About
Our Philosophy
Our philosophy is based on the belief that children learn best when exposed to a challenging environment that offers a variety of meaningful hands-on activities and experiences. We believe that preschool children should be allowed to explore their surroundings in order to develop a good sense of problem solving and decision-making. The preschool curriculum, arrangement of furniture and space reflect the interests and needs of the children enrolled in our childcare center. It is very important to meet the basic needs of children such as, safety, nourishment and rest for them to be able to achieve proper levels of development. We strive to challenge children’s creativity and to be aware and respectful of their emotional needs and to support and facilitate their social development by providing opportunities for children to build positive self-esteem. We welcome and respect the diversity of cultures and encourage every member of our preschool to share their culture with us. We are facilitators of children’s development fostering their social, emotional, physical and cognitive development for life long learning.
What Makes Us So Special?
-We have a highly motivated professional staff that cares about your child. We also have in our staff a State awarded Mentor Teacher. (she is a mentor teacher that serves students in surrounding colleges)
-We have a warm, country like childcare center environment that promotes exploration of nature with an abundance of live animals and plants. Our outside yard is much different than many centers, it is something that you have to come in a see for yourself, the school is located on a 1 acre lot, much larger than most preschools.
-Our outside space is a continuous learning environment designed to meet the developmental needs of children.
-The entire preschool program encourages independence and free choice.
-A structured preschool day designed to enhance the physical, intellectual, social and emotional development of each child.
-Parent participation welcome
-Our childcare center services children starting at 12 weeks of age.
Alan and Cristiane Foster – Owners/Administrators
Cristiane and Alan bought Children’s Village Preschool because they fell in love with the country like environment and the school’s develomental philosophy matched Cristiane’s teaching philosophy for young children. The couple has two daughters who have attended Children’s Village; their girls (with the help of the school’s parents and staff) have assisted Alan and Cristiane by maintaining the focus on their mission of providing a quality childcare and educational program.
Cristiane has been in the field of teaching for 25 years, 21years being in early childhood education. She has earned her BA in Physical Education, and an AA in Early Childhood Education. Cristiane recently completed her Master’s Program in Education with Emphasis in Early Childhood at CSULB and plans to continue her schooling in order to acquire a Doctorate Degree in this field.
Alan, who is a retired BMX racer and now works part time in the bicycle industry, shares his wife’s passion for teaching young children and has learned the importance of providing a quality environment for children and their families. Alan serves as the bookkeeper, IT guy, marketing and the fix-it guy.
They are also the proud owners of another preschool/childcare center in Long Beach www.edgewaterpreschool.com
School History
The property was originally an orange grove. The school started in the 70′s and began with one ECE college professor taking in children in the house she lived in(existing house). This slowly turned into a Preschool and the owner built the building that is room 5 and then added the rooms 8+9 later. In the early 80′s the Kriss family had a daughter attending Country Village Preschool and fell in love with the place, they saw that the owner was looking to sell and they jumped at the opportunity. A few years later they added the room 6+7 building. By 2007 the Krisses had built and expanded Country Village Preschool to 3 locations in OC (Rancho Santa Margarita and Foothill Ranch), in 2007 they decided to retire and sold the 3 schools. One buyer purchased the other two and kept the name Country Village. The Fosters had heard of this school through workshops, as soon as they heard that the Krisses were considering selling they were very persistent and in April 2007 Alan+Cristiane became the proud owners of Children’s Village Preschool.