"From the very first moment that we visited with Meredith we knew that we wanted her to work with our child. We met when I was 7 months pregnant and loved everything about the program she runs. It is unique, artistic, creative, and very loving. The day we left our visit with Meredith we were both beyond excited to send our child here. We knew in that moment no other center or in-home daycare even came close to theirs. "
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“We have been continuously impressed by Meredith’s expertise and gentle care of our daughter. Meredith is so sweet and thoughtful with each child. Our daughter loves going to school every day, and we have watched her grow and learn at an astonishing rate, in no small part due to Meredith’s teaching methods.”
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“I instantly felt aligned with the curriculum Meredith created, and love that the artistic greats, including Mozart, Shakespeare, e.e. cummings, Ella Fitzgerald and so many more, have been introduced to my daughter so early on. But the greatest part is that they are not just taught and forgotten, their art is experienced by toddlers. They paint in the method of Kandinsky, they are greeted in the morning with the music of Mozart, they play musical instruments along with Dizzy Gillespie, they fall asleep to recitations of poetry.”
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"We've watched our son blossom from a tentative, somewhat shy 15 months to a confident, self-motivated, exuberant almost three-year-old. Our son comes home talking about the oboe, an expedition to the North Pole, his appreciation of Beethoven, and the deer that make regular appearances in the woods on property (which have been designated a protected wildlife habitat). Meredith also has invaluable experience with the major transitions of this phase of a child's life, and has counseled us and guided our son with love and care."
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"It was clear that Meredith spent a huge amount of time talking with the kids: about their activities, about holidays, about everything. By taking their responses seriously, she helped them to master the give and take of conversation and taught them that their contributions matter."
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"Meredith's practice of introducing the kids to cultural masterpieces meant that our daughter lit up when her sister learned the theme from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on the piano, both because she recognized that Beethoven was a famous composer and because she was familiar with his music. That is to say, Meredith taught her to be part of all of the conversations around her, rather than confining her to an over-simplified, supposedly kid-friendly realm."
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"Meredith validates our son's emotions, and helps him figure out how he is feeling, name the emotion, and communicate it. As he became more verbally expressive, she encouraged him to express his needs and feelings both to her and to the other children. Under Meredith's guidance, our son is very aware of his feelings and expressive of his wants and needs."
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"Meredith's curriculum and her style of teaching are unparalleled! She makes learning fun. She continuously brings in new books, poems, art and music, creating a stimulating and creative environment."
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"When our son cried for the first few days because it was his first time in daycare away from his parents, Meredith created a booklet with pictures of our son doing fun activities during the day. We read this to him in the morning to help him remember each day what he had to look forward to. The pictures had simple, readable labels so that going through the booklet also helped his reading development. Soon he was able to read and recite the book along with us in the morning and there were no more tears when he dropped him off at day care."
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"On separate occasions, our son recognized a poster by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, whom he learned about at Meredith's, and one time he sat down at our family piano made his typical noises by banging on the keys, and said, 'I'm playing the piano like Art Tatum!'"
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"Meredith provides opportunities for young children to investigate whatever phenomenon captures their attention and then supports them in their pursuit of deeper understanding – assuring that their reach always exceeds their grasp. By the end of his time at Meredith's, our son could write his name and loved to draw, craft, build, sing, dance, and explore."
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"The personal attention to each child's needs is one of the most special things about Children's Quest. The small size of the daycare enables Meredith to encourage each child to pursue what is of interest to him or her. For example, when our son became obsessed with mechanical things, Meredith incorporated activities that let him explore this emerging fascination. We admire the way she develops an overarching program for the children as a group and then carefully responds to each child's particular interests to develop special components of her daily routine."
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"The children get an extraordinary amount of time outside, playing on stumps and hanging from monkey bars, observing insects and bird's nests, running and jumping. The difference between this real encounter with nature and the outdoor time offered at some of the other facilities we considered is vast."
