PALS Praise and Leadership
Schools in Peoria IL
Our Story
Hi, my name is Kristin Lund. My parents were, and are, amazing. They instilled in each of their children confidence, a work ethic, determination, abilities to accomplish our dreams and so much more. When I was in high school, I sat next to children my own age who already had children and had a full-on plan to collect welfare for the rest of their lives. Peoria has one of the highest unwed birthrates in the nation. I would ask these kids what they wanted to be when they grew up and they told me they would collect welfare. Their mom did it, their mom’s mom did it, and that’s what they were going to do too. It was like a family business.
We each had to have a topic at the family dinner table every night and this became mine. My parents also recognized this need and decided to start a nonprofit childcare center dedicated to setting the standard for education. Why childcare? It seems it would certainly be easier to teach an adult. With children, we have to be creative and make it fun, which offers additional benefits. However, my father likes to say, “If you want to bend a tree you bend it when it’s young.” As a child grows, they become more independent, more opinionated and more informed about their view of the world. As parents and educators, we have a duty to help forge these thoughts and opinions early so that each child achieves their fullest potential on this planet, leaving it a better place than they found it and creating an excellent life for themselves in the process.
I was passionate about PALS, and knew I wanted to work here to help mold PALS into the standard for excellence in education. I want you to do what is right for your child. The first years are the most formative. If you have the ability and desire to stay home with your child, do! You will never get these years back. But when your child is ready for socialization, or if you don’t have the luxury and need to work, I hope you find everything in PALS that we are working so hard to create. I hope your child chooses to come back to visit or to volunteer because he or she loved it so much as so many of our children do. I hope they are just as happy as the many PALS parents today who went to PALS!
Our Innovative Curriculum
PALS Praise & Leadership Schools uses a curriculum that helps children develop spatial awareness, logic and reason, and gross motor skills. Our curriculum introduces foundational cognitive reasoning that teaches and enhances language arts, arithmetic, social skills, and understanding of the surrounding world.
Our daily schedule includes child-directed activity centers, stories and songs, group games, art projects, and valuable creative playtime. We also provide meditative rest periods, nutritious meals, and nonstop adult supervision to ensure your child is safe. We believe young minds are the most malleable to learning self-responsibility and compassion, and our program sees amazing results as our students go on to quality elementary schools and programs.
Our Team of Education Experts
The fully licensed early childhood education instructors at PALS Praise & Leadership Schools have a passion for inspiring children while nurturing their needs. Our staff is handpicked and trained in the latest pedagogy in developmental education on an ongoing basis. Our campuses in North Peoria and Downtown Peoria in the State of Illinois are designed to be fully accessible for young children, as well as safe and secure.
The PALS Mission
We believe that if one has a strong positive self-image and a belief that learning is fun, that person will be able to choose a path in life, rather than allowing one to befall them. With these attributes they will be able to acquire the skills necessary to accomplish their dreams. We achieve this in each of our students by creating an atmosphere full of love, fun, and lots of praise. We strive to fill the day with fun activities that build self-esteem, moral character, and teach life skills.
PALS Philosophy & Purpose
PALS Preschool is a non-denominational Christian school; our philosophy is to build positive self-esteem in each child. PALS was founded to develop tomorrow’s leaders, and to make each child aware that he/she can become successful in life.
We teach children to believe in themselves, to become risk-takers, to learn to solve their own problems, think for themselves, and become self-disciplined. We teach values such as honesty, responsibility, and learning to care for one another.
Our curriculum is child-initiated; whereby the child learns at his/her developmental level. A creative and stimulating environment is provided, and the teachers are trained to foster each child’s individual growth in social, emotional, motor, cognitive, and character development skills. We believe in the development of the whole child.
We encourage parent involvement because the link between home and school is especially important to young children.
Our goal at PALS is to make learning fun! We want PALS to be a happy place for children.
We Foster Diversity and Engagement
We are immensely proud of our wide diversity of families at PALS Praise & Leadership Schools. We believe in creating connections, so your children get the most from their educational experience and learn what being a citizen of the world means. Our goal is to help raise the next generation of independent thinkers who will go on to change the world.
Safety
The front door is always locked and each person entering the building must have clearance to be there. Once you enroll your child, you will be given a code that allows you to check your child in/out and opens the front door with a fingerprint. You are also asked to fill out a list of people who have permission to pick your child up. We have high fences that surround our outdoor playground, keeping children securely in and other people out. Each classroom is equipped with a camera and telephone. We also have strict Visitor’s Policies that you should ask about when enrolling your child. Further details of this policy are explained in the Parent Handbook.
Our Locations
We provide our exceptional daycare, childcare, and preschool programs at two locations in Peoria, IL. Both our convenient campuses in Willow Knolls and Greenleaf maintain the same high educational and care standards that set us apart from other daycare and early education centers.
