I’ll never forget the feeling of leaving Giuliana at daycare for the first time. My business was almost a year old, as was she, and I needed help taking care of her while I was away on shoots. My dear friend Raquel, a BFF since our days at Pilgrim High School together, was a daycare provider in our area. I didn’t want to leave Giuliana with anyone, but Raquel, I knew I could trust. I remembered our days in high school when she would talk endlessly about the children she babysat and the activities that she dreamed up. I’ve truly never met someone with a greater love of children and teaching. I knew Giuliana would be in good hands. In fact, I left that first day thinking she’d be in even better hands learning with Raquel then home with me! I was right. Giuliana loved her days spent with “Miss Raquel”. She developed an early love for school, reading, and learning that she carries with her to this day. When you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she still replies, “A teacher, like Miss Raquel.”
Fast forward 4 years and Raquel just opened a beautiful new child care center in Warwick Neck called The Learning Garden. I am so proud of the work she has done (with the help of her amazing family and fiance) that I had to stop by for a visit to take a few photos. The building the Learning Garden now calls home was once a general store that had been neglected for years, becoming an eyesore in the area. Raquel and her family worked for months, night by night, restoring its beauty and creating an amazing home-like environment for kids. I was floored when I walked in. It was light, warm, and welcoming! Talk about Pinterest heaven! No detail was left alone. There were glitter and chalkboard walls, DIY cubbies and play centers, paper butterflies and hand painted murals adorning the walls and shelves filled with colorful books and toys. Even the side of the refrigerator displayed an inspired quote with the tiny little hand prints of a passerby streaking through. Every inch was created with the happiness of children at heart and the goal of learning through play. The large playground and yard outside (which is over 3x the required size) was a childhood dream-come-true with fruit trees, a pumpkin patch, and a vegetable garden, all with a view of the cove. I wanted to stay and play! Seeing the beauty of the Learning Garden made me so proud of my friend for following her dreams and building an amazing small business from the ground up. I left inspired by how hard they all worked together to contribute something so special to our community and its smallest members… our children!
Here is a little sneak peek of my visit to The Learning Garden. You can learn more about them on their website: www.thelearninggardenri.com. If you are looking for local childcare for your children, I can’t recommend them highly enough! ~ Heidi
