Studies have found a strong correlation between having children enrolled in a strong preschool program and their level of social skills as well as their academic development. And strong academic program is just what the East Hampton Day Care Learning Center is striving to provide for.
To help enhance their efforts, the Learning Center hosted their Spring Benefit to celebrate art in early education was on Saturday June 8, at the home of Judy and Norbert Weissberg.
Judy Weissberg, an East Hampton resident and physiologist trained at the Boston Children’s Hospital and believes that best way to spend your time and your money is with children.
“Children are our future,” Mrs. Weissberg noted.
A friend of Weissberg, who was a co-chair on the board and who knew about her back round, introduced her to the program and invited her down to the center to see what the programs was like.
She explained, “Seeing the children and the activities, it is very compelling.”
The center accepts children from 18 months old up through the age of five, or pre-k. Though it is far from just a day care. The programs have a researched based curriculum that is designed to help children achieve development milestones in early literacy, problem solving and personal growth. The school offers children excellent outlets for their creativity in artwork, music and physical activity.
“We are trying to move it into what’s called a learning center because we really are. Our mission is to prepare children for academic learning,” Weissberg said. “So it is much more than day care.”
And according to parents, the Center is achieving their goals and even beyond, touching the lives of the families who’s kids attend.
Adriana Sviedrys, mother of Chloe Voluck, a graduate of the center, has been nothing but impressed by the school and its’ teachers. Their caring and compassion for the students, as well the academic preparation.
“These ladies over here all of the women they nature the children. One of them is now her babysitter. They treat them (the children) as their own,” Sviedrys says. “Her babysitter actually did her hair and nails for tonight. They are like family.”
Sviedrys also feels that the center was beneficial for Chole’s academics.
“She has thrived now in kindergarten. She is ahead in her reading class. It has to help. A parent can’t do it all,” Sviedrys said, “These ladies guided her in her art work and her reading. Each ladies have a different talent. One has a beautiful singing voice and gets them motivated musically. Some others speak Spanish to them.”
To help fund the programs such as the ones Chloe was in, there was a silent auction Saturday’s event that included items such as a bike, aerial photographs, golf lessons, massages, and a purse.
Sprinkled throughout the party were reminders of why people were gathering. From the entrance of the party, through out the gardens, and all around the cocktail tables and food, children’s artwork was on display for guests. Flowers made by hand, paper bumblebees painted from the children’s imagination buzzed around the garden, and finger painted animals contained in frames could be viewed on easels.
The some 200 guests that included the staff of the center seemed to be having a great time, dancing to the live band and even treated to a performance by a former student.
This gathering had more of a family reunion feeling, rather than a fundraiser.
With children leaving with smiles on their faces, and balloons in hand, it is safe to say that the evening was a success.
For more information visit www.easthamptondaycare.org.