Child care center opens in Sussex
SUSSEX — Building Blocks for Tots — a child care center in Sussex, which opened on Nov. 18 — was something owner, Brenda Pachella was destined for.
Pachella, a mother and now entrepreneur has taken over the old preschool on East Main Street and created bright, welcoming rooms to invite children with colors and a display of toys. There are also books, blocks and an array of educational tools.
“My philosophy is to provide a safe, healthy, nurturing, learning environment with quality care," Pachella said. "I use the creative curriculum program which will foster the development of self-confidence, creativity, social skills and school readiness in each child. My program will promote language, exploration, critical thinking, questioning and discovery, and most of all the love of learning.”
Earning a scholarship to Montclair State, she graduated with a degree in Elementary Education. She then went to William Paterson University and received a Teacher of Children with Special Needs certification.
Her training in the Orton-Gillingham Program — which is a multi-sensory approach for beginners in learning — shows her dedication to various learning and teaching techniques. The children are divided into classes by age and they follow all state laws on adult-child ratios.
The playground is filled with slides, plenty of climbing apparatus and ride-ons. Weather permitting, the children go out every day. Recently they even bundled into their snow gear and played in the snow.
On the Building Blocks for Tots Facebook page one parent, Tracey Anderson writes, "What a blessing to finally find the flexible, affordable, and most of all loving childcare we needed in this area!”
They are running a promotion currently for a free trial week. If someone does decide to bring their child for daycare, preschool or before and after school care, prices are reasonable and there are no contracts. Parents are encouraged to stop by any time or they can view the closed circuit cameras from a computer to check in on their little one.