About Little Lambs Preschool

“Little Lamb, who made thee? … Little Lamb, God bless thee!”

Founded in 1996 as a ministry of Immanuel Lutheran Church in DeKalb, Illinois, Little Lambs Preschool was created to serve families in our church and the wider community. While our roots are Christian, our doors are open to children and families of all backgrounds—we believe everyone belongs here.

Our name comes from William Blake’s poem The Lamb, a simple yet powerful reminder of care, innocence, and love. Those values shape everything we do.

At Little Lambs, we focus on creating a warm, welcoming environment where children feel safe, supported, and excited to learn. Inspired by the love of the Good Shepherd, we aim to model kindness, compassion, and respect in every interaction.

Our program blends faith-based values with a strong early learning foundation, helping children grow socially, emotionally, academically, and spiritually. We’re here to nurture confidence, curiosity, and a love of learning—one little lamb at a time.

Schedule a Tour

Philosophy

At Little Lambs Preschool, we feel that a quality education in a Christian setting is important for children in our community. We work in partnership with families to develop a solid foundation for our preschoolers. We focus on the child’s social, emotional, physical, cognitive and spiritual development. The result is a well-rounded Christian preschool education that builds a foundation for lifelong development.

Girl With A Book

Our Mission

As a Christian preschool, our curriculum is rooted heavily in realizing the significant role God plays in our lives. As we help them explore the world around them and learn fundamentals, we also help the children in our care connect with guiding, governing spiritual concepts. Little Lambs Preschool seeks to help each child:

  • Have a personal relationship with God
  • Experience cognitive, social, emotional, physical and spiritual growth
  • Develop self-worth
  • Grow in social skills through group interaction
  • Increase self-expression through language skills
  • Learn to adjust to new situations
  • Increase attention span and the ability to follow simple directions
  • Develop independence and problem-solving skills
  • Grow in the ability to get along with children and adults
  • Develop fine and gross motor skills
  • Know Jesus as a friend and Savior
Petting The Turtle

Note From The Director

Hello from Little Lambs!

It’s hard to believe we are in the final months of the school year. Little Lambs has been very busy with learning about Valentine’s Day, dental health, hibernation, and so much more!

We had our Valentine’s Day class parties, and the children enjoyed playing games and passing out Valentine’s day treats to their friends. The children made some special treats to eat during the party as well. Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite parties each year.

Little Lambs is gearing up for our big fundraisers this spring. We will have our silent auction and fun fair in May, but in the meantime, we will be hosting the annual spaghetti lent supper. Texas Roadhouse has offered to donate all the salad and bread for our dinner. As a former family of Little Lambs, the manager of Texas Roadhouse has offered to help to continue to support our program and we are grateful for their generosity.

The spaghetti dinner is a great opportunity for us to say thank you to the congregation for all their support and have our preschool families here to mingle with everyone. During this time our used book sale will be going on. Both fundraisers are free will donation.

As mentioned, we will have our biggest fundraiser in May with our silent auction. If you would like to donate any items or know of a business who would like to donate something simply stop in the office and Darlene or Alma can give you the forms to give to the businesses who would like to help.

All the fundraisers we do go to support our special projects and programs we do here at Little Lambs like our field trips, special events and classroom improvements.

I look forward to the last half of the school year as we have many exciting things planned to end a great school year!

In His Service,

Katie Martinez-Little Lambs Preschool Director

Schedule a Tour


Welcoming Little Lambs

Little Lambs Preschool of Immanuel Lutheran Church welcomes children ages 3-5 years old in DeKalb, IL. We seek to provide a loving, safe, nurturing environment for each child, and a path to cognitive, social, emotional, physical and spiritual growth. For more information, please contact us today at 815-756-6669.
Contact Us Call Now