Lexington child care facility needs a financial booster
Sarah Bloom
Issue date: 10/26/05 Section: News
Four year old Isaac Conner, son of W&L English Professor Marc Conner, attends Yellow Brick Road Early Learning Center (YBR) where he loves learning and playing with his friends.
"YBR is a wonderful combination..." said father Marc Conner of his son's preschool and day care. "The children get all the learning skills one wishes for in preschool...but they also get the crucial socialization skills, such as sharing, conflict and resolution, playing together and so forth that serve them so well."
Isaac is not the first Conner to attend YBR. He is the third child in the family, following brothers Matthew and Noah, who both "graduated" from YBR and are now using the tools learned in their early education to explore what Conner calls "the larger and more challenging world of elementary school."
But all children in Rockbridge County do not receive the same quality care that the Conner children do. Quality child care facilities in Rockbridge County are limited, as they are across the nation.
According to a recent report on child-care by sociology professor Leslie Cintron, as more mothers enter the workforce, American families are being forced to cope with a changing lifestyle.
A greater dependence on child-care services is a direct result of this changing lifestyle. Rockbridge County, a rural community with limited child-care options, has experienced an even greater strain than many other, more urban communities.
This strain is not a recent phenomenon in Rockbridge. In 1998, three local child-care facilities unexpectedly closed, leaving nearly 70 children without care during the summer months. A quick grant from the United Way of Lexington to help with emergency child-care alleviated some of that need.
Armed with the extra funding, the United Way consulted YBR, which agreed to take several extra children--including infants--in an effort to help some of the families without alternative care. This was not unusual for the facility, which has always provided assistance and subsidies to families that can't meet the cost of care.
"YBR is a wonderful combination..." said father Marc Conner of his son's preschool and day care. "The children get all the learning skills one wishes for in preschool...but they also get the crucial socialization skills, such as sharing, conflict and resolution, playing together and so forth that serve them so well."
Isaac is not the first Conner to attend YBR. He is the third child in the family, following brothers Matthew and Noah, who both "graduated" from YBR and are now using the tools learned in their early education to explore what Conner calls "the larger and more challenging world of elementary school."
But all children in Rockbridge County do not receive the same quality care that the Conner children do. Quality child care facilities in Rockbridge County are limited, as they are across the nation.
According to a recent report on child-care by sociology professor Leslie Cintron, as more mothers enter the workforce, American families are being forced to cope with a changing lifestyle.
A greater dependence on child-care services is a direct result of this changing lifestyle. Rockbridge County, a rural community with limited child-care options, has experienced an even greater strain than many other, more urban communities.
This strain is not a recent phenomenon in Rockbridge. In 1998, three local child-care facilities unexpectedly closed, leaving nearly 70 children without care during the summer months. A quick grant from the United Way of Lexington to help with emergency child-care alleviated some of that need.
Armed with the extra funding, the United Way consulted YBR, which agreed to take several extra children--including infants--in an effort to help some of the families without alternative care. This was not unusual for the facility, which has always provided assistance and subsidies to families that can't meet the cost of care.