yes

not usually

not usually

Educational Environment

not usually

AZ Department of Health, Office of Child Care Licensing
-no differences for licensing purposes, “preschools” are grouped under “childcare services” just as “child care” and “day care”. The OCCL has minimal requirements for qualifications for staff and surrounding environments
For state regulations click: AZ Department of State

Spondeo Preschool’s position:
Spondeo Preschool is designed to provide the highest of caring education. Our loving teachers are educated individuals who have dedicated their career to the education of young children. Spondeo preschool students are excited about school and learning. Exactly the reaction and attitude all young children should display when they are in the correct educational environment.

Detailed research based information:
Importance of Preschool
Brain development, child care demand, and research based results from preschool students reveal that preschools are not only important for a child to excel in school, but also, set preschools ahead of child care centers for preparing children for life.
Life long affects of quality childcare take root based on the fact that “90 percent of a child’s brain develops by the age of 5” (“New State Report on Childcare,” 2007). This brain development has been researched, to reveal that the “first years of life are crucial for intellectual, social and general development” (“Childcare in America,” 2007). The preceding facts coupled with “children of working mothers [spend] an average of 36 hours each week in some type of childcare setting” lead to the conclusion that the “quality of childcare is paramount” (New State Report on Childcare,” 2007). High quality child care is found in accredited preschools.
Research based accredited preschools, help to prove that “children gain a lot from preschool” (Kanter, Parents Magazine February 2007, p.66), states Kathleen McCartney, Ph D, dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, MA. In fact, it is recommended that children have some sort of group experience, with out a parent or caregiver, before they enter kindergarten (Kanter, 2007, p. 66). Kindergarten teachers know and appreciate former preschool children, for they come to school with good social skills and behavior management skills. Preschool children are ready to learn and cooperate in the formal educational setting. This preceding fact coupled with the importance of brain development, has prompted more than 40 states to provide state funded quality pre-kindergarten programs. These quality pre-kindergarten programs plan to continue the trend that “[c]hildren who attend high-quality preschool enter Kindergarten with better pre-reading skills, richer vocabularies, and stronger basic math skills than those who do not” (Kanter, 2007, p.66), says NIEER director W. Steven Barnett, Ph. D (Parents p. 66). High quality preschools focus in on teaching the whole child—socially, emotionally, and academically during the most formidable time of a child’s life.