Our Mission and Philosophy
The mission of Dandelions and Mud Puddles Child Development Center is to provide a safe, secure, fun, and loving environment for our students, while supporting and enriching each individual child and preparing them for their futures. Through a nurturing environment, we provide services that promote the development of the whole child, including social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth.
We believe every child is a unique individual with amazing strengths and abilities who deserves our utmost respect and dedication. We will develop a strong relationship with your family and child to maximize our ability to nurture and educate him/her while in our care. Our staff will promote a happy, loving environment for children to play, develop and learn.
Our pledge to our students is to provide developmentally appropriate activities that will enhance his/her social , emotional, physical and intellectual growth. We respect each child's uniqueness to encourage self-esteem, independence and self-worth.
We believe that parents are the first and most important teachers of their children. We encourage all parents to participate in activities throughout our school day and provide input when desired. Parents are welcome visitors in the center at any time.
Our Curriculum
Funnydaffer — a silly name, but a serious curriculum. Funnydaffer is a research based curriculum that supports the whole child through various learning activities and meets state early learning standards.
Throughout the day, children learn through play. This supports social skills, emotional understanding, academic ability, brain development, healthy bodies, decision making skills, creative thinking, self regulation, time management skills, organizational awareness and spatial awareness. Educational activities focus on developmental milestones and allow children to learn and grow at their own pace.
Teacher directed learning experiences focus on social and emotional development through circle time, creative arts, social studies, science, math, fine/gross motor, physical fitness, sign language, music and movement, language, literacy and more.
In addition to Funnydaffer, teacher's use a variety of resources to enhance the learning experiences in their classrooms. Children have access to outdoor learning on their gross motor playgrounds as well as the STEAM playground. On the STEAM playground, children have the opportunity to learn through a variety of messy play, art, large builders, music, water and other sensory experiences.
Meet the Owner, Mrs. Carrie
Mrs. Carrie has a Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. She started her career as a paraprofessional while in college, and after working in the public schools, she opened a small in-home preschool. In August 2009, her dream of opening her own child development center became a reality and she opened Dandelions and Mud Puddles.
She and her husband Bill have 9 children and 7 grandchildren. They spend their free time with their crazy "little" family enjoying camping, traveling adventures, and sporting events.
In Mrs. Carrie’s own words, “Teaching has always been my passion, I love seeing the world through the eyes of a child!”
Meet our Team
Our teaching team consists of around 50 educators, full-time, part-time and seasonal staff. Prior to becoming a team member, all staff is required to pass an FBI background check, complete the KDHE Health Assessment, and successfully take the required courses of Foundations for Safe and Healthy Early Care Facilities Module, CPR and 1st Aid. All staff is trained with a mentor teacher to learn about DMP standards, expectations and curriculum. Once fully trained, our teachers teach in team taught classrooms prior to the final step of teaching in classrooms by themselves. In addition to the new staff requirements, all teachers are required to take CPR and 1st Aid as well as complete 16-20 hours of continuing education annually. Lead Teachers create their own lesson plans weekly that are implemented in every classroom of the same age group. Lesson plans are not only implemented by Lead Teachers but also all of our Assistant Teachers. This creates a strong educational foundation for the children in all classrooms as well as builds strong teaching teams.
We are always looking to grow our amazing team of educators. If you are interested in joining our team, please reach out to the DMP office at 913-745-4000.