Landon, age 3, and his one-year-old sister Hollie both attend Rainbows’ Early Education and Child Care Center full time Monday through Friday. Their parents, Ben and Jamie, are very grateful that Landon and Hollie have been able to continue child care at Rainbows during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Ben and I both continued to work full time, and we were concerned about the potential impacts and challenges we’d face if child care wasn’t going to be an option,” said Jamie. “Luckily, Rainbows’ care was deemed essential, and we were able to maintain Landon and Hollie’s schedule with them attending each day.”
“It’s not lost on us that so many families across the nation were impacted by the loss of child care while still trying to manage day to day events, so we feel extremely lucky and grateful that Rainbows remained a safe and consistent part of our kids’ day,”” said Jamie.
Landon is now in a Pre-K classroom with children ages 3-5 years old. “With Landon being older, we’ve been able to see significant progress through the years he’s been at Rainbows,” said Jamie. “We attribute a lot of his developmental and social progress to what he learns from Rainbows. He does very well with consistency and schedule, and we notice he’s able to hold his attention from activity to activity because of the structure of the classes.”
“From an early age, I love how Rainbows enforces respect and “nice hands” with friends and classmates,” said Jamie. “We’ve seen so much progress in his learning how to socialize and play with other children, manners, following rules, structure, communication skills, learning empathy for others and have seen so many developments with his education.”
Robin Carmichael, Landon’s lead teacher in Room 7, said, “Working with Landon is what makes me get up in the morning every day to come to work. He’s such a thoughtful, kind friend in my classroom. He definitely isn’t shy and loves telling stories to make us all laugh. One of my favorite things Landon does is sing “The Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book. Landon loves being the class gardener and helps out with the community garden with Ms. Stefanie. We love having Landon and Hollie at Rainbows.”
Landon’s sister Hollie just transitioned from the Infant Room to the Toddler Room. “Little Miss Hollie is very expressive and determined for being so young,” said Stefanie Loubert, lead teacher in the Infant Room. “It’s been wonderful to see how much she’s grown since starting Rainbows at 3 months of age,” said Jamie. “I love how the staff work specifically on developmental stages with the babies; Hollie had so much practice at Rainbows as she learned how to sit up, crawl, walk, eat table foods, and start early communications. She’s come so far and I still don’t know how they get her to nap on her cot every day!”
“Rainbows has significantly impacted our lives. It’s not easy having others care for your children all day while both parents are working full time, but Rainbows gives us the confidence that our kids are well cared for, and loved,” said Jamie. “Rainbows’ staff have an amazing way with kids. They provide so many amazing services and programs to help all children with their own unique situation. They care for the kids and truly have their best interest at heart to watch them grow and learn.”
“Landon and Hollie encounter so many friendly Rainbows’ staff members each day,” said Jamie. “They interact with their classroom teachers and aides every day, but it’s also fun to see how many relationships they develop with staff outside of just their teachers. Landon doesn’t want to start his day without going down to the baby classroom to say ‘Good Morning’ and get high-fives in the air from those teachers! Every staff member is so friendly and pays special visits to the classrooms and kids each day, and I can tell by the way my kids greet the staff that there aren’t many unfamiliar faces to them – that’s very special to see.”
The family is very active and if they aren’t playing outside (walks, zoo trips, grilling, or fishing to name a few) it’s probably because they are having play dates or get-togethers with friends. “All of our family on both sides live out of town and out of state so we love when family gets to visit, or road tripping up to KC,” said Jamie. “Ben and I both are proud alumnae of our colleges (K-State and UGA), so we look forward to going to tailgates and sporting events with the kids. We love to stay active with the kids and throw in a good dance party every now and then.”
