FAQ’s

1. What are your hours of operation?

We are open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.

2. When can families visit the center?

Parker-Chase has an open door policy for parents with children enrolled in the program.  Parents and approved visitors are welcome here throughout the day.  If you are wanting to visit the school as a prospective parent, you can either call and schedule a tour or drop by at your convenience.

3. What is NAEYC Accreditation?

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has developed standards to define and recognize quality child care programs.  In order to be accredited, a child care program must meet a variety of strict criteria, including having a well-trained faculty, good staff-child ratios and group sizes, and a comprehensive curriculum, as well as meet stringent health and safety standards.  The program must also provide meaningful opportunities for family involvement.

4. Are meals provided at the center?

We have a wonderful chef on staff that prepares our snacks and meals from scratch.  Mealtime is an important part of your child’s day. At mealtime, your child receives many of his or her daily nutritional requirements and has an opportunity to learn new skills and interact with other children. We serve our meals family style, and provide your child opportunities for self-help and growth.  If your child has special dietary needs or family preferences, we will accommodate those as well.

5. How do you handle discipline?

We regard each instance of undesirable behavior as an important moment for teaching.  When a child under the age of two does something inappropriate, we let the child know that what he/she did was inappropriate and then show them an appropriate choice.  So if a child hit a friend, we would model and talk to them about how to be gentle with friends.  Increasingly, we can discuss the problem with the child and offer alternatives.  Our goal is to help children learn to make the right decision rather than just do what they are told.  We teach the right behavior using supportive discussion and appropriate consequences.  We establish clear, firm standards for behavior that children can follow and help them conform to these standards through teaching.

6. Do you teach “phonics, numbers or the ABCs”? Do you teach the children to read?

We do not drill the children and there are no worksheets.  In learning ABC’s and 123’s–earlier is not better.  Many parents are concerned when their children are not learning letters and numbers. They believe worksheets and homework in preschool programs will better prepare their children for elementary school.  Children who are rushed into reading and writing miss important steps in learning and will suffer later on because they lack the foundation needed for using language.  Children who are taught to read in preschool may be able to sound out and recognize words, but they may have little understanding of what they are reading.  Activities such as stringing beads, fastening buttons, cutting and drawing are valuable because they develop the small muscle skills needed for writing.

Math involves more than memorizing facts.  To acquire a foundation for logical thinking, children need many opportunities to count objects, sort them into piles, add some to a pile and take some away.  By playing games like these, they will come to truly understand addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication. When children are rushed into academic subjects too soon they may lose their enthusiasm for learning. Memorization trains students to become passive, dependent learners. Independent learning and playtime help children see themselves as explorers, discoverers and problem-solvers.

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