Beautiful New Location: 3628 Park Drive El Dorado Hills

The Applebee Preschool 3628 Park Drive El Dorado Hills, Ca 95762

The Applebee Preschool

Imagine, Create, Participate.

Where we preserve the magic, wonder and innocence of early childhood!

License # 093625156

About Us

meet the owner

Joanie Giraudo relocated The Applebee Preschool from her Menlo Park location to Folsom in June 2020 and now El Dorado Hills in 2023. She is excited to be part of the childcare community in Folsom and El Dorado Hills where she can share her love of educating young children thru play. Joanie has over 35 years of experience working with preschoolers. She thrives on being part of the preschool community,

play based curriculum

Guided play is wonderful. It maintains the joyful child-directed aspects of free play but adds on additional focus on learning goals through light adult scaffolding. It offers an opportunity for exploration in a context specifically designed to foster a learning goal. Guided play promotes language learning, mathematical and spatial skills, social experiences and creative arts. Children are engaged in meaningful play that is socially interactive which is the basis of all learning.

Our Mission

We offer a developmentally appropriate play based preschool program for children ages 2 1/2-6 years of age. We value each stage of a child's development and we consider each child to be unique in their own way.

Why Applebee?

Exprience Matters

Joanie Giraudo has over 34 years of experience teaching young children. She has an AA Degree in Child Development from De Anza College and a BA Degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College. She is a certified parent coach and enjoys creating a family friendly environment. We believe that our location is unique to the area and we look forward to building a loving, creative, safe environment for young children to discover, learn and grow.

Our preschool program

Our mixed age indoor and outdoor classroom provides an opportunity for young children to imagine, create and participate. We focus on the whole child: social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. These guided play experiences provide children many opportunities to practice skills that will last a life time. A mixed age group preschool program allows for each child to feel safe and secure while allowing for a child to practice not only being a leader but also motivating younger children. This environment promotes more opportunities for all areas of development. Each child has a greater chance to have their problems solved by observation or direct intervention. Mixed age groups provide children a realistic view of the world. It also allows children opportunities to develop meaningful relationships that deepen over time.

Play based Curriculum research

Our guided play approach is supported by several well known play based child psychologists such as Piaget, Vygotsky,Bruner and Erikson. We believe that a community rich in play creates a central role in the process of "making meaning." Preschool age children engage in all stages of play: solitary, parallel, imitative, associative and cooperative. We believe that each child will develop at his/her own pace. We gently guide them thru each stage while supporting and encouraging their creativity. Our process oriented art philosophy is child directed and celebrates the experience of discovery. We provide theme based materials and allow each child to be open ended in terms of engaging with the materials. This allows the child to learn how to use the material before they create more elaborate artwork.

A Little More

What is the applebee preschool

We are a part day or full day all inclusive play based (guided play) preschool program, Joanie Giraudo has owned The Applebee Preschool since 1996. She loves creating a community of learners within their larger community.

We recently relocated

The Applebee Preschool recently relocated to Folsom from Menlo Park in June 2020 and now to El Dorado Hills in 2023. Joanie and her daughter wanted to be closer to their family. Folsom/El Dorado Hills also fit their needs to find a place to live that encompasses their core values and morals. Please feel free to stop by and say hi!

see us in action

Check us out on Facebook! We've been around for 27 years.

Potty training

We don't believe that children need to be potty trained before they are ready, therefore, we will help with the process when it works for your child,

tell your friends

We are loving our new location in Folsom! We can't wait to meet you!

daily snacks

Daily Snack: Each day we provide a healthy, creative daily snack. We love to cook and the kids enjoy creating our weekly menu.

A Cooperative Environment

Discover our classroom: inside & Out

Dramatic Play & Block Building

"CREATING A COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS"

Come explore our extensive block building area and creative dramatic play area.

Science & Math

"ENHANCING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WHOLE CHILD"

Explore science and math through hands on experiences. By counting, sorting, and building we explore pre math skills and love to spend time outside in nature.

Creative Writing & Literature

"CONVERSATION, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY AND COMMUNITY"

Our book nook is a nice quiet place to relax with top notch preschool age literature. We draw and write and explore the English Language daily.

Creative Arts & Sensory Exploration

"DEVELOP AND LEARN THROUGH FUN AND CREATIVITY"

All of our art projects are based on your child's creativity! We explore process oriented art projects and let the children lead the way.

Outdoor Exploration & Garden

"EVERYONE IS A LEARNER EVERYDAY"

Our outdoor play space has an easel, sandbox, playhouse, sensory table and more. We explore our large motor skills daily. Our garden area is designed to provide us with a full sensory experience thru planting, watering, digging and tasting.

Monthly Tuition Fee's

We look forward to meeting you!

Daily Schedule

What A Typical Day Looks Like

Welcome 8:15-8:30 am-8:45 am /12:00 pm-12:15 pm Sign in/Question of the Day

Exploration 8:45 am-9:30 am /12:15 pm-1:00 pm Free Play Inside

Snack 9:30 am-9:45 am /1:00 pm-1:15 pm Family Style

Circle Time 9:45am-10:00 am/1:15 pm-1:30 pm Small group circle time

Centers Time 10:00-10:30 am/1:30 pm-2:00 pm Table/Art Project

Outside Time 10:30 am-11:15 am/2:00 pm-2:45 pm Free Exploration

Story Time 11:15 am-11:30 am/2:45 pm-3:00-3:15 pm Goodbye story/songs

The Applebee Preschool

Imagine, Create, Participate.

About Us

meet the owner

play based curriculum

Our Mission

Why Applebee?

Exprience Matters

Our preschool program

Play based Curriculum research

Our Motto

imagine

participate

imagine

create

participate

imagine

participate

participate

participate

A Little More

What is the applebee preschool

We recently relocated

see us in action

Potty training

tell your friends

daily snacks

A Cooperative Environment

Discover our classroom: inside & Out

Dramatic Play & Block Building

"CREATING A COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS"

Science & Math

"ENHANCING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WHOLE CHILD"

Creative Writing & Literature

"CONVERSATION, CONFIDENCE, CREATIVITY AND COMMUNITY"

Creative Arts & Sensory Exploration

"DEVELOP AND LEARN THROUGH FUN AND CREATIVITY"

Outdoor Exploration & Garden

"EVERYONE IS A LEARNER EVERYDAY"

Photo Gallery

Monthly Tuition Fee's

our Preschool Program

T/Th

M/W/F

M-F

FULL Day OPTIONS

T/Th

M/W/F

M - F

Guided Play Curriculum

Daily Schedule

What A Typical Day Looks Like

Newsletters & Curriculum

Find us on Social Media

Contact Us

the Applebee preschool

Hours

Get in Touch!