Open Minds Early Learning Center

A Family Daycare That Feels Like Family

It’s no secret that childcare these days can get really expensive. New parents are often told they can expect to pay as much as their monthly mortgage payment – or more! As a mom of two now school-age children, I can vividly remember going back and forth between being outright flabbergasted at childcare costs and not wanting to sacrifice the care and education of my babies.

When it comes to these sensitive areas in our lives, one of the most valuable resources we have is other people’s experiences, and I will tell any and everyone how great of an experience my family had with Open Minds Early Learning Center, formerly Little Angels Learning.

After my first child was born, I was lucky to have had enough leave that I didn’t have to go back to work immediately, but I could neither stay out much longer nor become a stay-at-home mom. My brother-in-law kept my daughter for a few months, but that wasn’t a long-term solution either. So I asked a few friends who had children not much older than mine where they were taking their kids, and when two of them told me about the same place, I knew where to start.

First, I called the owner, Ms. Ordette, and set up a time to meet with her. My husband and I stopped by one evening with our daughter who was maybe four months old at the time, and let me tell you, she hit it off with Ms. Ordette immediately! That was important to us because we expected things like state licensure, CPR certification, and some sort of curriculum or learning methods, but our child was a baby, and we needed to know she’d be well cared for, especially in a small setting with older children.

Now, while peace of mind about your child’s safety and care is priceless, money doesn’t grow on trees, at least, not in our backyard. So we were ecstatic to discover how affordable Little Angels would be considering the cost of living in the DC area and the cost of other childcare options. And just as importantly, our daughter immediately took to Ms. Ordette!

At five months old, our daughter was one of the youngest kids when she started, which meant that she was watching and often learning alongside two, three, and four year olds at a time when she was literally primed to soak up information. I remembered Ms. Ordette telling me that all of her graduates were more than ready for kindergarten and thinking that it was just talk, just something that sounded good so she’d get my business. When my daughter was increasingly hitting milestones early, I figured she was just smart; both of her parents were teachers, after all, one of them a math teacher. But when she was reading early, I mean really reading, I knew Ms. Ordette hadn’t just been feeding me a line. Whenever people asked me how I taught her to read so soon, I had to tell them that I couldn’t take credit for it. I wasn’t reading to her every night or practicing foundational reading skills, and I’d long since abandoned my daily quizzing of letter sounds and spelling basic words – dog, cat, boy, etc. – on the way to and from school. (She definitely got plenty of practice reading once her baby sister was born though! 🙃)

Soon, the youngest one became the oldest one; it was her turn to be “more than ready for kindergarten” and graduate from preschool. I have to admit that I was nervous about her leaving not just pretty much the only learning environment she’d ever known, but one so small (less than 10 children, including her and her sister) that was both similar to Montessori and exposed her to advanced skills early.

I also have to admit that when our second daughter graduated, I was a little sad. We’d seen Ms. Ordette almost every day for seven years. We’d celebrated birthdays and holidays with Ms. Ordette, her family, and the families of the other children for seven years. We’d gone to the zoo and the swimming pool and children’s museums with them for seven years. This had literally been our family. We’d kept Ms. Ordette updated on how our oldest was faring in elementary school, but now, with our youngest headed to kindergarten, our interaction would be drastically reduced. We keep in touch, sending photos and scheduling the occational FaceTime, and recent grads are able to go back and participate in some of the celebrations, events, and even outings sometimes, but it’s akin to going off to college and only coming home for the holidays.

All that to say that I am really grateful to Ms. Ordette and Little Angels Learning for not just taking care of and educating my little angels, but really helping my husband and me raise them. The name may have changed, but I have no doubt that the educational environment has not. The same love and care that my children received is still there. And it’s not going anywhere.

For more information about Open Minds Early Learning Center, you can visit their web page, https://openmindselc.com, check them out on Facebook, or email openmindselc@gmail.com.