Child Development Center/Preschool

 

St Paul’s Child Development Center is a faith based preschool that focuses on play-based learning, creative expression, and exploration.  We promote Christian values while creating a loving, nurturing and safe environment.  We are licensed in the state of New Mexico as a child care center and have met or exceeded all health and safety guidelines.  Our child-adult ration is lower than state requirements.  You can rest assured that your child will get the love, attention and care he or she needs, in an environment that encourages and stimulates growth and learning.

We enroll children ages 6 weeks through  5 years.  We have 5 classroom!
Infant Room #1 (Guppies)  ages 6 weeks – approximately 12 months
Infant Room #2 (Seahorses)  ages 13 months – 24 months
Toddlers (Caterpillars) age 2
3 year olds (Froggies)
4 year olds (Butterflies)

There are at least 2 teachers in each classroom at all times.   All of our staff are certified in CPR and First Aid and have completed Safe Sanctuary, a training to recognize and reduce the risk of child abuse!  Most of all, each one loves children and is committed to providing high quality care and education for your children.

We are open Monday – Friday, and we follow the Las Cruces Public School Calendar.  Our hours are
9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.  Before school care (7:30 – 9 a.m.) and after school care (1:30 – 4:00 p.m.) is available for an additional fee.  Tuition is based on the number of days your child attends.  Click this ling to see our rates:

 2012-2013 tuition flyer

We offer a sibling discount, a discount for members of St. Paul’s, and a discount for kids who attend 5  days/week.   A registration fee of $25  and a supply fee applies.

A nutritious snack is provided for the children every morning.  If your child stays for aftercare, an afternoon snack is provided as well.  Our kid-friendly snacks consist of items from 2  of the basic food groups. We serve either milk or 100% juice with each snack.  We ask that each parent provide a nutritious lunch for their child.  Please let us know if your child has any allergies or special food requirements.

Our program is geared to challenge and engage the children, physically, socially, mentally, and spiritually.  We offer a variety of fun, age-appropriate activities: Bible Stories, puzzles, math, science, games, arts and crafts, sensory table, cooking, gardening, music, puppets, blocks, literature, Kinder preparation, and a chapel time with our Pastor.  The children also enjoy outside play under our tent-covered play yard.  It is filled with wonderful equipment, tricycles, balls, a sandbox, and other seasonal toys.

One of the most important highlights of our week happens on Thursday—Chapel Day.  The 2′s, 3′s and 4′s go to our chapel and we sings songs, and then Pastor James comes and talks to us and tells us a Bible Story.  The children  learn that God loves and cares for them every day!   They learn that God’s Son, Jesus, is our friend and we can talk to him any time.    This knowledge is reinforced in the classroom through the loving guidance of our teachers.

Mrs Karen’s and Mrs Audra’s infant classes have fun discovering new experiences, reaching new milestones, growing and playing together! The are called the Guppies and the Seahorses!   We individualize our program to meet the needs of each child.  Even our furniture fits the babies’ size!  We offer outdoor play.  The infants love to go outside in the strollers, soak up the sun and see our beautiful world!  And of course the early walkers love trying out their new skills of walking and running and going down the slide.  Music is a very special time for the children.  We have a variety of musical instruments for our infants to play and lots of fun music for dancing!  Art activities include finger painting, play dough, scribbling with fat crayons, and more!  Water play is an especially fun activity that our babies love.
We provide snack time each day, in addition to lunch which parents send for their child.  Snack and lunch are valuable times for the babies to discover new tastes, as well as learning social skills.  They enjoy their food while sitting at a low tables and on chairs which are tailor-made to their size!
No day is complete without a good nap.  The infant room has brand new cribs that meet the current safety requirements.  Our babies can  snuggle down for a good rest and sweet dreams!
                                                              

 

 

 

 

The Toddler class is taught by Mrs Shirley and her daughter, Miss Shayla.  This is a loving, nurturing classroom.  In the Caterpillar class, the children have many opportunities to explore and discover through play.  A sensory table gives the children opportunities to explore a variety of materials such as sand, water, beans, and the gain practice in dipping, pouring and filling.  The block area helps the children with social, motor, math, and  language development, the dramatic play area offers children important experiences where they can act out adult roles and learn language and communication skills.  Movement, songs, and books provide stimulation for the children as the teachers interact with them during  circle time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two and half and three year old class is taught by Mrs. Shirley and Mrs. Scharmon.   In this class there is a lot of outdoor and indoor play through hands-on exploration and discovery.  This room is full of opportunities for the children to learn through play, as they participate in activities in a variety of centers, such as literacy, dramatic play, blocks, science, math and manipulatives.  The students in this class especially enjoy singing and playing games. Children in the Froggy class are  learning socialization skills such as following directions, sharing, cleaning up and self-responsibility.

The teachers of the 4 and 5 year old Preschool class are Mrs Linsey and Mrs Monica.  This classroom is full of exciting hand-on activities and play!  All of the activities in this classroom provide an opportunity for the children not only to learn through play, but to use their imaginations and develop creativity and  communication skills, through literacy, math, science and art and physical activities.   A favorite center is the block area, where budding architects can use their imaginations to create houses, towns, skyscrapers and other buildings.  The Butterfly Classroom has a computer where the children can play some learning games and “paint a picture”.  The children have a special time in the morning when Mrs Monica reads them a story in Spanish and teaches them to count in Spanish.    The children also like to write their own stories by drawing pictures in a booklet, and then dictating their stories to the teachers.  A big interest for not only the boys, but also the girls is in taking things apart, so we are always looking for donations of small non-working appliances to work on!

All of the children are learning responsibility and patience as they plant and care for God’s Garden, located in St Paul’s courtyard.  Another highlight of all the classes in the springtime  is watching the amazing transformation of caterpillars into beautiful butterflies and then releasing them into our garden!

Growing watermelon!

If you are interested in learning more about our Child Development Center you are always welcome to come by for a visit!  We would love to show you around!   If you would like more information about enrolling your child or have further questions,  please contact:

Beverly Duerksen,
Director
575-541-3175