Contact us and join the ChooChoo community!
3172 N Hudson Ave, unit #7
Chicago, IL 60657
Monday — Friday 8am-6pm
hello@choochoochicago.com
347.858.9337
Contact us and join the ChooChoo community!
3172 N Hudson Ave, unit #7
Chicago, IL 60657
Monday — Friday 8am-6pm
hello@choochoochicago.com
347.858.9337
By Lois Chen
Happy Day Child Care (HDCC) was founded in 2013 with the goal to create a clean, safe environment for children of all ages. We are a DCFS licensed in-home daycare in Hoffman Estates, Il and service children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 6 years old. HDCC believes that childcare is the foundation of how a child will learn in their school years. With this in mind, HDCC uses a certified preschool curriculum to provide a basis of learning. Although we teach a preschool curriculum, we are a play-based daycare. We spend most of our days learning through play, whether it is indoor or outside on the playground.
One of our most recent additions to our daily curriculum is a series called “Masters of Art”. In this series, children learn about a new artist each month and use the techniques, mediums, and styles that made these artists famous. Children ages 2 years old and up learn about the artist and what made him/her famous, what type of style they used, if there was a particular item they gravitated towards, and the techniques the artist mastered. They then see paintings/pictures of the artist’s work and try to replicate the work with different mediums, tools, and techniques.
One of the reasons why HDCC was founded was to create an environment that is personal; an environment that allows parents to feel like they are dropping their child off at a relative’s house. This allows parents to feel comfortable leaving their little ones (maybe even for the first time ever). We provide daily communication through text, picture messaging, and Instagram which allows our parents to see their babies and what they are doing throughout the day without being with them.
One of the greatest thing about an in-home daycare is the different age groups. Many may be nervous bringing their child into a daycare with children of all ages interacting together. But the fact is, the children absolutely love it and thrive in this type of environment. The older children watch after the younger children, the younger children learn from the older children. It is truly a win-win for everyone. One thing that HDCC prides itself in is the community aspect of our daycare. I let all my families know that when they choose HDCC they become part of our family. This has held true and clients who have left due to job changes, moves, or unforeseen circumstances still have a line of communication with us and we are still able to see their little ones grow months or years after they have left.
If you would like to join a family orientated daycare please visit us at www.happydaychildcareil.weebly.com, facebook.com/happydaychildcare or call us at 847-650-8646.
Your child’s haven in the big city – a preschool community with a passion for play-based learning. Sonnets Academy has selected the best preschool locations in Chicago that match the unique feel of each neighborhood. Sonnets Academy celebrates the individuality of children and inspires boundless learning through play in its private infant care and preschool programs for children six weeks to six years.
1932 N. Clark St.
(312) 951-1024
430 W. Erie St.
(312) 344-1926
229 S. Peoria St.
(312) 733-7580
5548 S. Hyde Park Blvd.
(773) 891-0029
Our play-based curriculum begins at early infancy and continues through prekindergarten, concentrating on the process through which children learn. Discovery-based play expands imagination, encourages sense of wonder and provides a diverse and comprehensive foundation for cognitive, social, emotional & creative growth that will shape their adolescence and adulthood.
Through play, children discover their surroundings – socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically. This is unique for each child at each stage of development. Sonnets Academy teachers celebrate diversity in their classrooms – understanding each child’s distinctive style of play and the cultural and developmental factors that contribute to these differences among children. Our teachers create classroom activities that each student can build upon in their own way – focusing on strengths.
Children learn how to navigate their future interpersonal relationships from their social interactions in early childhood. When children play together, they learn to celebrate differences as they cooperate and collaborate – creating empathetic problem solvers. When a child’s play is guided and encouraged by their teacher, the child establishes trust, respect & confidence – essential to a lifelong love of learning.
