Learning to love learning

But the children were doing much more than having fun. They were fine-tuning their motor skills, learning to follow directions, learning to share, learning colors and shapes and more.

Britney Hodge decided to place her yellow triangle on the spot where the turkey's red oval nose was supposed to go. She decided not to use the red oval at all and the result was that her turkey's face looked a little scrunched up, but she was proud that hers was different from the rest.

"There's no right or wrong way," De La Rosa encouraged. "We want each child to express themselves creatively as individuals." The 100 children who attend the Immokalee Child Care Center learn through play, and because they're having fun, they learn a love of school.

The center, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in January, comes from humble beginnings and has a rich history, executive director Valarie Bostic said.

In 1963 a group of Naples women, members of the Church Women of Collier County, brought fruit baskets to the migrant farm workers. While in Immokalee, they discovered many children didn't have day care. Parents just left their toddlers and babies at home or took them to the fields while they worked. Schools were still segregated and there was no day care in town for black children.

So, in January 1964 the Church Women of Collier County opened the Immokalee Child Care Center in a building that formerly was an open-air washhouse where people did laundry and showered. Some renovations were necessary, but the former washhouse did the job.

"They wanted the children to have a safe place to go," Bostic said.

By the early 1990s, a massive fund-raising campaign began to raise the money to build a new center to accommodate the growing number of children. The $1.2 million, 11,000- square-foot facility opened at its current site in 1996. It serves children from 3 months to 5 years old, with the children divided by age into 11 different classes.

The nonprofit center is operated by a volunteer board of directors, and relies on donations, grants and United Way funding to offer low-cost day care on a sliding scale to mostly poverty level families.

"But the Church Woman United still support us, and every year in December we have a Green Tea in which the children go over and sing and do a play for them," Bostic said. "It's our way of saying thank you and recognizing they are part of our roots. And they bring Christmas presents for the children. It's a wonderful time for the children." Bostic said many people have made heartfelt donations of their time and money through the years to keep the center thriving. She speaks of people such as Katy Livengood, a Naples woman who was on the board until her death recently, who worked tirelessly finding donors for the new building.

"Like so many of our board members, she would come rock babies or do other hands-on stuff to help out around here. She was so giving of herself," Bostic said. "Some of our board members have been involved for more than 20 years. Their heart and soul is here. It's really a spirit of love, and I think that's what's kept us going for 40 years." Bostic is most proud that the center is an accredited early learning center, the accreditation issued by the Florida Association for Childcare Management. Teachers at the school are trained on site to receive their child development associate certification.

"To go from a washhouse to a Gold Seal accredited early childhood education center is something we're pretty proud of," Bostic said. "What we offer is the difference between babysitting and education. We are not just a day care; we're more of a pre-school. We are preparing these children so they'll be ready for kindergarten." Even though some of the students speak only Spanish or Creole at home, they speak English at the school to be sure the children learn that skill, Bostic said.

	TO HELP
	Tax-deductible donations can be made to the Immokalee Child Care Center by mailing them to 852 First Ave S., Suite 211, Naples, FL 34102-6127. For more information, call (239) 261-1774.

Every effort is made to be sensitive to the different cultures of the children who come to the center, though, she said. Several staff members speak Spanish and Creole, so they can help translate for newcomers to the school.

"We also serve some ethnic foods, such as tacos and Spanish rice. We also have a Spanish dish called Fidello. It's chicken served over noodles with a sauce," she said. "And for breakfast sometimes we have eggs and potatoes wrapped in a tortilla." Feeding the children nutritious meals is another important aspect of the center's offerings. Children eat breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack, all in accordance with USDA guidelines.

"Some of our children don't get the best food at home," Bostic said. "Some might have cereal without milk for dinner because their parents couldn't afford the milk. Here, they get milk." Parents are required to volunteer one hour a month at the school because it's important for parents to learn early the importance of being involved in their child's education, Bostic said.

"It's a strengthening of the family unit. Parents are a child's first teacher, and if parents don't promote the importance of a good education and become involved in their child's education, well then the child has to look elsewhere," Bostic said.

Providing a safe nurturing environment is paramount, Bostic said.

"We're a big part of their lives. We open as early as 6:30 a.m. and we don't close until 5:30 p.m., so many of the children spend a big part of their day here. We're their home away from home, and we want them to be happy here," she said.

Latoya Shipman said her 3-year-old daughter, Adriana Morgan, has been coming to the center since she was 3 months old. As a single mother, Shipman said the center is affordable for her.

"It's quality care," Shipman said. "Adriana has learned a lot. She knows her ABC's and how to count. They do a good job here of preparing the children for school. It's not just a babysitting service. That's what I like about it." The Center will celebrate it's 40th anniversary with a gala March 6 for $250 a ticket at the Naples Botanical Gardens. A time has not been set. There will also be a celebrity golf tournament featuring Mike Ditka on April 2 and 3. For more information on either event, call Lyn Kaihara at 261-1774.

Back in De La Rosa's classroom, the children sat on a rug to listen to her read books. Edward Aguilar, who was still hurting after being stung by a bee earlier in the day, needed a little extra attention, so she let him sit in her lap while she read the book, "Five Little Monkeys With Nothing To Do." When she was through, she asked if the children would like to read another book and they yelled in unison, "Froggy." Little Adriana Morgan got up from her seat on the carpet, picked up the book and handed it to De La Rosa. Then Adriana expertly flipped a cassette tape into a tape player, pressed the correct button and a woman's voice began reading the words to the book, "Froggy Goes to School." De La Rosa held the book up and turned the pages so the children could see the pictures as the story went along.

Many of the children read out loud along with the tape as it recounted Froggy walking up the steps of a school bus -- "flop, flop, flop. When Froggy got to the top step everyone on the bus began laughing. Why?" De La Rosa turned to a page with Froggy standing there in his underwear.

"Because he forgot to put on his pants," the children yelled out rolling around on the floor laughing and pointing at the picture of Froggy.

De La Rosa said the reading time is important because it teaches the children a love for books at a young age, and they actually begin to recognize certain words in the books after having them read over and over again.

De La Rosa, known as "Miss Mari" to the children, said she enjoys teaching at the center because the children give her so much gratification.

"Watching them learn is so rewarding. When they first recognize a shape or a color, it's wonderful," she said. "And it gives me a lot of pleasure knowing they care for me as much as I care for them."