Child Care

The mission of Zia Therapy Center’s Child Care and Development Program is to provide Alamogordo area families with a high quality, preschool-based child care and development program.

Years of research on children’s learning and development have shown how children learn. Children learn by building on what they already know and are interested in. They learn through play and repetition. They learn by doing. Our hands-on approach to early childhood education takes advantage of young children’s natural abilities and interests. Our classroom learning centers encourage children to actively explore their environment.

Our well-trained early childhood educators are using the Focused Portfolio™ Process of assessing the developmental level of young children. When children reach new developmental milestones, our teachers are trained to record the information to be shared with families periodically. This information is used to create developmentally appropriate learning environments, taking in what we know about how children learn, and challenging children to reach new developmental levels.

Children from birth to five years of age will develop thinking, reasoning and problem solving skills; emotional and social competencies; language and communication skills; gross motor development; fine motor development; reading and writing development; and creative development. All skills are learned as children move from one developmental milestone to the next. All of these developmental areas are a crucial background to further education. Special attention given in these areas will help ensure a successful experience as your child moves into elementary school.

At Zia Therapy Center, love, warmth, and patience are prerequisites for all young children’s programs. Our teachers understand that their primary objective is to ensure that each child is given daily individual attention with love and understanding. All staff (who do not hold a degree in early childhood education) working in our Child Care and Development Program, are required to attain the state of New Mexico’s Early Care, Education and Family Support 45 Hour Entry-Level course in Child Care certification and a Developmental Specialist license. Also, all staff working directly with children are certified in infant/child CPR and first aid. All classrooms are monitored by video.

Our center recognizes the importance of children exercising their decision- making abilities. Therefore, we provide an environment where children are encouraged to think independently.

Zia Therapy Center’s Child Care and Development Program enrolls children from six weeks through five years of age. All classes provide developmentally appropriate activities and learning experiences designed to help children achieve developmental milestones by promoting curiosity, imagination, exploration, and learning concepts that will help ensure children do well when they enter elementary school.

Family involvement is always encouraged at Zia. Parents may request a parent/teacher conference at any time. Our center has an open-door policy and families are encouraged to visit at their convenience. All parents should feel free to sign up for lunch with their child. Parents can sign up by adding their name – indicating their child’s classroom – to the list on the clipboard hanging by the kitchen door before 10:00 am on the day they intend to eat with their child. A donation of $3.00 or more is requested to cover the cost of the meal and may be given to the business office. Parent lunches will be sent to the child’s classroom at 11:30 am.

Our child care and development program provides nutritious meals through the Child and Adult Care Food Program at no additional cost to parents. Breakfast is served at 8:30 a.m. and lunch is served at 11:30 a.m., with a substantial snack served at 3:00 pm. Meals are served “family style”. The teachers sit at the tables with the children, food is passed and the children learn to serve themselves. There is pleasant conversation at the tables and when the children are finished, they learn to clean up after themselves.

Our large, shaded playground provides plenty of outdoor activities. Our well-equipped vans and CDL certified drivers are used during field trips. Parents are always encouraged to attend field trips.

If you would like any further information on the child care and development program,

Links to Other Useful Websites

www.newmexicokids.org

www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/earlychildhood/

www.nccanet.org

http://preschoolerstoday.com/