Each Sonnets Academy Preschool follows the same monthly theme from which our teachers create their own lesson plans. This guided curriculum structure gives our teachers the ability to build their classroom activities from where their students take the most interest while following age-specific learning and development objectives in the following categories:
-Fine & Gross Motor Skills
-Language
-Cognitive Development
-Creative Expression
-Music & Movement
-Social & Emotional Development
-Self-Help
Sonnets Academy’s dedication to whole-child development provides a diverse and well-rounded learning environment in our discovery-based curriculum and enrichment programs. From teaching the basics of physical and emotional well being in yoga class to expanding linguistic horizons in Spanish class, Sonnets Academy exposes our students to a balanced and comprehensive variety of learning opportunities. Sonnets Academy’s weekly Spanish, yoga & music enrichment classes for every age group are included in the cost of tuition.
Make the best choice for your child’s early learning environment. Bring your child along for your Sonnets Academy tour to help them feel comfortable and confident in their school community from the start. A warm welcome and a bit of encouragement are key to building excitement about belonging to the vibrant and bustling atmosphere that Sonnets Academy teachers and students create – together.
Sonnets Academy welcomes new touring children by introducing them to each classroom and teacher, letting them get to know the space, and inviting them to circle time, stations, & free play. Your child will feel welcome, valued & important. Sonnets Academy emphasis on individuality and strengths is the foundation for our cooperative learning community.
By Nat Vikitsret
As an infant and toddler teacher, you play an essential role in facilitating the unique development of each child under your care. It is no small feat to adapt a curriculum to maximize each child’s potential, to provide quality care enriched with play and exploration, and to nurture the child’s curiosity and empathy. What happens when one day you see that one of your children lags behind developmentally? A week later he has various visitors from early intervention who go by various acronyms- DT, OT, PT, SLP. You may wonder what you can do to advocate for this child in your classroom while empowering his caregivers to be active advocates as well. As a former early childhood special educator, I know that any progress made by children with special needs depends largely on the collaboration among the classroom teachers, caregivers, and early intervention therapists. This article aims to answer the question: “How can we, infant and toddler teachers, start…getting everyone to collaborate?”
Collaborating with Caregivers
Teachers who are in sync with the parents with whom they work continuously assess which developmental milestones are important to the parents and respect each family’s cultural parameters. For instance, suppose that a child in your class needs more support in expressive language development, based on your academic assessment. However, her parents want her to work on using utensils for self-feeding. You have a choice between viewing this asynchrony as a point of contention, or as an opportunity to strengthen the school-home partnership. Simply asking families about the skills and values they want their children to have and the ways they teach those things at home can go a long way towards establishing a constructive and collaborative relationship with caregivers.
Collaborating with Early Intervention Therapists
I remember vividly how hectic (and fun!) my days were when I was a lead teacher. The thought of collaborating with therapists — of adding another item to my to-do list — seemed very daunting. However, it is very likely that when you work with therapists, you will come up with ideas and strategies that will benefit all the children in your classroom. For instance, not only does a visual schedule help children with special needs transition from one activity to the next more smoothly, it also quells the excitement of other inquisitive minds in the classroom (so that you do not have to tell each child 15 times that art activity is coming up). Talking to the therapists at the end of their sessions is an excellent way to learn about strategies that you can implement throughout the day. For example, if the therapist is working on getting the child to use both sides of her body at midline, it may be worthwhile to brainstorm which toys facilitate bilateral integration during free play or what support you can give the child during art/sensory activity. By doing so you give the child more opportunities to practice bilateral integration, and you collaboratively enhance the effect of the therapist’s intervention. Similarly, if the therapist is working on increasing engagement with an infant, you can brainstorm what strategies you can use during diaper change, sensory play, mealtimes, and free play time to maximize the baby’s reciprocity, joint attention, and early problem solving. The therapist is with the child for an hour or two every week; you are with the child many hours every day.
Do not forget to inform the parents of all the hard work you do so that they can implement some of the strategies at home as well. When everyone — teachers, parents, and therapists — works together for the best interest of the child, it is a win-win-win situation!
