25 Years in Early Childhood Education

The Children’s Workshop, a local family owned company that provides quality care and early learning programs for children, is commemorating their 25th Anniversary this year. They are celebrating with the families that have been with them over the years and searching to answer the question, what does 25 years in early education mean? The company is reconnecting with families that have been with them for many years to paint a picture of what 25 years of early education really looks like.

This month, they turned to one family who has been with them for over 23 years to help answer that question.

Laurie Sands first entered The Children’s Workshop in 1992 at their original location in Lincoln, RI. The company was only just beginning; they had been open for two years. Laurie was a hard working mother, trying to juggle her career and looking for quality care for her son, Jacob. She had tried home-based child care and was looking for a more structured environment. “I didn’t want to feel so guilty about going to work,” recalls Laurie.

The Sands family enrolled at The Children’s Workshop and continued to grow. Laurie gave birth to her second child, a girl whom she named Alyssa. Alyssa enrolled at The Children’s Workshop in 1995 and attended through Preschool. “I remember coming in everyday and they had the little notebook with how many times her diaper was changed, and how many times they did this and that. That was great because it was always so great to know exactly what happens when you’re a working parent; it’s difficult because you miss the good stuff,” says Laurie.

Laurie’s relationship with the team at The Children’s Workshop didn’t stop when her children graduated. She returned to the company in 2003, looking for employment and joined the finance team. Her son was also hired, helping out in the classrooms during summer vacation.

Today, Laurie works as a contractor with on e of Rhode Island’s largest employers. Her daughter Alyssa finished her degree at Emmanuel College in three years and currently works as a Family Support Specialist for Community Care Alliance. At The Children’s Workshop, we know that a strong foundation in early education helped children like Alyssa achieve a lifetime of success in education, which has come a long way since the 1990’s. Laurie shares, “Back in the ‘90s we were bringing the kids to day care just because we had no other choice; we were both working. But now parents bring their children to get them ready for Kindergarten, which is so competitive. Kids enter school knowing how to read and use electronic devices. If you don’t have the base of an education from daycare and preschool, then they are behind.”

We invited Laurie to lunch with some teachers and coworkers she knew that are still with the company today. Aside from catching up on family news, the other question on everyone’s mind was: What has changed since the 1990s?

Technology

The most obvious advances made over time are technology. Tracy Martin Turgeon, Vice President of Operations at The Children’s Workshop recalls, “We only had one computer and all it had was Word and Excel.” Of course, that was very modern at the time.

There was no internet access and therefore no email. “I just remember when we had to fax everything to the finance department,” shares Tracy. “So we would get all the reports, DHS reports, deposits, new kids termed, everything that we would have to look at. We’d have to print them out, some were even hand written.”

Today, Children’s Workshop locations are able to communicate with each other easily. Different teams can share best practices, articles, information and ideas right on their cell phones through a private staff facebook group. “We didn’t have cell phones, but there used to be pay phones. So if you were driving from center to center and you really had to talk to someone, you used to have to stop and pull over, find a pay phone and make that call,” remembers Tracy. Not to mention all of the great educational resources and learning games that are available today.

Resources

In the 1990’s, The Children’s Workshop had less than five locations, today it has nineteen! The centers simply didn’t have the resources and the connections that we have today.

One such luxury we enjoy today is a full time facilities team. Kathy Sandberg, Field Operations Manager remembers running a center in the early days of the company. Dave Stanlewicz, who was a teacher in the ‘90s but today is Senior Director, remembers, “We had to sweep and mop at the end of the day, we did all of the cleaning ourselves.” Laurie chimed in, “Coming in as a parent, if you didn’t have a maintenance crew, we couldn’t tell. Everything was always spotless.”

The Children’s Workshop of today also has a full service kitchen that serves up hot lunches, delivered fresh to each center every day. Before the food service was established, parents had to pack lunches. Some teachers would take it on themselves to cook homemade meals for the children if a kitchen was available in their center.

“Today, there’s an app for that!” says Maggie Teller, President and CEO, who took over the company after her father, David MacDonald. The Children’s Workshop is working on launching a software program that comes with a free downloadable app that parents can use on their mobile phones. During the day, instead of recording information in a notebook, teachers can track feedings, diaper changes, even post photos online and parents can check in real time. This is especially helpful to breast feeding mothers, who can track their child’s diet and know if their baby is running low on milk during the day.

Curriculum

The Children’s Workshop curriculum and professional development has come such a long way. “Nowadays we know that kids really learn through play and we have our own framework curriculum, we have our education team that works on the curriculum throughout the company.” The Children’s Workshop curriculum has been tried and tested for over twenty years.

Learning is not just for the children either. Teachers at The Children’s Workshop are expected to be up to date with the most current teaching practices available and they undergo a minimum of eighteen hours of trainings per year.

What hasn’t changed?

During our look back to the ‘90s, there were a few things that haven’t changed a bit. Laurie says, “I remember way back then when they used to take them for a walk in the little buggies.” Well, we still use baby buggies for the infants to take walks during the day, and they love it!

We still have children of famous Patriots players in our care like we did back then. We’ll keep those names to ourselves to respect their privacy.

We still give out wallet size, laminated phone lists to key staff members to keep in their wallet in case of emergencies.

Most importantly, one thing that hasn’t changed is our founder’s vision. First, we strive to provide a safe environment for the children in our care and second, we try to create fun learning opportunities so that our children will be prepared for the future successes that await them.