About Us

Our aim is to guide your child’s development by providing each child with a carefully planned, theme-based educational curriculum developed with the guidance of our staff. Our teachers encourage creativity through free and imaginative play, arts and crafts, music, science, and gross and fine motor activities. We strive to support a positive self-concept in each child through encouragement and guidance. The program provides for the social, emotional, and intellectual development of your child.

Theme-Based Curriculum

Playmates Paularino Preschool provides a theme-based educational curriculum using Zoo-phonics. Teacher and children explore themes in many different ways. The themes are custom designed and integrated with literacy, math, music, and art. Considering the total needs of the children, the teacher uses themes to invite new learning experiences. An age appropriate progress report is sent home twice a year.

What is Zoo-Phonics?

Zoo-phonics is a method developed to make children strong readers and spellers using a “phono” (hearing), “oral” (speaking), “visual” (seeing), “kinesthetic” (moving), and tactile (touching)—whole brain approach. Students actually learn the sounds of the alphabet and advanced phonemic concepts through an easily understood, concrete method of presentation. Zoo-phonics takes something that is very abstract (reading) and through music, stories, puppets and games, turns it into something that is concrete and understandable to young children.

a) Uses 26 animals to teach letter shapes and sounds
b) Teaches the lowercase letters before introducing capitals
c) Teaches letter sounds before letter names
d) Teaches a body movement, or "signal," in association with each Animal/letter of the alphabet; these "Signals" aid memory and bring fun into the classroom
e) Treats the alphabet as a whole and goes from "a-z"
f) Teaches short vowels before long vowels
g) Uses "word family" patterns to teach reading and spelling, because children are "naturals" at finding and remembering patterns

*Information above was taken from the Zoo-phonics website at www.zoo-phonics.com

Our kindergarten readiness program reinforces letter sounds, basic math concepts, and writing skills. We will encourage the development of creative skills through stimulating experiences with language, as well as, imaginative play and art. All children entering kindergarten benefit greatly from this program.

The children follow a daily schedule of activities. Teachers and children follow a consistent sequence of events. The children become comfortable with the routine and can anticipate which activity comes next.