Lastly, if you suspect any developmental delay in your children, contact Child and Family Connections (CFCs) in your local area, (http://www.wiu.edu/ProviderConnections/links/CFCList.html) or refer the family to pediatric therapy clinics. I offer a free 30-minute developmental consultation at the (www.cptwc.com). For more information, please contact nat@cptwc.com.
By Miss Anna Rae
Birdhouse Montessori is an in-home school for infants and toddlers that is influenced by Montessori and RIE philosophies and materials. We are located on the cusp of the Albany Park and Ravenswood neighborhoods. We officially started our child minding adventure in April of 2015. Birdhouse Montessori has a maximum classroom of four children led by Anna Rae Gilbert who has ten years experience teaching in Montessori, public, charter, non-profit and private classrooms. With an MFA in Interdisciplinary Fine Art, Miss Anna provides a comfortable and beautiful space for children where everything is at their level, physically, to promote independence and autonomy.
The environment is prepared to cater to their needs for discovery and care of themselves. The main room used is filled with natural light, child-sized furniture, and shelves with their materials at their reach and appropriate “academic” level. The works are a mix of traditional Montessori materials, handmade materials and materials that are “Montessori inspired.” The Montessori philosophy influences most of our materials on the shelves as well as a majority of how we observe the child develop. We like the child to use their senses with concrete materials when being introduced to an idea. The children have a large portion of the day to have uninterrupted work periods off the shelf which allows the child to cherish their discoveries. RIE integrates easily as it is seemingly a parallel to the Montessori method. We let the child develop at their own pace, express their emotions (even if they aren’t yet verbal), give them the trust to lead themselves, give them our full attention, and communicate authentically. Most importantly, at Birdhouse Montessori, we provide a model of behavior. The relationship and communication with our families is constant and active in hopes that the caregiver and the family are providing consistency. With every child we are all working together to provide them with the best possible environment and care for them which starts as being an example.
The impetus to start this program, like many other in-home childcare providers was the birth of Anna’s daughter combined with her teaching experience. She felt that she had the tools and knowledge to provide an atmosphere that caters to like-minded families who also want affordable ways to raise children with a love of discovery and wonder while being in a safe and challenging environment.
We are located at Lawrence and Albany. Contact us to learn more at annaraegilbert@gmail.com.
By Melissa Johnson
The Green Bean Day School & Nursery is a family-owned, eco-friendly child care center located between the Lincoln Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. The Green Bean originated in 2009 as a home daycare and opened at our current center location in November of 2011. In the summer of 2014, we expanded and now are licensed for 107 children. We have nine classrooms in total including three infant nurseries (6 weeks to 15 months), two younger toddler rooms (15 months to 24 months), two older toddler classrooms (2 to 3.5 year olds), one preschool classroom (3 to 4.5 year olds), and one pre-k classroom (4 to 5.5 year olds). Our facility features an adjacent fenced in playground and an indoor movement studio.
The Green Bean inspired me to focus on providing what I believe is the ideal learning environment for young children; one that is positive, inclusive, individualized, nurturing, and educational.
The parents love the great community and teachers at the Green Bean. We work to establish a warm, welcoming, homelike feeling at the Green Bean where children, parents, and staff feel welcome. We offer a play-based, Reggio inspired curriculum and teachers develop lesson plans that are developmentally appropriate and focus on the individual interests of the children.
The Reggio Emilia Approach is central to our curriculum. We believe that children are competent, curious, and are naturally interested in the world around them. We view teachers as researchers, that work alongside children to ask questions, explore through hands-on learning, and to co-construct knowledge. The environment is viewed as the “third teacher,” it is intentional, thoughtful, and promotes exploration. Our classrooms are set up to mimic a calm, home-like environment, where plants and natural light are integral to every classroom. Our future vision for the Green Bean is to continue to provide high-quality care and education for children from infants to pre-k. Our focus is on providing a great child care option for parents in Chicago. Our teachers are an important part of our future vision, and we continually work to provide professional development opportunities, supportive supervision models, and a positive working environment.
