PARSONS — Grow at Eden offers a unique approach to child care.
For starters, it’s a “screen-free” facility. That means no television screens or iPads. Tablets are used only for music.
“We get so much digital noise these days,” owner Kandy Rushing said. “Children are learning to speak and communicate and be social with each other, so it’s important to have 100% teacher engagement during the day.”
Rushing graduated from college with a degree in kinesiology, health and wellness.
That means she insists on allowing children to play outside as much as possible. Her Parsons facility features two playgrounds. One has a sand pit and a winding sidewalk where children can ride tricycles and balance bicycles. The other is a little more wilderness and a garden.
She plans to invest in upgrades to the playground at Kids Kingdom, including a new fence, a tricycle path and sand pit, as well as more swings.
She’s excited to have five acres to work with at the property in Iola, though the day care facility uses less than an acre and is surrounded by farmland.
“It’s kind of a fresh slate, so we’ll be putting in some fun features, which is nice.”
Grow at Eden also focuses on providing healthy meals. Everything is made from scratch and most is organic, with no artificial fillers. Nothing is frozen or pre-made.
“It’s important to me that your child is fed well,” Rushing said.
Some ingredients come from the facility’s garden. Children help plant the seeds, grow the plants and pick the vegetables.
“This garden is our little way of teaching kids about farm-to-table, and it’s an expansion of that passion for taking care of the whole child, from inside out.”
Children eat in their classrooms, something that will be a change for the Iola facility. Rushing also plans to upgrade equipment at the Iola kitchen.
“Young children often spend more of their waking hours in day care than with a parent, so we want that parent to feel like they are getting a tremendous value,” Rushing said.
“At the end of the work day, you come home and your child is feeling wonderful because they were fed well during the day and had tons of physical activity.”
THE CURRICULUM at Grow at Eden is a hybrid-Montessori approach.
