My child attends Small Wonders Child Care Center located at the end of Northern State (turns into 347) at the NYS Office Building (where DMV is located). The town is Hauppauge. It is very convenient to the LIE service road (north side).
My child has been attending there for 3 years (since she was an infant) and I absolutely love it and cant say enough about the staff and its ciriculum. I was VERY nervous about going back to work and was skeptical at putting my daugher into daycare to begin with and they made me right at home there. Their all day open door policy meant I can visit her every 5 minutes if I wanted to (unannounced) and they never made me feel bad or awkward about my apprehension.
After a while I gained comfort, especially after making "sneak peeks" in the window after leaving the room. She did wonderfully and enjoyed hanging out with the other kids....and then she grew and grew and still has these friends today.
They give me daily reports of the happenings, issues (if any), etc. so I know what she did, what she ate, what she read, how long she napped, etc. which is so reassuring to know they are so attentive to my child as an individual.
They not only do a lot of free play, crafts, etc. but also do advanced things like (simple) sign lanugage, foreign language (again, very simple so it is approprite for her age). Recently (she is 3 now), they made a "heathful" pizza and made mashed potatoes from scratch.
Overall, I think it the "home-y" type atmosphere that I love there. I truly feel my child belongs and is constantly made 'part of the group' there.
The fact that parents are constantly visiting (its located inside an office building whose employees bring their kids there) gives me even an extra assurance as a working parent (as opposed to a stand alone center where no parents find it practical to "spot-visit"). Also, since it is a governmental building, they have a full security guard staff watching the grounds, etc. and the builing is under strict maintenance standards.
It is open to the public, and, in my opinion, its rates are reasonable for me.
360-0472 is their #.
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