We are excited to welcome you to the family. Visit our location on Elston and Fullerton. Feel free to call and learn more about us! 773-360-1941
I decided to start City Bird while I was still in graduate school for education. At that time, I just welcomed my son and faced the challenge of finding care so I could complete my studies. A home daycare sounded like the perfect fit in theory, early learning at a cozy home environment, but I was disenchanted with the options I toured. Upon speaking with other parents who were in similar situations, I decided that my talents would best be used by providing extraordinary care in a relatively unserved market. Then, City Bird Schoolhouse is born.
City Bird Schoolhouse is an art-integrated, play based home daycare located on the edge of Bucktown and Logan Square. We hold a “Group Home Daycare License”, which allows us to have twelve children enrolled (due to our backgrounds and experience) instead of the typical eight children allowed with a regular home daycare license. City Bird is run just like a center daycare would be run, but it also has the cozy qualities of a home daycare. We view our jobs as more than teachers. We are friends, story tellers, playmates, role models, care givers and your support system.
City Bird provides infant – through preschool care. Once a family becomes part of our flock, they know that the teachers are here to support them and honor each child as an individual. We take early child education very seriously, that’s why we require that all staff members hold a teaching license. Our teachers all have experience implementing creative art based lessons in the classroom. Not only do we have experience working with children in the classroom, we’ve also been private nannies, camp counselors, and parents!
Our biggest mission is to provide a level of care for children that is unsurpassed. It’s extremely important to us that the families we work with know that their child is loved, cared for, and having a great time with their friends. The teachers at City Bird are responsible for lesson planning and curriculum development. We separate our children into three “classes” so that the children are paired with others who are developing the same emotional and physical skills. Each teacher has their own group of children and is responsible for their daily routines and communicating with their parents. This allows us to ensure that the needs of each child are being met, and each child is working on age appropriate goals and milestones.
Parents love City Bird’s individual approach to each child. We believe that every child is unique and should be taught and cared for as such. Parents are very comforted to know that the three teachers at City Bird are dear friends who spend a whole lot of their free time outside of work, together. We truly respect each other as teachers and as friends. As the role models of City Bird, we believe that our close friendship and ability to work so well together inspires the children. City Bird started out as just a small idea. We are proud that it has grown to change the lives of every family we work with.
Come take a tour at our nest near Fullerton and Western. For more information feel free to email me at sarah@citybirdschoolhouse.com. We are excited to meet your little bird.
By Ms. T (Edwina Tolbert)
Kids Network Academy is located in Logan Square with an unique focus on diversity and cultural responsiveness. We boast a diverse child population representing many different cultural groups. Our young scholars and parents, regardless of their cultural status, feel respected in our school. We ensure that every child feels accepted, loved and cared for. We aim to ensure that every child learns, inherits, and respects diverse world cultural and familial belonging within our school climate.
I am Edwina Tolbert, M.Ed (Ms. T), a Professor of Early Childhood Education and an Infant/Toddler Specialist with over 20 years of experience in early childhood education and Head Start Administration. I am passionate to lead implementation of a learning approach which encompasses a natural aspect of children at play and environmental learning. We strives in assisting parents nurturing their children intellectually, emotionally, and socially. We do this by providing a warm, caring environment with hands-on, active developmentally- and age-appropriate learning experiences for young children. We take pride in honoring all who enter our school community and teach not only our curriculum, but include the teaching of the impact of Chicago Public Schools, private schools, and Catholic schools.
At KNA, we are dedicated to help all types of learners to thrive. We have adopted and implemented literacy learning strategies so all of our young scholars are engaged in reading, writing, processing, and representing literary concepts. Strategies such as read-aloud that include explanations of targeted vocabulary can support word learning, presenting vocabulary thematically, interactive storybook reading, the use of classroom libraries, “pretend” reading and writing games, and other interactive experiences with language and print through poems, nursery rhymes and songs are continuously incorporated into our learning program and school plan.
