Business News..... 8

from Oregon_Republican_Reporter-04-08-2022

Library News

Lit tle E xplorers offers new child care options

By ALEXA ZOELLNER azoellner@shawmedia.com

The transition from watching 16 children in the comfort of her own home to overseeing 15 employees and 102 kids in a day care facility was daunting, but Jodi Heuerman met the challenge head-on.

“I’ve always wanted to open a center, something bigger, and as the need started to grow, I kind of ventured out and looked,” said Heuerman, owner and director of Little Explorers Learning Adventures.

Heuerman opened Little Explorers, a licensed child care center in Oregon, on March 7 after running a home day care for a decade. They accept children between 6 weeks and 12 years of age and, currently, 60 to 70 children are enrolled, she said.

“We just want someplace parents trust that’s safe, that’s secure, that they do learning,” she said. “We don’t want to be known as just a babysitting service. You’re going to drop your kid off and they’re going to learn something. They’ll be fed well. We have a cook on hand. We cook our meals here.”

Working with children is something she loves, and always has, said Heuerman, who has an associate’s degree in early childhood and a total of 20 years of experience in child care.

While she gets less one-on-one time playing with the children in her care than she did while in her home, Heuerman said that she still makes a point to go to the classrooms on a daily basis to check on students and teachers.

Little Explorers has six classrooms outfitted for different age groups, and a large motor room they’ve nicknamed the “Northern Illinois Weather Gym,” Heuerman said.

Each classroom has at least one “teacher-qualified” adult, per the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services requirements, she said.

“Then assistants basically just have to have a high school diploma, but we try to look for as much experience as possible,” Heuerman said. “At least some babysitting or youth group or w o r k e d i n s u m m e r p r o g r a m s o r worked in day care before.”

Located in the former First Presbyterian Church of Oregon, the building underwent a year of renovations. The process was lengthy in part because of the supply chain shortages resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Heuerman said.

“We’re in a good spot,” she said. “You have Dixon people maybe coming to Rockford, you have Oregon, Mt. Morris, even Byron. Byron is not far and has no center that I know of. So really, your centers are Dixon or Rockford.”

Little Explorers works with 4-C: Community Coordinated Child Care out of DeKalb, which offers assistance in affording child care to those who need it.

“I just want some place safe, secure [where] parents feel OK, don’t have any worries,” Heuerman said. “Something the community’s proud of, the parents are proud of or happy about.”

For more information about Little Explorers, call 815-310-5950.

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PRSRTSTD U.S.Postage PAID PermitNo.440 Sterling,IL61081 Weddings 2022/23 EDITION Alexa Zoellner/Shaw Media A caretaker at Little Explorers Learning Adventures in Oregon helps some of the children being looked after at the day care facility pick out toys. Little Explorers opened March 7.