Stephen and Andrea Caris have built their careers around educating children, both as teachers and as administrators. When they moved from Connecticut to Ohio in 2002, they realized that most of this area's established preschools all had waiting lists. Stephen and Andrea founded Pembroke Kids Child Development Center in 2005 to provide a safe, secure, and caring environment where children can feel confident and protected. We met with Stephen and Andrea recently, and listened as they provided this overview of Pembroke Kids;
Pembroke Kids is a high quality early childhood program with an innovative curriculum designed to create a positive lifelong impact on your child's ability to seek knowledge and maximize his or her creative, social, emotional, and cognitive potential. We offer a family-like mixed age group environment for preschool children ages three to five where the younger children learn by imitating the model of the older children. The older children, in turn, take on a leadership role by helping out their younger peers. We maintain a teacher/student ratio of one to ten, and our teachers have at least a bachelor's degree in early childhood education and share our passion for working with young children. We also have a kindergarten enrichment program in the afternoon, in addition to an after school enrichment program for school aged children kindergarten through grade six.
Our mission is to provide a supportive, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate learning environment that stimulates young children's intellectual curiosity and creativity, and one that fosters self-control, a positive self-image, and respect for others. We believe children are active learners who are naturally curious and playful, and the role of a teacher is to tap into this natural curiosity and guide them toward new learning experiences.
We seek to achieve our goals by combining the best features of current educational theories, including the Reggio Emilia approach, Harold Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences, and Vygotsky's theories of Social Interaction and Learning. We follow all applicable state standards, and pride ourselves on providing a literacy rich environment where children are taught to perceive themselves as authors, artists, and inventors.
Pembroke Kids is a preschool where children, families, teachers, and the community influence the learning environment. Parents and family members are encouraged to participate in many of our activities, from reading stories to the children to going with us on field trips. We have been apple picking, visited the Lake Erie Science Center, and finished out the year with a picnic that included approximately 200 children, parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
We also provide an after school enrichment program for children from kindergarten through grade six. Held at our Digital Discovery Center, the program is available from immediately after school until six o'clock in the evening. The Digital Discovery Center is equipped with state-of-the-art computers, digital cameras, and digital camcorders, and offers children the opportunity to explore the wonders of technology, including film making, photography, digital music, and LEGO robotics.
Our name is derived from our mascot, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi. The Pembroke Welsh Corgi is a breed of dog known for its curious, intelligent, and playful nature. We have owned several of these delightful companions throughout the years, and the picture of the dog in our logo is taken from a photograph of Charlie, who was our family dog when our children were growing up.
Pembroke Kids would like to extend an invitation to you and your children to experience a safe and nurturing environment of discovery and learning. Call Pembroke Kids today, and don't forget to tell them Avon Lake Business & Living sent you!
