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With the Cape Cod Parent Resource Fair rapidly approaching we will be sharing blog posts on our participating sponsors, vendors and nonprofits. You will find out more about these amazing businesses and what they offer to our community. They will be sharing their services, advice, what challenges face our community as well as upcoming events they will be having. Make sure to check out our virtual program and resource guide ahead of the event so you can plan for what you want to see! We hope to see you at the Resource Fair!
The Children's Workshop
1.) Tell us about your business/non profit and how it benefits local families?
We are a family owned and operated set of early learning centers that offer programs for children from 6 weeks up through 13 years old. We are unique to the communities we serve. We provide breakfast lunch and snack in our locations. We pride ourselves in being available to families as we provide 10 hours of care per day, and are open in inclement weather because we know many families have demanding schedules themselves. We have been on the cape for over 10 years. 2. Where is it located? We have 19 locations all over southern MA and throughout RI. Our two cape locations are in Bourne and South Dennis 3. What is your favorite part about our community? Being on cape cod is like living in a small town. We are a staple in each of the towns we provide care for, and everyone knows someone who has attend at least one of our schools. 4. How else do you get involved with the community? In South Dennis we help sponsor one of the 5k races in the summer. In Bourne we are a sponsor for the Bourne Braves, and we have also provide free story hours in the past for families to attend. 5. What are the biggest challenges facing parents in our community? I feel as though the one of the biggest challenges facing our families today is the work home balance. We pride ourselves in providing a safe, fun, and loving environment for the children of this community to go while their parents are having to work and spend time away from the home. 6. What is your favorite memory or story over the years involving you and your business? Through out my time with The Children's Workshop there have been many memories and stories the have stood out in my mind. I think for me the common theme in all of them for me would be when the child has that "light bulb" moment. When you have helped them complete the same task hundreds of times then all of a sudden they are showing you how they can complete it on their own. That is when you know the work we do as early educators is meaningful and rewarding. 7. What advice would you give parents and care givers in our community? Get involved in your child's life. Help them explore and enjoy the world around them while creating an infectious child like sense of wonder. 8. Do you have any specials, events, or anything else taking place this upcoming year that our parents should know? We provide many events throughout the year free and open to the public. Our next event is our Parent's Night Out on Tuesday Feb, 13th from 6pm to 8pm. It is a $20 donation to our foundation for all non Children's Workshop families. 
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With the Cape Cod Parent Resource Fair rapidly approaching we will be sharing blog posts on our participating sponsors, vendors and nonprofits. You will find out more about these amazing businesses and what they offer to our community. They will be sharing their services, advice, what challenges face our community as well as upcoming events they will be having. Make sure to check out our virtual program and resource guide ahead of the event so you can plan for what you want to see! We hope to see you at the Resource Fair!
Crayon College
1. Tell us about your business/non profit and how it benefits local families?
Crayon College at Bourne serves children 6 weeks through 6 years. We are open Monday through Friday from 6:30 am – 6:00 pm with open enrollment year-round. We believe that children learn and develop in a secure, loving environment. Since we are concerned with the whole child and each child as an individual, we aim to balance their development in all areas: social, emotional, physical, and intellectual while always promoting a positive atmosphere. 2. Where is it located? We are conveniently located just minutes from the Bourne rotary at 254 Shore Road in Bourne. 3. What is your favorite part about our community? Our favorite part about this community is all the resources it provides for the different types of family units in the community. We also really enjoy all the family-oriented community events that happen throughout the year, and especially the events that the Bourne for Children Council put on weekly for families as well. 4. How else do you get involved with the community? Crayon College at Bourne is heavily involved in the community and especially working directly with the Bourne For Children Council on important topics and concerns for the children of Bourne. We also work very closely with families from the military base and from the Village of Cataumet. 5. What are the biggest challenges facing parents in our community? We think the biggest challenge facing parents in the community is the lack of outside support systems for their families. Crayon College makes it our mission to provide as much support and care as possible to allow these families to feel at ease and provided for. 6. What is your favorite memory or story over the years involving you and your business? Crayon College was established in Kingston in 2004, opening the second location in Plymouth in 2007, then Bourne in 2016. Our favorite memory by far was last year when we were voted the #1 Day Care/Preschool in the 2017 Wicked Local Readers’ Choice Awards for the lower South Shore area. Our Plymouth location was awarded Regional Gold too! 7. What advice would you give parents and care givers in our community? Advice to the parents and caregivers of the community, Crayon College wants your children to be confident in their ability to manage their school environment, to solve problems, to make friends and to rely on adults who are not family members for guidance and support. Children who enter child-care at a young age tend to go off to elementary school a little more confident, independent, and eager to learn. 8. Do you have any specials, events, or anything else taking place this upcoming year that our parents should know? We do have a lot of fun and exciting things planned for the upcoming year. We will be out in the community for various things so keep a look-out for our name. Follow us on Facebook for more upcoming event details! 