Beyond academic learning, we offer a variety of extracurricular programs. These include Spanish classes daily, baby yoga and fitness for kids, Sign Language and potty training. Our young scholars thoroughly enjoy Music, Visual Art, Dance and Drama. They take pride in their skill development in all strands. Additionally, we attend monthly field trips and often enjoy outdoor learning.
Our young scholars are provided an opportunity to explore, grow and develop in a peaceful, diverse, and nurturing environment. Do you have a little world scholar in training? Come check us out at 2930 N. Campbell Ave. Chicago, IL. 60618 or contact us at 773-539-KIDS (5437) or at Kidsndaycare@yahoo.com.
By Hannah Mazzie
The Nook Daycare is an individualized learning experience where children, parents, and teachers grow together to instill children with a love of learning. We use a play-based curriculum with splashes of Reggio Emilia and focus our lesson plans around the children’s interests and needs. Our unique school allows us to focus on purely infants and toddlers. Watching their developmental leaps and helping them accomplish them is the reason we are here. We believe childhood is a time for exploring, creating, discovering one’s self, and meeting the world through many hands on experiences. It is a time for blossoming and should be cherished. We respect parents as the most significant providers of care and nurturance and we are pleased to be an extension of the parents.
Play is essential and it is the way young children learn. With our low student to teacher ratios, our program can be as individualized as possible. The children will refine their social-emotional, language, cognition, gross and fine motor skills here at The Nook. Since we have children from 6 weeks to 3 years of age, this is a huge age for sensory play; hearing, tasting, touching, seeing, and smelling are used daily to help children better understand the world around them.
We keep our little explorers fueled with homemade meals. We serve all organic food across the board and cook everything in house. Our talented cook on staff also makes all of our organic baby food. We do all of our shopping at Whole Foods and our cook plans the menu weekly. We are able to be creative with the food that we serve, providing a large variety of tastes and textures while also providing fresh and healthy meals.
Our teachers are carefully selected based on their education, their relevant experience with children of this age group, and overall personality. This is not just a job to our teachers; this is their career and true passion. We love these kids as if they are our own and coming into work with them everyday is something that we all truly look forward to. Seeing first steps, hearing first words, seeing a child accomplish something they have been working towards makes everything worth it. Parents tell me all the time that when they pull up to The Nook in the morning, their child starts kicking in their car seats with excitement! They are so excited to come to school to see all their friends and teachers and are ready to learn and play! Parents also tell me how much our older kiddos talk about all their teachers at home and even know all their friends names. The social aspect of daycare in general is vastly important to the overall child’s wellbeing and growth. We teach not only academic skills but also life skills: How to deal with problems, how to wait for a turn, how to encourage one another, how to identify not only their own feelings but also the feelings of others, and many, many more. These are skills that we use in everyday life and are instilled in our children here at The Nook from day one.
Our infant program is completely individualized as to how you care for your baby at home. We work extremely close with families to establish a strong trust with their child, our teachers, and parents to ensure that each child is getting exactly what they need. One of our main goals here at The Nook is to see our school as more of a partnership with parents, where both parties share the same goals and expectations to raise a well-rounded child. Every moment of our day with our babies is an opportunity for learning. We tackle motor skills, help each child realize the power of language through books, songs, finger plays, and through positive continuous interaction. We get to know each child exceptionally well and are able to easily identify both verbal and nonverbal messages each child is sending. Our infant program holds both aspects of being loving and nurturing as well as staying developmentally appropriate to be academically challenging.
