My First Place Daycare

I sent my 1-​year old daughter here after I received a recommendation from a co-​worker, and I couldn’t be happier. First, the owner Maria and her staff are loving, thoughtful, and very responsive to my questions/​needs. Each day they would share specific stories about my child, and I felt that they really did pay attention to her and really knew and loved her as an individual. Second, the space is clean, well-​decorated, and unique for a daycare in an urban environment. MFP has a garden in the backyard so the children can learn, hands-​on, about nature. Even better, the vegetables that they grow in the garden are then used to feed the children! The outdoor common space, which was always clean, was well stocked with different kinds of toys and books, and my daughter would constantly bring home new kinds of art projects that she proudly showed me.

For our family «My First Place Daycare» was so much more than a daycare; it was like a second home for our son, J.
I was a stay-​at-​home mom until Baby J was 1 year old and that’s when we found Maria. It was a major transition for me because while J was under my care I knew he got the best of everything. I was doubtful that we’d ever find a place that would truly respect his individual needs but we found just that at «My First Place.»
Maria and her staff are highly educated in contemporary child development studies; and we really saw eye to eye as far as encouraging a child’s self esteem.
She keeps her age-​group/​class-​size small so that the children get the attention they deserve. The staff are detail oriented and they are in tune with the children’s ups and downs. They kept me up to date with the small things that are so important to new parents: what he preferred to eat, how he scraped his knee, any incidents with other children, even what J said about his dreams/​nightmares or anything that bothered him.
Yummy, nutritious, and organic lunches were prepared fresh daily. Maria has a beautifully decorated, clean home; an organized classroom; lots of space in her back yard; plus a vibrant vegetable garden which my son especially enjoyed.
Her advice and guidance were also crucial to me as a new parent. We worked as a team to accomplish potty training and she also coached me through my son’s temper tantrum phase.
Daily routine also benefited my son greatly. When we first enrolled, J’s father and I had just split up. Maria provided the structure and secure environment my son needed while we adjusted to living in two homes. We finally hit a rhythm in co-​parenting and much of it is due to her stability.
If Maria educated kids until the 12^th grade I’d keep my son here until college but alas, our time has come to move to pre-​school. I’d recommend her daycare to any parent; it was excellent and worth every penny.

Our son has been with Maria and her daycare at My First Place Daycare for 2 years now. Yesterday was his last day. We love Maria and her staff. They treated him like their own children. He loved going to the daycare and every morning ask to go when he wakes up. We’ve seen our son grow up from a baby to now a thriving toddler. Certainly, I think his languages skills have benefited tremendously from the teaching of Maria and her staff. I can see weekly improvements in his vocabulary! We felt vey safe to have Aaron be at My First Place, it gives us great piece of mind. He enjoys the organic food carefully and mindfully prepared for all the kids at the daycare (we really feel like our son is treated like one of Maria’s own kids). Our son is now 2 years and 9 month, and it’s sadly time for him to go to preschool where he will meet older kids. But we hope our son still has a chance to have play dates with kids at My first place, and Maria’s own son (they have become really good friends :). We just had a newborn girl too, and hopefully she can attend My First Place soon! We highly recommend it, it is truly a special place.

I can’t say enough great things about this daycare and Maria, it’s owner. She took care of my older daughter at the daycare she used to manage, and she improved the facility, care, and started providing all organic food. My children received care at her apartment when she was in transition from the old daycare to her own rather than continue going to the old daycare after she left.
She is now located in a nice little house and cares for my younger daughter on a regular, weekly basis, and I feel so lucky to have known about her. She continues to provide all snacks and lunch which is all organic, home cooked food or snacks. She landscaped the entire property with bee free flowers, a vegetable garden and lovely vines on the perimeter. The entire place is clean, neat and organized.
She’s set things up so that her new-​born son will be integrated in with the other kids once he’s received his first set of shots, which means our kids are being treated as she’d treat her own, which is always how I’ve felt she’s treated my children anyhow :-)
Maria’s gone over and above on so many levels, from inviting us moms to look at houses with her and her husband when they were looking for a place for their daycare to sending us the resume of new employees so we knew something about their background before we even met them.
Thank you, Maria, for providing a loving, nurturing environment for my children!

I can’t say enough good things about Maria (Owner) and My First Place Daycare. My son who is now 21 months old, has been with Maria since he was five months old and I can’t imagine him with any other person or at any other place.
Nothing is harder than leaving your 5 month old infant with a stranger. When my husband and I searched for a daycare, we looked at at least 10 daycares. Most were serviceable and most the providers/​owners said the right things but we were still hesitant to commit. Then we met Maria at the daycare she used to manage. After talking to Maria and observing how the daycare was run, we immediately knew we found our daycare. When Maria decided to open her own daycare, my husband and I didn’t have a discussion of whether or not we should take our son out of the current daycare because it was a no brainer that our son would go wherever Maria went. I can go on and on talking about Maria but let me talk about her new daycare.

My First Place Daycare doesn’t feel like a daycare to us or our son, it feels like a home away from home. The vibe of the daycare is not like other daycares. You don’t feel like your child is just a number or that the staff is simply going through the motions. You truly feel the love and genuine interaction and care with all the children. Nothing makes you feel more comfortable and at ease than when your child smiles and is excited every time you drop him off to daycare. To top things off, my son speaks a little Portuguese and Spanish now, everything that the kids eat is organic, the staff are great, and the daycare is immaculate. We feel so lucky and blessed to have found Maria and her daycare.