With the Cape Cod Parent Resource Fair rapidly approaching we will be sharing blog posts on our participating sponsors, vendors and nonprofits. You will find out more about these amazing businesses and what they offer to our community. They will be sharing their services, advice, what challenges face our community as well as upcoming events they will be having. Make sure to check out our virtual program and resource guide ahead of the event so you can plan for what you want to see! We hope to see you at the Resource Fair!
Bridgeview Montessori School Eli in his Children's House classroom sharing his 100th Day Project.
Explore Your School Choices: Bridgeview Montessori School
Jessica Germain, Bridgeview Montessori teacher & alumni parent I started worrying about preschool pretty much at conception. Not my own, of course, but my son’s. After all, I was resigning my position as a public elementary school teacher to raise this child. And, in truth, it was my frustration with the stressful, impersonal environment in my current school that first planted the seed of desire to escape and start my own family. It made sense that I wanted things to be different for my child. I deeply wanted him to discover the wonder in the world around him and develop a passion for learning about it. As he began to emerge as a person in his own right, my resolve was strengthened. We had talked so much about inspiring “lifelong learners” in my teacher training, but every day in the classroom all I did was teach to a standardized test that seemed aimed at creating standardized human beings. How could I take this naturally curious child with a mind of his own and put him in that environment? As I began to consider preschool options for this curious child of mine, many independent preschools presented themselves as options, and friends recommended everything from Catholic education to homeschooling. I explored them all, but in the back of my mind there was my mother’s voice. When I was growing up she had always told me that a Montessori education would have been her first choice for me. My father, a traditionalist, was against the idea on principle, so I was off to the mainstream. But my husband, also a traditional person, told me that my Masters in Education qualified me as the family decision maker on this topic. Thus empowered, I forged ahead in my quest for the perfect preschool. Many schools received high recommendations from other moms. A woman I had recently met in our Sandwich Library playgroup had an older son that went to Bridgeview Montessori School in Sagamore. When she spoke about her son’s experience, I knew I had to check it out. I had visited other schools that either felt like extensions of home play or seemed like roads directed towards traditional education. When I visited Bridgeview Montessori School, I was invited to view a Children’s House classroom in action. The moment I saw it, I knew. It felt like we were coming home to a bright, peaceful, welcoming place. This place was about learning. And work. The children were spending their days joyously exploring their work as the classrooms were filled with extraordinary Montessori materials prepared meticulously by trained Montessori teachers. When we observed a classroom at Bridgeview Montessori, we saw materials that were colorful and engaging, not garish, but carefully maintained and meaningful. Each child was working industriously and seriously in a way that seemed incredible for a group of three or four year olds. My husband said skeptically, “He could never do that.” But I knew. Our son could do that. He craved that kind of purpose and his intellectual curiosity demanded that kind of direction. What wonderful things could he discover if he was surrounded by other children whose mutual curiosity was guided and encouraged by teachers. I was sold. I cancelled all future appointments to visit other schools and never looked back.  Eli at one of his many swim meets. This one at Harvard University!
More than a decade later, I still haven’t looked back. Though our now-teenage son has graduated from Bridgeview Montessori School, I can still see its benefits rippling through him every day. He retained his natural curiosity and become a middle school student who challenged himself to learn more outside of the classroom than in. In high school, I still see the ability to manage his time and workload with ease and to set his own internal expectations for excellence. At work and play, he is confident to approach new situations and tackle novel problems with innovative solutions. He learned all of that through the independence and respect afforded him in a Montessori program. We could not have made a better investment in his future than to begin his educational journey at Bridgeview Montessori School.
