Maribel Peña opened a loving new daycare in Milford MA. Maribel started working with children in 1992 as a teaching assistant, and then went to school to earn a teaching certificate. She then taught at a daycare and preschool. It was stressful to go back and forth from Milford to Boston and so with her many years of experience working with children, she realized she could give children high quality care on her own for kids in the area. There weren’t many options in the area at the time and so she opened her own family child care program in 2014.
Maribel’s bilingual program is accepting new enrollments!
She has an extreme passion for working with kids and says that she “loves being with them all the time, learning from them and them learning from me.” It’s important to Maribel to give all the children a good education. “I am not just a babysitter,” she says. She wants to ensure that the kids are learning the social, emotional, and cognitive skills that they need in order to be prepared for kindergarten. She feels she has a responsibility to give the children an opportunity to be successful every day and to learn as much as possible while under her care. She understands the need to build confidence and self-esteem so that the children will transition well to the larger environment of school.
Her favorite activity is arts and crafts. But she also created a binder for toddlers to learn different focus areas such as colors, letters, math. The kids love this tool for learning so much that they seek it out. “If they’re waiting for a parent to arrive, they’ll ask to do the work in the binder while they wait!” Maribel says.
The program is unique, too, in that it is a bilingual curriculum in both English and Spanish to set them up for success in later ventures in life. Maribel values knowing different languages and her professional background teaching is with Spanish-speaking schools.
The bottom floor of the house is entirely devoted to the program. The children have their own bathroom, physical exercise area, and their own cubbies for hats and coats. There are two different rooms for types of activities. One room is for blocks, music, and dramatic play, while the other that is strictly for writing, arts and crafts, computer, and circle reading time. Though Maribel is conscious of the need to keep technology to a minimum.
One of Maribel’s most memorable experiences while working with children was when she had an autistic child who had trouble with various aspects of daily life, from speaking to eating with utensils, come into her care. Over the course of his time with her, he learned how to go to the bathroom on his own, eat with utensils, and talk very well. She was so thrilled that he left her program with a lot of valuable skills to set him up for success in school and beyond.
“NeighborSchools has a ton of resources and support and I’m very grateful for all of it!” Maribel says. She’s excited to be launching efforts with NeighborSchools to spread the word about the high quality daycare that she is providing in Milford MA.
Under Massachusetts law, Tiny Humans Family Daycare has been open as a licensed Family Child Care through Massachusetts’ Development of Early Education and Care (EEC) since 2014. The EEC mandates strict licensing requirements, which include background checks, home inspections, and safety trainings and certifications. By partnering with NeighborSchools, Maribel will continue to receive expert advice in marketing and operating her business.
Maribel is open for new enrollments and can care for 8 children at a time! Get your application in soon as not to miss out on this unique program’s availability.
Click here to learn more!
