If you've never been to Barbie's Family Child Care, this is the page to start with!
Barbie's Family Child Care is located in the Richmond Virginia area. We are in the West End of Henrico, not far from Parham Rd and Broad St. If you want to come for an interview, email me at Barbie Gallini.
Before looking at the photos on the "Photo Gallery" page, let me explain them. The slide show is an attempt at giving you a tour of my child care area. The child care area of my house is on the lowest level of our trilevel home. Parents and children arrive by coming up the driveway and entering in a sliding glass door from the patio. We call this first room the 'Art Room.' However, this room is used for many activities including art, cooking, messy play, water play, meals, and diapering. Next to the Art Room is the Playroom. This is, of course, the room where we play! I have divided the room into various interest areas or centers. There is the Dramatic Play Area, the Active Play Area, the Math and Science Area, the Reading Area, the Block Area,and the Discovery Area. We also have an easel for painting and chalk, space for crib(s) for the infant(s), and a rocking chair. This sounds like a huge room, but each area is rather small. This is possible because I only care for four to seven children at the most so they do not need much space for each type of activity.
In order to learn more about what the children learn in each of these areas, please go to my page on What We Learn.
The following are some of the features of Barbie's Family Child Care with an explanation of how your child and family might benefit from my program:
State licensed: I provide a safe place for your child to learn and develop. I am trained in Infant and Child CPR and First Aid.
Nationally Accredited through the National Association for Family Child Care since 2003: I exceed the state licensing standard by meeting goals such as having 30+ hours of training per year and having an FBI fingerprint check completed. I continually evaluate my practices regarding health, safety, arrangement of the childcare environment, curriculum planning, and interactions with children and their families in order to maintain this accreditation.
USDA Food Program Participant: I provide breakfast, morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack to all children who are present at those mealtimes. There is no cost to the parents for meals. This program provides education and supervision to ensure that I am serving well-balanced, healthy meals. To learn more about the food served at Barbie's Family Child Care, click here.
Infants (6 weeks) through Preschool (until entry into Kindergarten) accepted: This allows your child to bond with me and stay with me until he or she graduates to Kindergarten. I provide appropriate learning activities for all of the ages. So your 4 year old is not just playing with baby toys and your 1 year old is not expected to sit still and do activities intended for preschoolers. The children also learn from each other. When we have children of different ages in care, it is much like a family with older and younger siblings. Of course, this also allows real siblings to stay together all day!
Education and Training: I have a MEd in Early Childhood Special Needs from Lesley College in Massachusetts and a BA in Psychology and Government, from the College of William and Mary. I also have Montessori Training for ages Birth up to Three Years. I maintain my training by attending conferences, workshops, and other trainings throughout the year. This education keeps me up to date on the latest theories, trends and practices in early childhood education and child development.
Experience: I worked with children some while in college in the early 1980's. In 1985, I started working with children full time in a child care center. Since then, I have taught in various centers, public schools, private schools, and in my own family child care. I started this family child care in April of 1991 in Stafford Virginia. We moved to Henrico in 1993. We moved to our current house in 1996.
All of this experience has helped me take my education and apply it to individual children and their families. At this point in my career, I find myself using a combination of the theories of Piaget and Maria Montessori and one of the latest comprehensive curriculums, The Creative Curriculum.
Stretch-N-Grow Program: Every week, we have an instructor from Stretch N Grow come in to do movement activities with the children. We learn about exercise and healthy eating all while having fun! There is no extra cost for this program for children at Barbie's Family Child Care. Check out the Stretch-N-Grow Website!
In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agricultural policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. This institution will also not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, religion or political affiliation.
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800)7953272 (voice) or (202)720-6382 (TTY). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
