Serving The Community for 5 Years

We're not sure how it has been 5 years since our doors opened in Newport for the very first time. We have watched a few children start with us as babies in those first days now getting ready to head off to Kindergarten in the fall. To see the growth and change in them is also comparable to the growth and change we have seen in our business since that day.

Curriculum: When we first opened we started with the Open World of Learning Curriculum for our Pre School room. It was a great start and we loved the content of the curriculum, however, we learned that we wanted a bit more freedom to plan our own themes, and individualize our program more than this curriculum had to offer. We decided to use the Creative Curriculum for our Pre School program which we have been using in our infant, waddler and toddler rooms since the beginning. Since, then, we have worked very hard to develop a strong curriculum using the individualized needs of the children we are serving. Our curriculum coordinator Shayna, and Occupational Therapist and Co-Director, Carolann, work together to develop developmentally appropriate activities that are engaging and appropriate for the children we have. During this time we have had SO many fun themes that the children have loved.

Developmental Screenings: Over the years we have adapted our screenings in order for us to get the whole picture of a child and their progress while they attend our program. These screenings start at the infant age group and then continue on all the way through Pre School. We address social emotional skills, cognitive skills, fine motor skills, visual motor skills, functional skills and more. Since switching our curriculums we have found that our children are making even greater leaps and bounds. Our goal when children leave us for Kindergarten is to be as ready as possible! Children often leave knowing their alphabet, numbers, how to write their first name (and sometimes last), having solid scissor skills, coloring skills, and are independent with tasks such as opening food containers, putting on and taking off outdoor clothing and shoes, how to navigate tough situations and big feelings, and peer interactions. These developmental screenings have also helped us identify how to adapt our environment, strategies and provide direct OT intervention so that children of all abilities can participate in our program.

Occupational Therapy Services: Our goal since opening has been to be able to intertwine the developmental and sensory focus of OT into our curriculum and we have been able to slowly shape and mold our program to achieve this. Since we have opened, we have been able to grow our direct intervention caseload in order to provide children with sensory breaks, and direct intervention in areas such as feeding, fine motor skills, visual motor integration skills, primitive reflex integration and more. All with the goal and focus that they are able to participate in their natural environments successfully and happily. OT services have helped children of all types of abilities go from having difficulty with transitions to being able to fully participate in their day with ease, go from preferring independent play to participating in centers, gain gross motor milestones, and grow in self-confidence and independence. Then, when it's time to leave us, we have the knowledge and ability to help walk parents through attaining an IEP and what the transition to public education can look like for their child, as we want to be able to assist with making that transition as smooth as possible while empowering parents to be advocates for their children.

We have not been without our trials since opening. No one could have anticipated how COVID would take a toll on our business, or how it would still impact the staffing crisis that our entire state is facing right now. We are incredibly fortunate for the families we serve and for the staff who have stuck with us through it all. We have an amazing owner, Parvanah Withee and group of staff who are passionate about what they do, who are patient and tolerant of all the children we serve, and stay with us through all the good days and more challenging days.

We are incredibly grateful for the last 5 years and being able to make this dream of ours come true. Thank you to all of you who have been with us during this time, and we welcome all of those who will attend in the future. We fully understand the high need of quality childcare in our community and we plan to continue to serve you as long as we can! To watch these children grow and evolve into the amazing little humans that they are is truly a privilege that not many get to have. We appreciate and do not take advantage of the fact that we get to be the ones guiding them and teaching them through arguably the most formative years of their lives.

Here's to 5 years!