We offer a variety of programs to meet the needs of every child and family.
Paradise Valley Cooperative School offers a variety of programs to meet the needs of every child and family in Scottsdale, AZ. As your trusted day care center, we follow the guidelines of NAEYC. Our well-educated and well-trained staff believes that every child will grow and learn in a safe, loving environment where teachers and parents are partners.
We differentiate instruction to meet the needs of each individual child development. We accept each child and family as unique and special.
It is our sincere belief that our students will leave our school with the internal motivation and problem-solving skills to succeed in life, and the social and academic skills necessary to integrate into the public, private or charter school that follows. If it takes a village to raise a child, letç—´ build this school into a village that will raise a few children at a time. Together we are indeed better!
Open-Ended Curriculum
The curriculum is open-ended, meaning there is more than one way to use things, to encourage creativity and problem solving.
The curriculum is always child-centered, or developmentally appropriate which simply means that we, as parents and educators need to think first about what young children are like and then create an environment and experiences that are in tune with children’s characteristics.
Curriculum is personalized. It evolves from the interests, needs and maturity of individual children and is not a set course of study delivered to the children.
Curriculum stresses the process of learning and problem solving rather than the acquisition of specific prescribed content. It is designed to build academic skills in such a way that the process enhances personal growth and development.
Social development is an on-going part of the curriculum at PVCP. Students are encouraged to “use their words” to solve conflict and get their needs met. The teachers give students the words to use and/or model appropriate words to use in different situations as the need arises and also in group settings.
PVCP has adopted The Creative Curriculum as its curriculum. The Creative Curriculum is aligned to the Early Learning Standards by the Arizona Department of Education: http://www.ade.state.az.us/earlychildhood/downloads/EarlyLearningStandards.pdf and is based on Developmentally Appropriate Practices as determined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. (www.naeyc.org) PVCP has used these two sources as the basis for the curriculum before discovering The Creative Curriculum. The Creative Curriculum’s “mission is to enhance the quality of early childhood programs by offering practical, innovative, and developmentally appropriate curriculum materials; staff development services and materials; and parenting resources. Producing materials that are comprehensive, practical, easy-to-use, and based on the best and most current research is one way we contribute to improving the care and education of young children. We also publish comprehensive, easily understood parent education resources, because we believe that strong partnerships between educators and families are essential.”
The majority of the child’s day is spent exploring the interest areas (Blocks, housekeeping, science, math, library, art, writing, woodworking, sensory and more) which are carefully planned and set-up to meet the needs of the individual children in each group. The children are free to choose an activity that interests them and are not required to spend time at every center, every day. Development and growth are also promoted and encouraged through the daily routines, including group music/movement, story time, and mealtimes.
