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Three Little Birds Community Childcare and Preschool is a unique husband and wife run in-home family childcare program, specializing in ages 24 months through 5 years. We are located in the Crocus Hill neighborhood of St. Paul, MN.
We are open 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday.
We offer full or part time care for up to 14 children, allowing kids to benefit both from socializing and low ratios. We also offer options for before and after-school care for school-age children.
Our Mission:
The mission of Three Little Birds Community Childcare and Preschool is to provide children and families with the highest quality care that honors the wonder and imagination of childhood through creative play and nurtures the development of the whole child.
About us:
Running a preschool together is a dream we've had for several years and are finally making a reality. We both have been drawn to the field of child development throughout our professional and personal lives.
Mike has a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota with a major in Psychology (though a large portion of credits taken were in Child Psychology), as well as a minor in Leadership Studies. He has a strong interest in child development research and evidence-based practice in early childhood education settings. The past four years he has been the Program Coordinator for a child development research facility at the U of MN called the Center for Neurobehavioral Development, where he assisted faculty in their research projects investigating many facets of typical and atypical development, such as the impact of nutrition, drug use and genetic disorders. He is also interested in the professional development of early childhood educators, and has given several in-service trainings at local and national conferences to practitioners in the field, on topics such as “Putting Research to Practice” and “Sensory Experiences for Toddlers”.
Ara completed general education credits at the University of Minnesota, and then went on to study Child Development at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. She has been a nanny for several families over the years, and recently worked at a great natural materials toy store (formerly Wonderment.) There she worksed as both a retail associate and a teacher for their preschool art and handwork classes. Some of the classes she has taught include "Beeswax Fairies" and “Creating Seasonal Dish Gardens". For the last 2 years she has also worked at home, caring for several different children part-time, as well as her own daughter, Wren.
Although our careers have also varied from restaurant work to office administration to many different retail positions, we have felt most fulfilled by our work with children. We both worked together for several years at the YWCA Children's Center in downtown Minneapolis, Mike as a toddler lead teacher, and Ara as a lead teacher with the 3 and 4 year-olds. We have been inspired by these teaching positions to continue our work with children, and have a genuine passion and talent for education and research surrounding early childhood development.
And we are parents ourselves. Our baby boy, Kaj, was born May 7th. And our daughter, Wren, turned two in April. We understand how important quality care is for the parent, and for children. We hold ourselves to very high standards, and care for all children as if they were our own. We are convinced that you will not find better care than what we offer.
