Mary's Little Lambs, Fort Collins

Mary's Little Lambs is a family child care provider in Fort Collins, CO run by Mary Kinney, providing play-based care for children as young as 6 weeks through 10 years old. Mary has been operating for 31 years, ever since her daughter Charissa was born and she wanted to find a way to spend more time with her. After Charissa started school, Mary realized she wanted to continue as she had fallen in love with the daycare children. Mary's philosophy is an emphasis on a low ratio of teacher to child and one-to-one relating for every child with a focus on emergent and play-based curriculum, for all children. In addition to emergent and play-based curriculum, Mary frequently takes children on field trips to learn more about the world in her Ford Expedition that has capacity for 7 children. Example field trips are trips to Fossil Creek Park, Environmental Learning Center (ELS), Rolland Moore Park, City Park, the farm at Lee Martinez Park, Butterfly Pavillon and Insect Center, fish hatchery, Poudre river, Discovery Center, City Park in Loveland to ride the train, and Spring Canyon Water Park. Pre-school age children will focus on Letters, Colors, Numbers - counting, Basic Math, Basic Spanish, Patterns, Music, Reading, and Science emergent projects. Mary has a large 1/4 acre backyard, completely fenced in, that has trees, grass, a sky fort, sandbox, and swing set. The front yard has a basketball hoop and plenty of space for ride-on toys. Indoors children have access to a computer and iPad for educational purposes, books, and toys. Mary is currently in the process of getting certified for Nature Explore certification: Children in Mary's care tend to form long-term bonds. Many families have enrolled siblings, resulting in a 7-10 year stretch of care. Feel free to contact Mary for an interview and tour.