Why KidsCentre?
Our program at KidsCentre, Inc. focuses on the social, emotional, and intellectual development of each child as an individual. We use our urban environment and whole-child curriculum to encourage children to develop their own interests while learning appropriate social and emotional skills.
Toddler Program
Toddlerhood is a time of astonishing growth. At KidsCentre, our toddler classrooms consist of children 12 months to 3 years old. During the first three years of life, your child develops more rapidly than at any other time. These are the years that lay the foundation for later learning — and the stronger the foundation, the more the child will be able to build upon it. In the short span of a year and a half, your child experiences an explosion of language, along with dramatic advancement in fine and gross motor control, problem-solving abilities, independence, and social interaction.
Preschool
KidsCentre preschool programs are designed for children ages 3-6 years and offer tremendous early learning benefits designed to prepare children for a life that consists of learning through play, and imitation of real-life experiences. By creating a learning space that is fun and exciting, children can learn and grow while being immersed in an inclusive classroom culture of respect where learning is immersive, exhilarating, and greatly accelerating for each child’s individual learning.
Kindergarten
As soon as you enter Kindergarten at KidsCentre’s classroom, you will immediately know that it is something special. The classroom is small, but the learning is monumental. You will see children working independently and in groups, often with specially designed learning materials, deeply engaged in their work, and respectful of themselves and their surroundings. Our educators foster rigorous, self-motivated growth for children and adolescents in all areas of their development – cognitive, emotional, social, and physical.
What Parents Are Saying
Frequently Asked Questions
What's included with tuition?
At KidsCentre, we take pride in the fact that we provide three meals a day at no additional cost to the parent. Vegetarian and other special dietary and allergy options are offered as well. Further, diapers and wipes are provided but if you want to use a specific brand you must supply them.
How does the waitlist work? How long is it?
We maintain a list of families who are interested in joining the KidsCentre family. Families give us some basic information including: their contact information, age of their child, and the date they would like to enroll. We contact families on the wait list as spaces become available. If the opening is a good fit for the family, we begin the enrollment process. If the family asks us to do so, we keep them on our list for future openings when the timing might be better. Currently enrolled children do have priority status when it comes to an opening in each room.
What are the group sizes and child to teacher ratios?
Our ratios depend on the age of the children in the group. They look like this:
Infant Room – ages 3 months to 12-months-old; child-to-teacher ratio: 3:1
Penguin/Guppy Rooms – ages 1 year to 2 years old; child-to-teacher ratio: 4:1
Turtle/Otter Rooms – ages 2 years to 2.5/3 years old; child-to-teacher ratio: 5:1
Raccoon Room – ages 2.5 years to 3 years old; child-to-teacher ratio: 5:1
Monkey/Seal Rooms – ages 3 years to 4 years old; child-to-teacher ratio: 7:1
Moose/Whale Rooms – ages 4 years to 5 years old; child-to-teacher ratio: 8:1
What will a typical day for my child look like?
Most of our children are here at the center for 8 to 10 hours each day. It is our goal to provide a relaxed pace, with a balance maintained between indoor and outdoor-time, quiet-time, and active-time, individual or small group activity and larger group occasions. We provide two full meals and two snacks every day. Each classroom has a schedule which is followed daily to provide children with a comforting routine. Teachers plan activities during the day based on the interests of children in their groups, taking care to provide a variety of choices to meet individual needs within the group. Of course, in the Infant room we work very hard to respect each baby’s individual schedule, allowing babies to eat, sleep, and play as their body dictates.
Do you follow a certain curriculum?
KidsCentre, Inc. utilizes a variety of standards from well-known teaching approaches such as Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf and The Creative Curriculum. Our teachers are given the creative space to prepare their monthly curriculum programs while incorporating appropriate standards from these teaching methods for early childhood education. The children are presented with activities and opportunities that will enable them to strongly develop their social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language abilities. Our programming directly meets the current needs of children while providing them with a solid early childhood foundation, equipping them to confidently enter elementary school.
We also align our program with the Washington State Kindergarten Standards, Common Core Standards (Pre-K), Washington State Department of Early Learning and National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education.
Our curriculum is presented so each child can experience a wide variety of developmentally appropriate activities and opportunities to enhance their growth and development. These activities include math and literacy, kinesthetics, creative art, fine and gross motor development, and project-based learning units.
What are the staff requirements?
We do have several requirements for our teachers here at KidsCentre:
- A minimum of one year of teaching experience with children 3 months to 5 years old
- A minimum of CDA credentials, AA in Early Childhood Education, or a Bachelor’s degree or higher in Early Childhood Education is preferred.
- Completion of 30 hours of STARS Child Care Basics Course
- Have or receive within 60 days of employment the following:
o CPR training
o First Aid training
o HIV/BBP training
- Have or receive within 30 days of employment the following:
o TB test
o Fingerprints
o Background check
Send us an email with your child's name, birthday, and required start date, and we'll get back to you as soon possible!
