The mission of Kids First is to enhance the family unit by providing quality, dependable care and early learning experiences within a safe, clean and nurturing environment.
This is done through a professional team of early childhood educators ensuring that each child and adult will be treated with respect by fostering self-esteem, prescribing to an anti-biased, language-based curriculum and providing multiple opportunities for open communication between home and school.
At Kids First, we are your partners in child care. We provide a safe, nurturing atmosphere incorporating guided play along with creative learning experiences to promote the acquisition and expansion of language, through speaking and listening, story-telling and recording.
We understand that every child is unique and brings to the program his/her own personal set of experiences, beliefs and values formed by his/her particular family. Each child comes to us with special interests and acquired skills. We are committed to developing a program which supports and enhances the individuality of your child and your family, providing positive and varied learning experiences.
Our methods in early childhood education are based on the theories of renowned psychologists Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Piaget emphasized the extraordinary value of play as a basic avenue through which young children learn, even back in 1932! He supported the idea that “construction is better than instruction”.
At Kids First, your children have the freedom to try things out without worrying about the product. Vygotsky believed that a child reaches his or her highest potential when a teacher provides assistance in a collaborative way. He also believed that language was the key to children’s independence and self-mastery.
At Kids First, we help your children to advance in play, language and problem-solving skills by providing just the right amount of assistance to prevent frustration while building self-esteem. They learn to tackle and complete tasks by accomplishing one part at a time, with the help of a loving caregiver.
Because infants and toddlers think with their eyes, ears and hands, we enhance their learning by presenting them with opportunities to experience the world. Research has proven that motor activity facilitates the early construction of knowledge and manipulating objects with the hands is a major means through which babies find out about their world.
Our center’s activities are founded on the premise that children learn best through fun play experiences. We promote language development by encouraging children to ask questions and by giving children opportunities to interact socially with each other and develop self-confidence and self-esteem through play experiences.
Our teaching methods for beginning readers combine the whole language approach with the basic skills approach. In other words, while children are exposed to text in its whole form – stories, poems, letters and lists – they are also coached on phonics, the basic rules for translating symbols into sounds.
Recognizing that all children benefit from music and art activities, physical education, and positive experiences with math and science, we have included these areas as an integral part of our total curriculum. Special interest programs are also offered as an option to enrich children’s early learning experiences.
As your partners, we view parents as the primary educators of their children as well as the essential link in the development of new interests and skills. We are committed to involving parents in the child’s day care experience as well as providing them with a level of comfort and security while their child is away from home.
At Kids First, we recognize the challenges families face from day to day. We are here to help ease the pressures by providing support to parents in regards to workshops and parenting information as well as quality child care.