Description:
Warm, loving, mixed-age group with educated, experienced caregiver. Excellent references. Child-centered curriculum, with an emphasis on language skills, social skills, and positive self-concept. Three levels of interesting space, small back yard, field trips to zoo, science museum, and parks.
Provider First Licensed on: 01/10/1984
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Ellen is amazing. As a parent, and as a child psychologist, I simply cannot imagine a better place to send my child. The small group of children who are lucky enough to go to Ellen's house benefit from her decades of experience in ways that will serve them well throughout their lives. She has created an enriched, loving environment where kids learn pre-academic and literacy skills through creative play, countless books and daily outings to parks and museums. The curriculum is agile, and is driven by the interests of the particular children in the group. My favorite part is how Ellen helps the children in her care learn how to navigate their social world; to understand how others in the group feel, to regulate their emotions and to be skillful and assertive in their interactions with peers. Kids also LOVE going to Ellen's house. She has turned her home into a kid paradise (there is a spinning teacup in the backyard, a loft with a ball pit and a slide upstairs, a menagerie of incredibly well behaved animals). My son never wants to come home at the end of the day and usually asks hopefully if it is an Ellen's house every day before his cereal is poured in the morning. We know how lucky we are to have our son in this daycare and recommend it wholeheartedly.
Ellen Moore is the very best there is. I rate sending my children to her daycare as the single best parenting decision our family has made (and I am not exaggerating). Ellen is a brilliant (when my children stump us with a question, they always say "we should ask Ellen, she would know") and loving child whisperer who maintains a lifelong connection with her charges. Her daycare is a child's dream - endless, stimulating materials in a cozy, varied setting. You cannot find a better childcare provider in the city of Boston - it is as simple as that.
Ellen came highly recommended to us by a colleague of my husband. She has cared for both our girls for 5 years and our youngest just graduated. We are deeply saddened that she will not be a part of our daily lives anymore, but know she will remain in our daughter's lives as a friend. We loved the feeling of a small, in-home daycare where the girls would be treated like family, while still benefiting from Ellen's knowledge, training and background in childhood development. She truly nurtured and educated our girls into independent thinkers well prepared to start kindergarten. They were fed healthy meals and enjoyed trips almost daily. We always knew what was happening with daily photos and journal entries. Any family that chooses to send their child to her program is a very lucky one indeed!
I was lucky enough to be approached at a playground by a woman with a son who turned out to be two weeks older than mine. The boys (both almost two at the time) gravitated to each other, and the woman asked me if my son had started daycare. When I said I was overwhelmed by the process of choosing one, she gave me Ellen's phone number and urged me to call that same day as there was "one more spot." When we visited, my son--who hadn't ever had a babysitter or much contact with adult caregivers besides my husband and me--was instantly comfortable and happy; he needed no time to acclimate! When I explain Ellen's to friends, people have trouble believing me: the homecooked meals, not having to bring diapers or different clothes (including suits for the beach), the adventures and outings Ellen takes them on, the way her house is designed to maximize play, comfort, and learning. But the most remarkable part of it all is Ellen herself. She writes "daily news" so that parents know what their children did (and said) during the day, every day; there's an "I Was So Mad" book so that the whole spectrum of kids' emotions is respected and placed in context. There's tons of reading, imaginative play, and a connection to nature (hatching chicks from eggs, finding snowdrops pushing up through the snow in the Arboretum, running through the dandelions, etc). I have never come across or heard of a caregiver as loving or as talented as Ellen, and am beyond grateful to have found her.
I am an early childhood educator myself, and was incredibly selective when choosing childcare for my own daughter. Several colleagues, all very experienced as preschool teachers, recommended Ellen to me, and I am so glad that they did. Ellen is a talented and unique caregiver, and the children in her close little group are very lucky indeed. She prepares an engaging and creative environment in her home with many opportunities for play and exploration, takes the group on outings regularly, cooks healthy meals for the children daily, and documents each day with photographs and written notes sent home to families. Perhaps best of all, she encourages each child to develop skills to communicate and negotiate their ideas with the group. This is the best of both words - a close and caring home setting, but with deeply thoughtful curriculum unparalleled in most large preschool centers. Our family is most grateful to have found Ellen.