Spurred in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic we have seen many online groups dedicated to off the books isolated childcare, whether it be unlicensed nanny care, babysitting, or stay at home moms watching a small group of mixed aged children. The long term implications of this type of isolation is yet to be discovered, but in the short term we are aware of increased rates of childhood obesity, greater mental health impacts, overall lower IQ, and more impacts that can be read about in The National Library of Medicine's collection here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8543788/ .

Why choose Flora and Fauna Learning Center, or any licensed group childcare facility for that matter, to meet your childcare needs? Group childcare centers such as ours offer benefits that range from academic instruction and a wide variety of STE(A)M materials on site, developing skills that are often missed in the home setting, and a group of professionals dedicated to your child's well-being and development.

🔬Academics, Materials, and Enrichments

We recognize how important academic instruction is to our community and are trained to be able to offer this to the children in our care. We prioritize socialization, emotional regulation, and gross motor development as we know that children who are well socialized, able to regulate their emotions, and able to move their body as needed are best equipped to dive into the environment around them and learn! In our childcare center we enrich our environments with high quality materials you’d find in school classrooms (no microscope at home? No problem!). As children are interested, they’re encouraged to work with materials that further their learning in a variety of ways. We provide weekly if not daily STE(A)M activities to further each child’s understanding of the world around them.

👩🏼‍🤝‍👩🏾 Social Skills

Social skills are developed at a young age when a child is introduced to a diverse crowd. In our childcare center children are able to interact in developmentally appropriate ways throughout the day with peers in the same age group. Our teachers act as mentors and play partners engaging in play with the children while modeling and coaching children through situations that may arise. In having a variety of play partners children learn the social cues and language skills necessary to advocate for their own and others’ wants and needs, collaborate and compromise, and accept and include their peers in their play and in their community.

🥲 Emotional Skills

Emotional intelligence is arguably one of the trickiest skills to develop as it requires secure attachment to consistent caregivers. In our childcare center children are in classrooms with a lower ratio so they may form secure attachments to their caregivers and community. In this secure environment each child is assured that they’re safe to be emotionally vulnerable through regular conversations of emotions, their labels, their physical cues, common situations, and a multitude of ways in which one can independently or co-regulate themselves to baseline.

🤸🏻‍♂️Gross Motor Development

It’s no question that recess is too short in schools nowadays. In our childcare center we conduct most of our learning, even our rote academics (ABC/123s), in an outdoor environment. When children are moving and able to expend energy as they need to they learn best! Our large play yard and garden spaces allow for a variety of motions to be practiced and mastered over the course of their time in care.

🗄State Regulations and Accreditations

Childcare when conducted by a family member, nanny, or other non regulated source runs risk of developmental delays, injury without coverage, or even abuse. In our childcare center each teacher undergoes a background check alongside a plethora of state mandated l trainings to ensure Health and Safety as a priority. We have risk management procedures to prevent severe injury and also carry insurance for any accidents that may occur while children our in our care. In addition to Health and Safety Measures our teachers are trained to utilize Teaching Strategies Gold and Creative Curriculum to track and promote each individual child’s developmental milestones daily and keep thorough track in an individual child portfolio that is kept up to date as they age through our programs. Our teachers meet with guardians for conferences bi-yearly or more as necessary to communicate findings and ensure family/guardian concerns and expectations are heard and met. Alongside this we conduct yearly professional development with our team in alignment with state standards as well as professional standards as laid out by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

🪴 Environmental Consciousness

With more time than ever spent inside on screens, at work, or at school we are losing our connection to the natural world. In our childcare center we promote ecological consciousness, or awareness of our human relationship with nature, in the children in our care and in our community through time spent in our closed-loop garden program, workshops, and time spent outdoors. As a childcare center we state our commitment to reducing, reusing, and recycling materials as well as buying materials second hand as available to reduce the amount of materials off the production line or that find their way to landfills.

🌎 Community

Looking for support for not only your child but also for your family? In our childcare center we pull together to put on community events and workshops in order to facilitate support for families and networking among parents and professionals. Some popular workshops include behavior management, growth and development, gardening basics, and more. Yearly community events include our Spring Garden Party, Summer Family Fun Night, Autumn Harvest Party, and Winter Market. These serve as a time for guardians to meet others in their community and to get to know our team of childcare professionals.