Learning Center and enrollment, please call us at 212-665-2834 or email earlylearning@halehouse.org.

Community and Educational Partnerships
Our partnerships with leading educational and cultural institutions allow us to provide innovative programming in areas such as cooking, science, art, dance and music. Our partner organizations include Ballet Hispanico, Bank Street College, Carnegie Kids, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, Lincoln Center National Dance Institute, and Marionette Theatre.

Parent Partner Association
The Center is supported by a strong and active Parent Partners Association (PPA). The PPA supports the school and parent community in many different areas, whether it’s fundraising for tuition scholarships or providing more information on parenting issues, from dental care to dealing with the terrible twos.

In-kind Donations
In addition to monetary donations to Hale House Center, we welcome in-kind donations for the Learning Center, namely in the form of non-toxic art supplies, musical instruments and toys, such as: finger paint, colored pencils, chalk, paper, glue, markers, rulers, glitter, yarn, lanyard, puzzles, bells, drums, etc.

Student Projects
Each classroom participates in independent projects, such as the “Field of Dreams” which brought to life literal and metaphorical dreams for the Preschool “Butterfly Class”. The theme at the time was “Cycles”, such as the growing cycle of a flower. As part of the project, the students also talked about what they would like to do in life, as well as described their specific dreams, after napping.

Our “Dream Flowers” made a garden full of blossoming education in a recognizable form. The project helped students develop many skills, including language, writing, and fine motor skills, and helped to enhance cognition and self-expression.