Daycare Overview

About Me
Hi! Welcome to Loki Loki Daycare! My name is Kristi Cesare. I am a proud mother to a beautiful boy, born February 25th, 2007. I am also happily married to my husband of five years, Joe. I love children so much that I hope to one day have a very large family of my own- right now, we are planning on having six natural children. We have also not ruled out adopting two or three children after our oldest goes to college.

Experience
Loki Loki Daycare opened in July of 2007, with two infants in my care (now toddlers). Before that, my childcare experience is as a nanny to two children, ages 18 months and 3 years. I was a live-in nanny at that time, and provided for all of the children's needs, 8-10 hours a day and as needed. Since then, I have been surrounded by children of all ages.

Education
I started my degree in Psychology at Arizona State University. I attended the Tempe campus from 1999 until 2005. Short only a few classes from graduating, I transferred to Argosy University/Phoenix- a university with higher prestige associated to their Psychology degree. At Argosy, I studied Psychology with a heavy emphasis in Developmental Psychology, Lifetime Psychology and Child Psyche. I graduated in October of 2006, one of the top 10 students in my class, and Magna Cum Laude (much to my heavy disappointment, I was 1/100th of a percent from Summa Cum Laude). I am currently attending the University of Phoenix Online, pursuing my MBA. Once that is completed, I intend to complete a Master’s in Psychology as well.

Training and Certification

I have maintained my Red Cross training in Child/Infant and Adult CPR, First Aid.

I also have a current fingerprint card/background check card from the State of Arizona.

Environment

Drug-Free/Weapon Free Environment

My husband and I are strict about what we allow into our home. There are absolutely no illegal drugs in our house, nor any alcohol at all. We do not drink, save for the rare occasion when we are celebrating a major holiday, and even then we do not drink in excess. We do not smoke. We do not own guns of any nature. The only weapons in our home are our kitchen knives, which will be kept away from little hands.

Child-Rearing Philosophy

I practice child-led care. I trust children’s cries to be their authentic manner of communication. Children cannot and do not manipulate. Therefore, it is my goal to attend quickly to each cry to help the child feel safe in their world. My husband and I practice Attachment Parenting on our son- which means that we try to promote growth and development by quickly meeting his needs. I extend the same courtesy to all children in my care- their developmental, emotional, creative and physical needs are my first priority.

In accordance to this philosophy, I respect each child as an individual. I do not impose schedules onto the child, but rather allow them to fall into their own rhythm. Unless otherwise requested by a parent, I will lay the child down for a nap when he or she indicates fatigue, will feed him or her when hunger cues are used, and will cuddle the child if they ask for it.

Play

In my home, structure is maintained through the use of rules and boundaries. These usually relate to safety, of course, and to respect for others in the room. Outside of this, while I do engage the children in activities I really try to encourage independent play. Independent play has been shown to help children develop necessary social and creative skills more quickly than they would in an overly structured environment. If the television is on in my home, it is always on child-appropriate programming, such as is found on PBS, Sprout, BabyFirstTV, and Nickelodeon.

It is my goal to make every child feel as though they are in a second home while in my care- being in a loving, caring, family-like environment will help to reduce the stresses related to being parted from their primary caregivers. As such, I recommend that you feel free to discuss any parenting issues or concerns with me so that we may present a united effort for your child. I will do my best to always respect your goals and wishes when it comes to your children.