The Learning Together program room is right at the end of the primary wing of Hidden Valley Elementary School, down a hall lined with red coat racks, strewn with colourful jackets and backpacks, hung up, zippers mostly undone.

Just inside the doorway is a water table, that, Wednesday, attracted not only toddlers but government representatives as well.

Wednesday afternoon, Hidden Valley's new Learning Together program hosted Premier Darrell Pasloski, Education Minister Elaine Taylor, Lake Laberge MLA Brad Cathers and the Department of Education's deputy minister, Val Royle, among a handful of other cabinet and department staff. They were all there to celebrate the expansion of the program from one to four schools.

A pilot of the early education program began at Selkirk Elementary in 2010. This year, it's been expanded to Hidden Valley, Eliza Van Bibber School in Pelly Crossing and Johnson Elementary School in Watson Lake.

Speaking to parents, media, and the government reps, as the 10 or so children continued to play, Pasloski said he's very excited to see the program expanded.

"This is about giving a chance for children and parents to come into the school, to really learn and get ready for transition into the more formal education setting of Kindergarten,” he said.

That sentiment was echoed by Taylor a few moments later.

Lindsay Heynen, the co-chair of the school's council, highlighted a number of benefits to the program.

They include the fact it's free for participating families, and parents can bring all their kids, not just those between the target ages of three and five.

"The developing brain from ages one to five is amazing, the amount kids can take in and what they can learn is just phenomenal so to have structured programming and get them into the idea of going into school and starting at the age of three is fantastic,” she said.

The program has also helped Hidden Valley in its efforts to "re-brand.”

Heynen explained that the MacPherson subdivision's school's enrolment numbers have dropped over the last few years, but a lot of that is due to the fact that not many people know it even exists.

The council has worked hard over the past year to advertise the school and bring awareness to its many assets – after-school programs, great sports teams, smaller class sizes, and now the Learning Together program.

Beverly Avano, the school's Learning Together teacher, called the program "fabulous.”

She was the first teacher in the program, starting out at Selkirk Elementary.

"It gives parents an opportunity to have one-on-one time with their child,” she said.

"Sometimes when they are at home, they are distracted by getting dinner done, or doing the house work, all of those things that they need to do,” Avano said.

It's also a wonderful opportunity to develop children's language skills, she added.

"You can't have an ongoing conversation with a very young child, but what you can do is verbalize what they're doing at the time they're doing it,” Avano said.

"They might be lifting up something high, high over their head, or they've got it low, and just verbalizing those concepts so that they get the language for what they're doing,” she explained.

As the teacher, Avano is responsible for providing snacks, creating play-based learning opportunities for the children and setting up the classroom so it lends itself to interactive play.

She also runs a daily formal circle time where she does poems, stories, and yoga with the kids.

While the Hidden Valley program just started in September, Avano said the turnout at Selkirk could vary daily from 15 to two kids, all accompanied by a parent or guardian.

"Compared to the Kindergarten program, it's very small, but it provides that structure, it puts structure in place, so the children learn it in a very fun, very enjoyable circle time here,” she said.

Amy Stuart attended the Selkirk program since its inception with her two kids, but living in Porter Creek, Hidden Valley is an easier commute.

On Wednesday, Stuart had brought her daughter Tyne. Tyne's older brother Everette is now in Grade 1 at Holy Family, so no longer attends the program.

Stuart said there are a lot of benefits to the program, not the least of which was being able to spend time with both Tyne and Everett, rather than just dropping off Everett at a nursery school program because he was older.

Tyne, suddenly shy and cuddling into her mom, only nodded when asked if she liked coming to the school.

She quietly agreed when Stuart said her daughter really enjoyed the crafts and the water table.

Stacey McDiarmid, another parent, had three of her kids with her Wednesday.

The youngest, Prestyn, just a month old, stayed firmly in his mother's arms.

But her more rambunctious four-year-old Parker, and Melia, two, wandered around playing.

"I think it's amazing,” she said of the program, noting she really appreciates that it involves the parents.

And her kids really like it too.

"They're busy and active, so this program's good for them because they can do a lot of different activities, and it's really good for me because I can sit on the floor with them.

"And I can bring all of my kids, which, when you have two younger siblings, it's sometimes hard to find an activity that you can bring your whole family to.”

The Learning Together program is offered five days a week at each school.