Tips straight from the source

By Andrea Busche

We all want the best for our children. Most parents gladly invest a significant chunk of their income on things like nutritious food and warm clothing for their little ones, even occasionally splurging on a new game or toy.

But another vital aspect to your child’s development is their daily care. There are many important facets to quality child care, including interactions between staff and children; welleducated employees; a focus on learning; and even healthy meals. With so much to think about, where does a new parent start?

We recently visited with Stacy Pohjola, director and owner of Laugh & Learn Childcare Center, with two locations in Cloquet and Hermantown. Pohjola said she knows what parents should look for when it comes to quality care for their children. She is also wellversed in several useful resources, where parents can go to “do their homework.”

Education

Pohjola herself has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, with a minor in early childhood education. Prior to opening her business, she taught 4-year-old kindergarten in Superior, and worked as the director of two child care centers. She also has three children of her own.

An important aspect of any child care center is an educated staff, Pohjola explained. At a minimum, employees should have a baseline knowledge on issues related to children’s growth and development. Laugh & Learn accepts children from 6 weeks old to age 12, a large span requiring a wide range of knowledge and experience.

“We have 14 employees in Hermantown and 14 in Cloquet,” Pohjola said. “All of our staff have different roles. Each classroom has its own lead teacher. There are also assistant teachers and aides. Each site also has an assistant director. These roles depend on the employee’s education level.”

Laugh & Learn Child care Center considers itself a school.

Stacy Pohjola, director and owner of Laugh & Learn Childcare Centers in Hermantown and Cloquet, encourages new parents to visit potential child care facilities to ““see staff interacting with the children, kids having fun, and they should just get a good feeling about the place.”

As such, the staff create daily schedules, lesson plans, individual assessments, early childhood screenings and all of the lead teachers have completed a minimum of 50 hours of training on a variety of topics.

Laugh & Learn prides itself on encouraging the children’s imaginations, and keeps the use of technology, such as television and tablets, to a minimum. Here, the children enjoy outdoor play time, art, reading and music. They also learn subjects such as math and science. Parents should avoid facilities that plunk children down in front of devices for hours at a time.

Laugh & Learn is also a participant in the voluntary Parent Aware program, and maintains a four-star rating. To maintain this accreditation, the facility goes above and beyond the basic standards of child care. More information, along with a comprehensive list of Parent Aware-qualified facilities, can be found at parentaware.org.

Health, safety, and technology

Maintaining a safe, healthy environment for children is a top priority for a quality child care facility. This includes quality food, tracking the children’s health and wellness, and stringent sanitation procedures, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For instance, Laugh & Learn utilizes an app called Brightwheel. This handy tool offers much for the busy parent.

“We use Brightwheel to send pictures, videos and messages,” Pohjola said. “And for the younger kids, we log what they ate, how much they ate, and even their potty breaks and nap schedules.”

Laugh & Learn’s meals are catered daily by Chickadee Catering, ensuring a healthy breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks for the children.

COVID-19

During the pandemic, Laugh & Learn has increased their cleaning, sanitizing and hand-washing protocols for children and staff. Additionally, they currently aren’t allowing parents and caregivers inside the building for drop-offs and pickups. While this choice was voluntary, it was difficult.

“That was a really hard decision for me to make, but I was worried about the COVID exposure rates,” Pohjola said.

Taking this extra step has required additional staffing to unpack the kids at the start of the day, and help prepare them to go home. But for Pohjola, it was worth the investment. Laugh & Learn staff also conduct daily visual checks of each child, along with a quick conversation, to make sure everyone is healthy and well.

But the ultimate health of the facility’s population rests on parents’ shoulders.

“We ask parents to screen their kids at home, and keep them home when they are sick,” Pohjola said.

Another unique service related to COVID-19 is that Laugh & Learn will help school-aged children with distance learning. Their hours of operation are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. They remain open on snow days, too.

Tips and resources

Pohjola offered several concise tips for helping a new parent begin the process of selecting a child care facility. The first is to simply visit.

“Parents will want to take a tour,” she said. “They should see staff interacting with the children, kids having fun, and they should just get a good feeling about the place.”

Pohjola recommends a few websites for locating a quality child care facility, including Parent Aware, Childcare Aware, and a Facebook group called Childcare Providers and Resources of the Northland. The latter is a resource for both parents and providers, where they can share knowledge and information. Pohjola stated that word-of-mouth, such as asking friends, relatives and colleagues for advice on a quality facility, also never hurts.

A few tears are OK

Even if a parent does all of his or her research, and ultimately locates a great placement for their child, a few tears on day one are normal; perhaps even expected.

“Some of the kids cry on their first day,” Pohjola said. “I tell parents not to hang around. If you’re nervous, they can sense it. Just go ahead and leave, and we’ll make sure your child is having a great time — usually within about an hour.” D Andrea Busche is a Duluth freelance writer.