Programs

Each stage of development requires a different approach. Our staff members will give your child the right attention, suitable to his or her age and developmental needs. We understand that each child develops at a different pace, and so our staff will follow your child’s individual development, introducing activities at the right time and at the right pace.

Infant

Developmental Milestones. Skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye-bye” are called developmental milestones. Developmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age. Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, behave, and move (like crawling, walking, or jumping).

In the first year, babies learn to focus their vision, reach out, explore, and learn about the things that are around them. Cognitive, or brain development means the learning process of memory, language, thinking, and reasoning. Learning language is more than making sounds (“babble”), or saying “ma-ma” and “da-da”. Listening, understanding, and knowing the names of people and things are all a part of language development. During this stage, babies also are developing bonds of love and trust with their parents and others as part of social and emotional development. The way parents cuddle, hold, and play with their baby will set the basis for how they will interact with them and others.

Toddler

Developmental Milestones. Skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye-bye” are called developmental milestones. Developmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age. Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, behave, and move (like crawling, walking, or jumping).

During the second year, toddlers are moving around more, and are aware of themselves and their surroundings. Their desire to explore new objects and people also is increasing. During this stage, toddlers will show greater independence; begin to show defiant behavior; recognize themselves in pictures or a mirror; and imitate the behavior of others, especially adults and older children. Toddlers also should be able to recognize the names of familiar people and objects, form simple phrases and sentences, and follow simple instructions and directions.

Preschool

Developmental Milestones. Skills such as naming colors, showing affection, and hopping on one foot are called developmental milestones. Developmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age. Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, behave, and move (like crawling, walking, or jumping).

As children grow into early childhood, their world will begin to open up. They will become more independent and begin to focus more on adults and children outside of the family. They will want to explore and ask about the things around them even more. Their interactions with family and those around them will help to shape their personality and their own ways of thinking and moving. During this stage, children should be able to ride a tricycle, use safety scissors, notice a difference between girls and boys, help to dress and undress themselves, play with other children, recall part of a story, and sing a song.

Kindergarten Prep

Developmental Milestone. Middle childhood brings many changes in a child’s life. By this time, children can dress themselves, catch a ball more easily using only their hands, and tie their shoes. Having independence from family becomes more important now. Events such as starting school bring children this age into regular contact with the larger world. Friendships become more and more important. Physical, social, and mental skills develop quickly at this time. This is a critical time for children to develop confidence in all areas of life, such as through friends, schoolwork, and sports.

Here is some information on how children develop during middle childhood:

Emotional/Social Changes. Children in this age group might:

  • Show more independence from parents and family.
  • Start to think about the future.
  • Understand more about his or her place in the world.
  • Pay more attention to friendships and teamwork.
  • Want to be liked and accepted by friends.

Thinking and Learning. Children in this age group might:

  • Show rapid development of mental skills.
  • Learn better ways to describe experiences and talk about thoughts and feelings.
  • Have less focus on one’s self and more concern for others.

School Age

As children get older and more independent, they need new challenges. That’s why we offer a school-age program for before and after school care and enrichment programs that address the changing and more varied needs of growing school-age children. Reading, math, and science activities ensure that your child’s mind is engaged and help create a lifelong love of learning and exploration.
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We are following CDC and local COVID-19 guidelines, including social distancing, daily health screenings, and additional measures to keep our children, staff and families safe.

Yes, all employees, parents and children will have to pass a daily health screening. The health screening includes a temperature check and a series of COVID-19 related questions that pertain to the individual and their households.

The health and well-being of our families and staff are our highest priorities. In the interest of limiting the opportunity for transmission to our vulnerable community, we are taking the following precautionary measures:

Your household must remain out of the center if any member of your household has (or has been in close contact with anyone who has):

a. A suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 (for example – close contact at school, work, religious service, social gathering); or

b. Traveled: internationally; or domestically, from any area which is the subject of travel restrictions under applicable state and local guidance.         

14 days after the last potential exposure, your household may return provided these three things have happened:

a. At least 10 days have passed since any household member first experienced symptoms; and

b. Symptoms have improved for any household member that experienced symptoms (for example, cough or shortness of breath has improved); and

c. The household has been fever-free for at least 72 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicines.

Please note, depending on the circumstances we may require you to obtain medical clearance before return to the center will be allowed.

To implement enhanced safety protocols for all areas including daily health screening, distancing, cleaning, and disinfecting. Our goal is to ensure that all of our health and safety practices in every center are in line with recommendations provided by the CDC and requirements of state and local municipalities, and have the well-being of children, families, and staff at their core.

All employees will be in face coverings while working. Those conducting health screenings will wear gloves while conducting the screenings. Those undertaking disinfection activities will be wearing gloves while disinfecting. Teachers will wear gloves for activities that they wore gloves for in the past; diaper changing and bathroom help, wiping noses, first aid and cleaning. They also wear gloves for preparing and serving food. They will not be required to wear gloves all day.

Unless mandated by local state authorities or medically necessary, The Joshua Tree does not require the use of masks for children. To provide a safe and healthy environment, we employ strict exclusion policies for households, regular health screens, increased disinfection, and social distancing practices. Please contact our center directly to learn more.

Prospective parents are being encouraged to visit our link for a virtual tour.

Keystone Stars

Keystone STARS is Pennsylvania’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). A QRIS is a continuous quality improvement systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early and school-age care and education programs. Keystone STARS is a program of Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL).

Our Guiding Principles

Keystone STARS is a responsive system to improve, support, and recognize the continuous quality improvement efforts of early learning programs in Pennsylvania. Our system is guided by three core principles:

We believe inclusion, diversity, equity and respect are foundational values embedded in these principles.

Keystone STARS has four primary goals:

OCDEL’s Keystone STARS Program supports all early care and education programs to improve program quality. We encourage programs to think about the Keystone STARS Performance Standards as a tool to support continuous quality improvement (CQI) that impacts services to the children and families in your care.

Keystone STARS – Improving the quality through: