Precious Ones Day Care

History

Precious Ones Day Care opened its doors in 2001 and is fully licensed by the Department of Public Welfare. The childcare center was created as an outreach ministry of First Church of God in Christ. The sole purpose of this outreach ministry was to spread the love of God within our community. We planned to accomplish our goal by providing quality care for the world’s most precious commodity, our children.

We initially served children ages 6 weeks to 8 years of age and our primary focus was early childhood education. In 2006, we incorporated our School Age Care component due to an increase and demand for school age programming from our families. We expanded the range of children we served from 6 weeks to 14 years of age. Although the children served by Precious Ones come from diverse backgrounds, the majority of the children enrolled in our center are considered to be “at risk”. Many of our children live with a single parent; some are being raised by adolescent parents and grandparents, while others possess special needs concerns that require additional supports. Through our passion for our children, youth and their families, we have learned to create innovative programming that provides quality care and support those we serve.

Our Mission

We support families by providing a safe and nurturing environment where children are valued and their young imaginations are stimulated through spiritual, physical, intellectual, social and emotional experiences necessary for meeting the challenges of our world.

Our Vision

We now come to live in a world where the family unit is becoming dismantled with every generation. Precious Ones Child Enrichment Center endeavors to be a part of the supporting framework that helps hold the family unit together. By working in conjunction with families and other agencies, we are able to offer a wide array of services and opportunities that are designed to meet the individual needs of our children and families. We imagine a world where families are valued and nurtured and have all the tools necessary to be strong, healthy and self-sufficient in this challenging world. Precious Ones recognizes that by supporting families, we strengthen and build thriving communities. Strong communities are attuned and responsive to the unique and individual needs of its residents and moved with compassion to act. It is by changing the landscape of our communities spiritually, physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally that we change our world. When asked how we do this, our response is simply one child at a time.

We Value

• The Spirit of God
• Healthy, trusting adult child relationships
• Cooperation and collaboration as the principal way of creating change
• Individual and community partnerships that support children and their families
• Respect for individuals and their differences

We Believe

• God is the Creator and Head of all things
• All people are to be loved, valued and respected
• Every child deserves a safe, nurturing environment to grow and explore
• Children and their families deserve the opportunity for positive change
• In focusing on an individual’s strengths rather than their limitations

Our Philosophy

At Precious Ones we recognize and value each child as a unique individual consisting of: mind, body and spirit. Because each child is unique we understand that each child learns in various ways and at different paces. Our program aims to provide your child with a safe and nurturing environment that will address a child’s spiritual, physical, social, emotional, intellectual and needs. We offer age appropriate learning experiences that support your child’s growth and development. Our qualified staff creates a caring environment filled with warmth, security and continuity. Staff is actively engaged with all children, which fosters a sense of acceptance and a positive self-image within each child. The design of our program permits the freedom of exploration within limits, which gives your child the opportunity to grow, develop, investigate and express themselves. We believe that the passion for learning begins at an early age and it is our endeavor to design programs that will empower and inspire a love of learning and exploration that will enable each child to grow into spirit-filled, well rounded individuals ready to face the challenges of the future. **

Our Curriculum

Our program provides children with the opportunity to experiment, explore, engage with staff and others, and self-express. At Precious Ones, we currently use A Beka and Creative Curriculum in our early childhood education program. We offer a variety of educational programs to enhance the learning of each child. To support our educational programs, we provide a wide variety of hands-on activities that include: Creative Arts, Science and Technology, Mathematics, Literacy Development, Sign Language, Foreign Language, Cooking, Physical Activities, Dramatic Play and Field Trips.

Goals and Objectives

Provide a Safe Environment for Children

• Check the room daily and outdoor area to ensure equipment is in safe usable conditions before children are allowed to use it. Make sure that there are no unsafe objects around.
• All staff members must be trained in First Aid and CPR as well as emergency procedures.
• Keep room and play areas clean and free of clutter that could cause accidents
• Develop rules that will provide the safest environment and clearly present these to the children daily.

Help Children Relax, Have Fun and Build Friendships

• Provide activities that are interesting and fun.
• Provide an environment with multiple activity centers so children can choose an activity that interests them.
• Provide enough time for activities to be completed so children are not rushed
• Provide enough free choice time for children to play and explore without pressure

Help Children Develop Skills, Form Relationships and Develop New Interests

• Introduce new activities and experiences each week.
• Provide opportunities for children to share their ideas and interests with others.
• Encourage children to work together on different projects and activities to help form new relationships
• Make sure no children who want to participate in an activity are excluded.

Help Children Build a Sense of Self Worth and Experience Accomplishment

• Try to complement each child daily for something, no matter how trivial.
• Provide age appropriate games and activities which the children can participate, complete and take pride in.
• Take time to talk with each child individually so they know you care.
• Try not to generalize. For example, do not punish all the children for the actions of one

Strengthen Family Relationships

• Try to plan activities which include family participation.
• Be aware of changes or problems with any family situation and provide emotional support for the child and parents when needed.
• Offer financial aid and payment plans to help alleviate family pressures due to financial problems.
• Value and celebrate the strengths and uniqueness of each family.
• Offer each family resources and tools that strengthens their family unit.

Help the Individual Child’s Development Needs: Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Social and Emotional

• Provide activities daily that incorporate the use of large and fine motor skills.
• Use grouping for activities so that each child is interacting with different children.
• Make certain that at least one staff member interacts with each child daily.
• Provide intellectually challenging activities.
• Provide opportunities for children to learn new skills and refine old ones.

Precious Minds Afterschool & Enrichment Program

Precious Minds is the school age care program of Precious Ones Day Care. We are a fully licensed program. Our aim is to shape the minds of school age youth by providing a safe and nurturing environment that enables youth to access their untapped potential through academic support, group mentoring, environmental awareness, community service, leadership training and cultural awareness. Our program provides youth with a balance of fun open play and structured activities. Youth become involved in a variety of age appropriate learning centers in addition to program components such as, health and fitness, multicultural awareness, arts, foreign language, community service, cooking, field trips, various clubs and homework help. Besides homework help we offer math and reading enrichment time to help students strengthen their educational foundation and master new skills. We ensure that youth are given a unique mix of activities that focus on the building blocks that youth need not only to access untapped potential, but also teaches them how to make positive and intelligent decisions throughout their life.

Along with creative youth centered programming, we also offer the following:

• Full day programming when schools are closed and have early dismissal
• Before School Care
• Transportation to and from school to the center
• Healthy snacks and dinner daily
• Field Trips
• CYF and Child Care Partnership Subsidies Welcome
• Financial Assistance

Precious Minds Summer Experience

The Summer Experience Program is an approximate 10 week summer camp program that begins when Pittsburgh Public Schools end for the summer up until they reopen for the school year. We accept subsidized clients and we also offer an affordable private pay rate. The summer program has two components: 1) Early Childhood experience for ages 3 to 5 years of age before kindergarten; 2) School Age experience for ages 5 to 14 (Grades 1 – 8). Early Childhood participants build and develop the skills necessary for kindergarten readiness. These children obtain these skills through fun hands-on learning activities, environmental exploration, outings and field trips. Our school age youth participate in a wide variety of both traditional and non-traditional activities that include but are not limited to: arts and crafts, cooking, foreign language, health and fitness, community service experiences and financial management. Children also learn team building and leadership skills.