Our toddler program is designed for the children to explore on a very physical level. We here at The Nook realize that children learn more by doing, rather than being told. Our toddlers are working on becoming autonomous and the teachers respect this and allow the children to be responsible in making their own choices. Expectations for behavior are developmentally appropriate and allow the child to be challenged yet feel the support from their teachers. Our environment allows the children to choose activities and teachers respect their need for ample time to use and reuse learning tools. This fosters competence within the children. We use art as a huge tool for interactive learning and as window for creativity. Sometimes art projects don’t go exactly as planned and you catch a child using something differently than intended. It’s truly a beautiful thing when the children teach us something new and to see how his or her mind works differently or perceives an idea in a new way. We treat each child as completely their own person with different needs, personalities, and feelings and respect each child as such.
We are one of the very few places in Chicago offer drop-in care when short-term space is available, powered with our carefully designed care program and technology.
With our outpouring parent happiness, successful children, and a family of teachers, we are able to expand our Bucktown location and are currently opening up 2 more locations right alongside. We are currently opening a small center right next to our current one and nick-naming it our “Baby Nook”, which will be able to provide care for 12 additional infants! We are also opening a larger center down the block, which will have children from 6 weeks through Preschool! We are so excited and can’t wait to grow our Nook Family!
Come to see us at 2151 W Armitage Ave. Contact us at (872) 802-3833 or h.mazzie@nookdaycare.com. We look forward to knowing you and your precious little ones.
By Emily Pinas
Imagination Children’s Academy‘s approach to Arts in Education is modeled after the incredible work being done in primary and secondary schools by the Kennedy Center’s Artsedge. We understand the importance of creative experiences in early childhood and believe there is no better way to foster creativity than through the arts. Every week, children in each of our classrooms are exposed to the arts through Arts Curriculum, Arts-Enhanced Curriculum, and Arts-Integrated Curriculum. At Imagination Children’s Academy, we believe that an appreciation and love of the arts is just as important as developing early foundational skills in music, drama, dance, and the fine arts. That is why we are dedicated to introducing children to each of the art forms at its highest level in classes taught by teachers with extensive backgrounds in the arts.
I am passionate about bring art integrated approach to the families at Imagination Children’s Academy. Prior to dedicating myself full time to teaching, I performed professionally both here in Chicago as well as in New York and earned a Bachelors of Music in Musical Theatre from New York University. I moved back home to Chicago in 2012 and enrolled at the Erikson Institute to pursue a M.S. in Child Development with a Specialization in Infancy and Program Administration and began working as a Teaching Artist for Chicago Children’s Theatre. I was thrilled when fellow Erikson Alum and Imagination Children Academy’s Director, Heather Taylor, approached me about joining the ICA Team as their Arts Director. Understanding the importance of both the arts and early childhood education, the opportunity to be in on the ground floor of creating an arts integrated approach to early learning was one that I simply couldn’t pass up. I am excited to be able to use my experience as a performer and knowledge of early childhood to present the performing arts to young children in dynamic new ways that are both fun and developmentally appropriate.
At Imagination Children’s Academy, we utilized an emergent, project based curriculum. Each of our units last several weeks and are based around the interests of the children in the classroom. We focus on things in the children’s environment that are of interest to them and give them ample time for exploration and discovery. In doing so, we are able to develop lesson plans that are both engaging and rich in opportunities for early math, literacy, fine motor, gross motor, and social emotional development. This approach to education, like the arts, is at its foundation, experiential making the integration of arts into early learning a natural fit.
The arts experiences for infants entering into our program are as rich as full as they are for the children in the rest of our classrooms. Several times each week, children in the infant room have music time with our Arts Director who sings songs from a variety of musical genres including Broadway, Pop, Rock, and Country. Children are encouraged to play along during music time with infant friendly musical instruments and props. The fine arts are also used to create early sensory experiences. Art materials such as nontoxic finger paints are often used to create fun pictures for parents to take home while providing our infants with the opportunity to get messy and explore the feeling of paint between their fingers or toes.
Let your precious little ones’ imagination flourish. Come see us today at 1144 West Madison Street Chicago, Illinois 60607, call us at 773.739.5437, or email us at info@imaginationca.com