Otsego Learning Center Aims to Outshine the Competition by Leaps & Bounds

Otsego MN, July 29, 2006 —Families are not what they once were. Between work, sports, and other activities, today's families rarely set aside time to have dinner together. According to Parents Action for Children, in 1960, seventy percent of families had a parent stay at home to raise the children. Fast-forward to today, and you will find seventy percent of families that have two working parents, or a single-parent household. This change in culture, coupled with the cost of childcare is forcing many local families to choose between childcare services that they find below the level of care they could provide at home. Leaps & Bounds Learning Center, in Otsego, Minnesota is asking parents not to settle for sub par childcare and are setting themselves apart as the next generation in childcare.

In 2001 sixty percent of children from birth to age six were enrolled in some form of childcare. This includes over half of infants and toddlers and nearly three quarters of pre-school age children. According to Julie Geddis, Director of Community Relations at Leaps & Bounds Learning Center, The combination of these statistics, our experience, our knowledge, and our determination to provide quality childcare that families can afford, sparked the idea of Leaps & Bounds Learning Center in 2005.

“My business partners and I all came from a variety of childcare settings, and with the over 75 years of experience between the educators here at Leaps & Bounds Learning Center, we can offer an constant learning environment for your child to grow and be successful later in life.”

According to Geddis, quality childcare early is essential to the future learning and success of your child. “Research shows that children in higher quality childcare for their first four and half years of life scored higher on tests of cognitive skills, language ability, vocabulary, and short-term memory and attention when compared with children in lower quality care,” she said.

In addition, quality childcare arrangements help parents stay focused and productive on the job. Geddis referenced one particular study in which eighty percent of employers reported that childcare problems forced their employees to lose work time on a somewhat regular basis.

“Our motto is that we are ‘In it 4 the Kids,‘” added Geddis. “We know what it takes for your child to make the grade later in life.”

Leaps & Bounds Learning Center, located at 15590 90th St. NE in Otsego, MN teaches developmentally appropriate curriculum for all age groups, infants through school age children. The center honors a commitment to provide each child with a safe and nurturing environment that generates a sense of community, encourages social skills development and embraces learning discovery. The center’s goal is to prepare and enrich their children with intriguing hands-on learning projects that develop multiple intelligences (intellectual, social, emotional and physical). Leaps & Bounds Learning Center also incorporates Community Building, Sign Language and Spanish instruction, as well as preparing children for successful social interactions and school entrance. For more information contact Leaps & Bounds at 763-441-6644 or visit www.myleapsandbounds.com.