Grandmommy's Place

Our Teachers

Beverly Allen, Founder/Program Director

Beverly is a mom of three daughters (one biological, one foster, and one adopted), and Grandmommy to two children. Her heart for children shows her how important it is that parents take the time to learn who their child/children are. What gifts and interests do they naturally have? Exposure to new experiences and environments is important in their child’s development. She was inspired to start my program because I saw a need for high-quality child care in my community.

Always interested in people, Beverly studied Sociology at UC San Diego, and has worked as a youth program supervisor, and a school coordinator at Foshay Middle School for USC’s Joint Educational Project. It is here where I saw the emergent needs that existed in the community. Through my church, Faithful Central Bible Church, then located in South Los Angeles, I was supported to bring my vision for a Community Service Ministry to fruition for twenty-four years that fed, clothed, and assisted some of our most vulnerable community members. I was also involved with the Department of Children and Family Services as a community resource for my church. This experience was beyond rewarding! Over the last twenty years, I opened my home to single moms and their children who needed temporary housing, guidance, and parenting support.

Arlese “Honey” Robinson, Assistant/Cook

Malissa Scott, Ed.D., Communications and Curriculum Director

I am Beverly’s biological daughter and am thrilled you are considering Grandmommy’s Place for your child!

Grandmommy’s Place is the first step in our collective vision to provide quality childcare for the families of South Los Angeles. I have over twenty years of experience in higher education administration at USC, supporting pipeline programs and working with first-generation professionals. My work with local youth inspired me to pursue my doctorate of education.

As a double-Trojan and professional, born and raised in Los Angeles, I know the importance and positive impact early learning can have on a child. I oversee curriculum development, and communications. It is our goal that you and your child feel cared for and supported, as they take their first steps toward a bright future!

Philosophy

We believe children learn social, cognitive, and emotional skills by exploring new experiences. Our environment is responsive to the children in our care and allows children’s interests to help facilitate their learning and engagement. At Grandmommy’s Place, we believe children grow, learn, and thrive by feeling safe, loved, and nurtured. Our goal is to provide an environment that helps prepare children to thrive in school and the broader world. In our program, children will feel genuinely cared for and cherished. We believe all children are unique and must have a stimulating educational environment where they can grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. We desire to create an atmosphere where students can meet their full potential. We provide a safe environment where students are invited to share their ideas and take risks.

We follow a play-based philosophy and believe children learn social, cognitive, and emotional skills by exploring new experiences. We prepare our environment to be responsive to the children in our care and allow children’s interests to guide their learning and engagement.

We believe that five essential elements are conducive to learning:

1. The teacher’s role is to act as a guide.
2. Students must have access to hands-on activities.
3. Students should be able to have choices and let their curiosity direct their learning.
4. Students need the opportunity to practice skills in a safe environment.
5. Technology must be incorporated into the school day.

Location

Grandmommy’s Place is located in a warm, inviting single-family home in the Park Windsor neighborhood.

We’ve designed our care environment with play and learning areas that allow children to explore various developmentally appropriate activities based on their interests. Some of our favorite areas include the music and movement area (for physical activity and cultural learning), block area (for gross motor skills and problem-solving), and dramatic play area (for self-expression and empathy).

Children spend about half of their time outdoors in our private yard or outdoor space. Connecting with nature lets children gain deeper knowledge of themselves and the world.

At Grandmommy’s Place, we want an enriching environment where children explore and play.

About our program

We provide loving, playful care to every child, and age-appropriate preschool activities to those ready to join in the fun! We believe in the power of play for child development. Through play-based activities and free play, the children in our care hone social skills, large and small motor skills, creative expression, and cognitive skills… all while having a great time and playing with friends. It’s the next best thing to home.

We are a large family daycare, licensed for up to 12 children. We have two full-time assistants who are fingerprinted, certified in CPR and First Aid, and COVID vaccinated.

Each day will include:

Mindfulness for Kids

In this hyper-connected, online all-the-time culture, it has never been more important to learn how to disengage and slow down. We practice yoga and mindfulness in the classroom to develop good habits of being in the present moment. Research suggests teaching children to disconnect through mindfulness meditation, breathing exercises, and yoga can help them calm down, relax, increase focus, enhance sleep quality, and even improve self-esteem.

Music for Toddler Development Very early in their life, children will start to identify rhythm and even move to the beat of music. Music is meant to touch our souls! Besides that, music provides cognitive benefits that support children’s early development. Here are our top five reasons why music can be beneficial to the development of your child:

Music increases toddler’s sensory development As taste, textures, and colors aid a child’s sensory development, so does music. Exposing your child to different types of music can help create more pathways between the cells in their brains. This effect increases even more when you link music to different activities such as dancing.

Music can improve literacy and numeracy Exposure to music enhances a child’s natural ability to decode sounds and words.

Music is a mood lifter Just as parents tuck their children in with a lullaby or calm them down with a song, music can soothe a child or lift their spirit. We use music to indicate play time, sleep time, and other transitions in your child’s daily schedule.

Music helps toddlers build coordination Music encourages children’s inclination to move, developing their gross motor skills.

Music can help toddlers develop their vocabulary Even though your child may not understand the words in a song or nursery rhyme at first, they will develop their understanding by identifying the storytelling in a song. Take the ABC song, for example, where many children think the sequence “l-m-n-o-p” is a word, “elemenopee”. As they grow, they will start to realize that it’s not a word, but a sequence of sounds, each sound being a separate entity.

Khan Academy Kids 

We use Khan Academy Kids, a fun and interactive online collection of learning resources. The app offers instructional videos and exercises for children ages 2-5 to learn and explore.

How Khan Academy Kids makes a meaningful impact on kindergarten readiness:

Personalized and active learning The Khan Academy Kids platform is adaptive to each child’s development and lets the child navigate through the platform at their own pace. Kids improve their skills through a customized series of interactive activities, books, videos, and creative lessons. Original, interactive videos and books keep young kids engaged through active self-directed learning.

Comprehensive curriculum and holistic approach Khan Academy Kids’ holistic approach engages students in subjects ranging from literacy to math while encouraging creativity and building social-emotional skills. Key foundational skills and competencies are aligned with Kindergarten and Head Start child development standards.

Free for all, increasing accessibility for low-income The needs of low-income families were central to the building of Khan Academy Kids. Not only is the app designed for everyone, it focuses specifically on reaching low-income children and families in the US and eventually worldwide. One example of this focus was ensuring the app works with intermittent or low-quality Wi-Fi access and a range of mobile devices.

Spanish with Duolingo Duolingo is the most popular language-learning program online. Duolingo provides structured foreign language learning from beginner to advanced levels, with vocabulary broken into lessons by topic. Each lesson presents multi-media quizzes so kids can use context clues and trial-and-error to learn new words. Duolingo focuses on making language learning habitual, with bite-size lessons, progress tracking, optional sharing, and frequent reminders.

Admissions

Join the Grandmommy’s Place community in four easy steps:

1. Explore our website

We’ve provided information about our philosophies and offerings to help you decide if our program may be right for your family.

2. Tour our program

Come see what makes Grandmommy’s Place unique. Please schedule a tour or attend an Open House event.

3. Submit an Enrollment Application

If you would like to enroll, please submit an application at www.wonderschool.com/grandmommy-s-wonderschool-816/apply – Please note that we require tours for all prospective families. Please do not submit an application if you have not visited the program.

4. Enroll

After reviewing your application, we’ll send an enrollment invitation. Upon accepting your invitation you’ll pay your enrollment fee, fill out enrollment documents and review our Parent Handbook.