HOME AWAY FROM HOME – St. Joachim’s Extended Daycare
Saying Good-Bye For The Summer
Costa Mesa, June 16, 2009 - Summer is here and school is over! St Joachim Parish School of Costa Mesa is getting ready for the long summer break. For many children this means not only saying good bye to their school mates but also their friends at St. Joachim Extended Daycare.
St. Joachim’s Extended Daycare is not an ordinary daycare. It is a hidden treasure. Located behind the official school building, safely away from the street, it even features a little garden and playground. Here the children spend their afternoons planting their own vegetable and fruits and learn also how to take care of them. They organize and plan tea parties, put on their own theater plays and create even the props for it. This all with the help of engaging Debbie Barber, an early childhood teacher for 30 years and St. Joachim’s Daycare director. Together with her team she is restlessly thinking of new ideas to capture the imagination and attention of the children in her care: “The children love to be trusted with responsibility and we take them seriously and hear their wishes.”
Just last week the daycare group of Pre-Kindergarteners and Kindergarteners put on the play “The Cat In The Hat”. The idea for the play was born after Ms. Debbie had read the book to the children during library time, an essential daily part of the afternoon daycare curriculum. The kids urged her afterwards to help them make a play out of it and Ms. Debbie, also a former producer of children’s musicals, didn’t need much convincing. She started right away planning the play and making the props together with “her” kids, as she fondly calls them. The result was amazingly engaged young children playing their parts with shiny eyes. “It surprises me always again and again to see what children, even that young of age, can produce if they are being allowed to be seriously involved in the whole process.” And taking a short glance at her kids happily at play, she continues, “They feel that they can have an impact on the end result and love to take on responsibility. It’s an incredible booster for their self esteem. “
