Home Sweet Home - 33rd St

Our Teachers

Hello! I am Amanda Astor, the founder of Home Sweet Home - The Brooklyn Daycare . I was inspired to start my own program because I saw a need for high-quality care in my community. We have remodeled our centers to ensure we are offering children a pristine and modern environment to thrive in. We offer three organic meals per day. Children discover their strengths in our intimate classroom sizes of 12 or less and 2:1 provider ratio. All lesson plans are based on a Montessori play based approach and are offered in English and Spanish. Ask about our infant program and soft play room dedicated to our students 3-12 months. Please follow us on Instagram for a closer look at our day @thebrooklyndaycare and check out our website www.thebrooklyndaycare.com

Our curriculum was created by our Directors and mother/daughter duo–Gladys Arroyo and Amanda Astor.

Gladys studied early childhood development in Rutgers University and was also a childcare provider for many years through the KinderCare franchise. She was even her daughters preschool leader in St Jude School of Florida! Gladys is known for her heartwarming bond with every child that enrolls. Parents affectionately have nicknamed her “the baby whisperer” as she has an expertise in comforting children and making their transition into daycare an ease. Gladys is focused on creating an environment for children to thrive in based on routine, education and structure.

Amanda left corporate America to begin her own brand and fill the void she saw in the childcare industry in Brooklyn. She is a Brooklyn College Alumn with a focus on Finance and Accounting. She held senior executive roles in Global retail brands and opened over 24 stores throughout the country. Running brands like Vince Camuto, Guess and DVF has provided her tremendous experience on coaching and developing young minds and mentoring future executives. Her experience in marketing, training, management and branding have contributed to the rapid growth of Home Sweet Home – The Brooklyn Daycare.

Both Directors stay true to their standards of childcare excellence, quality care, pristine facilities, effective educational curriculum, healthy meal options and life long relationships with the families that enroll. We have a 100% student retention rate and almost all of our new students are based on referrals. We are so honored to have earned the trust of over 300 families in the Brooklyn area to be their childcare provider and help create future leaders!

All Employees have completed the Pediatric 1st Aid, CPR and AED training and have been certified by The American Red Cross every 2 years.

Both directors are Certified Mandated Reporters by The Office of Children & Family Services and The State Of NY.

All employees Of Home Sweet Home have also completed the following 14 separate courses and received accreditation from The Professional Development Program of Rockefeller College and The University At Albany for the following intensive programs:

-Statues and Regulations pertaining to Child Day Care Program Development

-Developmental Stages of age groups (newborn to after school)

-Early Childhood Education (creating effective curriculums)

-Preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Promoting Safe Sleeping

-Identification, Diagnosis and Prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome

-Managing Challenging Behavior: Birth to 18 months

-Managing Challenging Behavior: 10 months to 36 months

-Infant Brain Development

-Emergency Preparedness

-Early Intervention (Social & Emotional Development) protocols to record and observe children’s behavior trends

-Family Engagement

-Keeping Children Safe: Prevention of Lead Poisoning and Other Dangers to Children

-Nutrition and Health Needs of Infants and Children

-Additional 15 hour SUNY Health and Safety Training

All employees have completed extensive background screening with The Office of Children and Family services and The State Of NY. They have been entered into the Statewide Central Register Database Check through both photo id and fingerprinting services. All Employees of Home Sweet Home have never had any criminal history or been convicted of any crimes whatsoever.

Philosophy

Home Sweet Home Childcare is committed is creating a safe, warm, loving environment for children where they can learn and grow physically, emotionally, creatively, intellectually, and socially at their own pace. Through this experience your child’s confidence and self-esteem will increase. We strive to make your child’s time at this program the best experience it can be for them and you alike.

We are committed to supporting families by maintaining open communication and encouraging parental involvement in our programming and care activities. Our objective is to care for your childcare the same way you would. We are all trained and licensed providers who have cared for over 100 children and have unlimited experience and knowledge. We highly encourage you to come to us with any questions or needs. Our pledge is to nurture, provide encouragement, protection, security, stability, consistency, stimulation, supervision, and most importantly, love and warmth!

In programming activities for the children, we follow the NYS recommended Early Childhood Education Curriculum which follows a play-based learning philosophy- essential to their health and well-being. We support children in creating their own knowledge through hands-on experiences. We develop activities centered on stories, songs, numbers, letters, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving, social engagement, etiquette, circle time, science, music, theatre, and arts and crafts. We strive to prepare your children for their early school years by exposing them regularly to letters, numbers, colors, shapes, name recognition, and new vocabulary in English and Spanish.

Location

Home Sweet Home - 33rd St is located in a beautiful, inviting townhouse in the Sunset Park 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 art area (for expressing emotions and ideas), reading / cozy area (for literacy, relaxation, and respite), and manipulatives and math area (for fine motor skills and beginning math concepts).

Children will have some outdoor time everyday at mix of both my private yard and local parks and playgrounds. Children need space to run, jump, and move!

At Home Sweet Home - 33rd St , I want to provide a loving home away from home.

About our program

Home Sweet Home was founded in 2001 and serves children from 2 months to 12 years old. Our childcare program runs year round. Our mission is to go beyond just daycare. We saw a tremendous lack in quality care in the Brooklyn area as we toured local centers. We refused to create a curriculum around sitting in front of the TV, aggressive enrollment leading to crowded classrooms, poor cleanliness standards, negative reinforcement instead of redirection, lack of creativity, outdated furniture and toys, poorly balanced meal plans, weak educational plans and dozens of children left unprepared to enter school and excel amongst their peers.

We wanted to break the trend and provide premium childcare services based on the standards we held for our own families. We believe children experience the deepest level of comprehension and education when they are having fun. Our mission will always be to create an atmosphere that breeds feelings of confidence and pure joy in all of our students. We opened the first advanced private childcare program in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Admissions

Join the Home Sweet Home - 33rd St 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 Home Sweet Home - 33rd St 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. 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.