MdMomof3: Rock Spring Children's Center is a nonprofit daycare center and preschool that cares for infants through 5-year olds from Bethesda, Md., and the surrounding Montgomery County. The child care center is open year-round from 7 am to 6 pm. The preschool curriculum is play-based and focuses on sowing the seeds for a lifetime love of learning. I was referred by the Montgomery County, Md., child care locator service.
Child Care Review Pros and Cons
Pros: The best thing about Rock Spring Children's Center is the very low turnover among the teachers, who nurture, stimulate and engage the children from the time they're babies through the pre-K program. A majority of the teachers have been at the school more than 5 years and a good number have been there over 10 years. It provides wonderful stability for parents and kids -- the same teacher you met when your older child was a baby is now the teacher for your new infant! The program emphasizes outdoor activity and exercise and my kids always come home bubbling with excitement over what they did that day. In the preschool curriculum, somehow they manage to teach reading, writing and math while making the kids think it's all fun. My 5-year old daughter loves to do her homework! I just hope we can maintain that feeling through elementary school. The facility is also beautiful, big and brand new in 2009.Cons: The program is expensive, due to the high cost of living (and rent) in the Bethesda, Md., area. attractions: It's about $288 a week, depending on the age of your child.
Features and Comments
Features/Cost: It's about $288 a week, depending on the age of your child.Comments: When my daughter was 2, I toured about 2 dozen preschools in Bethesda, Md., and I didn't find a single program I liked better than Rock Spring Children's Center. Part of that is that it's a nonprofit so truly focusing on caring for children instead of making a buck.
Dates attended: 2006-current. (Review submitted March 2009.)