About the Players As for me, Jessica Germain, I never returned to teaching in the public school. I decided to pursue Montessori training instead and am currently a teacher at Bridgeview Montessori School in the Elementary I (1st - 3rd grade) program. My husband Greg Germain is the General Manager of Accu-Seal Corporation and is proud to be raising an independent, self-confident son. Greg served as President of the Bridgeview Montessori Board for three years from 2013 to 2015. Courtenay Harrington Bailey, my friend who first recommended Bridgeview Montessori, started the popular Dramafun! program in Sandwich and became the Music and Drama teacher at Bridgeview Montessori School. Courtenay and our families remain close friends to this day. Eli Germain is a student at Sturgis Public Charter School in Hyannis. In his spare time, he writes poetry, plays board games, and trains more than 23 hours per week for Cape Cod Swim Club where he holds numerous age group records and is currently ranked in the top 20 nationally for the 200 yard butterfly. His first coach at CCSC, Adrienne Fontes, was also his Fitness teacher at Bridgeview Montessori School. Eli will turn 15 this month. 
Cape Cod Child Development helps give your child a head start! Cape Cod Child Development is a great local resource for Cape Cod Parents. They offer world class child and family focused programs that nurture each child's full potential. Plus they have affordable rates helping parents keep a little extra in their pockets and help save for a rainy day. They currently serve over 3,000 families on Cape Cod with approx 240 staff and are NAEYC Accredited and EEC certified! For income eligible families, Cape Cod Child Development pre-school provides:
 Cape Cod Child Development is now enrolling for their preschool in Centerville. Cape Cod Child Development is a great local resource for Cape Cod Parents. They offer world class child and family focused programs that nurture each child's full potential. Plus they have affordable rates helping parents keep a little extra in their pockets and help save for a rainy day. They currently serve over 3,000 families on Cape Cod with approx 240 staff and are NAEYC Accredited and EEC certified! Check out this opening below.   Hello, my name is Sydney Throop. I am a community organizer for Fair Shot For All, a new nonprofit that works to create an equal playing field for everyone in Massachusetts. A few pieces of our agenda include paid family leave, debt-free college and universal public preschool. We believe everyone deserves a fair chance and the only way to get equal opportunity for all is to come together as a community and ask legislators to make a change. We are working with CIVIC, Cape and Islands Voter Issues Coalition, to initiate universal public preschool for children and families in each town on the Cape. To best understand what the preschool needs are we need your help!
Please fill out this survey and together we can make change! There will be a raffle for a prize at the end of the surveying period, so don't miss out!! Editor Note: We are currently highlighting the awesome businesses who are supporting our local moms by joining the ShopLocal club. We wanted our moms and community to get to know the owners a little better so that you can see how amazing these locals really are and how they are impacting our community for the better! Please support them! To view all ShopLocal Business interviews, please click here! Remember: SHOP LOCAL!
Name of Business: The Friendship Garden Nursery School, Inc.
Name of Owner(s): Robin Hewitt Jones, Owner & Katherine Kuusela, Director 1) How long have you lived on Cape Cod? I was born and raised on Cape Cod. 2) When and why did you start your business? In 1995 the owners of The Little Red Schoolhouse were retiring. I had worked for them for 9 years. They tried to sell the business and in June closed it. I went out into the field and did not like my prospects. I was telling my Dad this and he said “buy it”. It took just a month and the deal was made and Friendship Garden opened in September of 1995. 3) What do you LOVE most about your job? I love being on the floor with the children. I wish I could do it all day long. 4) How does your business help/impact local families? We hope good child care options help to keep young families on the Cape. 5) In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges facing Cape Cod Families? Well-paying jobs, young families leaving and substance abuse. 6) .) If you had to pick your favorite local spot on Cape Cod (not a business), where would you pick and why? I would pick the Shining Sea Bikeway. The landscape is beautiful and varied from beach, to estuary and bog, to down town. Woods Hole is such a fun destination for all ages. 7) Please offer a tip for our Mom Audience: Mom tip. Practice good communication skills, it will have a positive impact on every area of life! 8) Any other information you would like us to share? We have public play days, the first Monday each month from 9:30-10:30 AM. Members of the community may come let their child play while they view our school. There is a limit of one day per customer. Please call to schedule a date or to request more information. 508-540-6394. |
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