A year ago, 4-year old Nicholas Madueno used very few words. While interested in activities going on around him, he was quiet and socially reserved.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t have the vocabulary he needed to express himself,\u201d said his mom, Christina Geister. Things changed after she enrolled him in Sonshine Learning Center, a four-star Quality First preschool in Black Canyon City.<\/p>\n
Geister credits his success to the school\u2019s participation in First Things First\u2019s signature program Quality First.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis high-quality learning environment supports not only Nicholas\u2019 vocabulary development, but his overall social growth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Quality First partners with child care and preschool providers to improve the quality of early learning across Arizona. The program funds quality improvements that research proves help children thrive, such as training and coaching for teachers to expand their skills and to help create learning environments that nurture the emotional, social and academic development of every child.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur teachers use the Arizona Early Learning Standards as a guide to help them incorporate all of the skills the children need to succeed,\u201d said school Director Sherry Birch. Preschool students use a weekly reader magazine to incorporate vocabulary-building, reading and learning the alphabet.<\/p>\n
\u201cParents are encouraged to challenge their young readers by tracking completion of each book at home with an apple or heart that is displayed in the classroom with the child\u2019s name on it,\u201d Birch said.<\/p>\n
Today, Nicholas is friendly and extroverted. When classroom guests visit the students, he introduces each classmate and his teacher by name. His favorite learning centers are science and math, dramatic play and puzzles.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s no longer the quiet child; he now has confidence in his ability to use a larger vocabulary and socialize with his peers and teachers,\u201d Geister said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The high-quality learning environment of the Quality First center supported the preschool student’s vocabulary development, and his overall social growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":19923,"template":"","tags":[93,179],"class_list":["post-19922","family-stories","type-family-stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-quality-first","tag-yavapai","regions-yavapai"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n