Little Bears Child Care Center is setting the standard for child care in the Medina County area. Under the direction and ownership of Mark James since 1994, the center and their children have been receiving the benefit of Mark's degrees in music therapy, music education, and recreational therapy. Quick to admit that he doesn't have any business training, Mark's counseling and therapy background provide a stable foundation for Little Bears' high quality care. Join us as Mark explains the "Little Bears difference":

Little Bears Child Care Center is focused on providing an extremely high quality day care experience for all children and we do this by surpassing state requirements in all areas. We never allow our enrollment to be higher than eighty percent of our licensed capacity and we always have a higher teacher:child ratio than required by law. For example, today we have three teachers in the pre-school room and eighteen children. The state only requires two teachers in that room but I prefer to over staff my center so the children receive the maximum amount of attention. Simply put, each child has more room and receives more attention at Little Bears Child Care Center.

The second area where Little Bears Child Care Center differentiates itself from other centers is with our teaching staff. The state of Ohio simply requires a high school diploma followed by in-service training for child care workers but we exceed this minimum by a wide margin. Our Lead Curriculum Teachers currently average over twelve years of experience in working with children. Our Director has a four year degree in elementary education and some members of our staff hold a variety of two and four year degrees. Most of our staff have been here a long time and the turnover rate of our teachers is extremely low. Two of our teachers have been with us for over ten years which is very unusual for a day care center. Our staff is highly educated, very loyal, and extremely skilled in working with children.

All of our classes have a structured curriculum, even the babies' class. We provide them with continual sensory stimulation by holding them, singing to them, and reading to them which is why we aim for a 3:1 caregiver:baby ratio in contrast to the state's requirement of only 5:1. With a 5:1 ratio, feeding and diapering the children will consume all of the caretakers time with little left for attending to the children's developmental needs. We over staff to allow all aspects of social, physical, emotional, and intellectual growth to be addressed.

We accept children from six weeks of age until eleven years of age. Our classrooms are set up by age with two infant classrooms for those six weeks to eighteen months of age, two classrooms for toddlers who are eighteen months to three years of age, pre-schoolers are between three and five years old, and those over five years of age are in the school-age classrooms. We're open twelve and a half hours a day and we have both a three day schedule and a five day schedule. The children are provided with a breakfast snack, a full, hot lunch, and an afternoon snack prepared by our cook or they can bring their own lunch if they prefer. We have three fifteen-passenger vans at each location and we transfer the children to and from the local schools as their needs require.

Each year we hold a very elaborate summer camp program. With my degree in outdoor recreation, I've always been very interested in children playing outside and exploring the outdoors. Most children in the school-age program have been in daycare for years and if they're not stimulated, they quickly become bored and unhappy. In our summer camp program, we hold field trips almost every day. We go to Jacob's Field, NASA, the zoo, and hold cookouts at the Cuyahoga Valley Recreational Area. We bowl, roller skate, play miniature golf, and go to museums. It's good to see them get out of the building where they can see and learn about the local northeastern Ohio area.

Little Bears Child Care Center has all of the elements of a high quality child care and even has an indoor gymnasium for the children! For top quality care for your top quality child, call Little Bears today and don't forget to tell them The Brunswick, Ohio Community Advocate sent you!