Is your kid’s idea of fun brushing a baby goat? Or do they really dig dinosaurs? Perhaps they prefer practicing kickflips or traversing hiking trails. Whether your child is into Picasso or planets, skipping rocks or riding roller coasters, there is something for every interest, every age, and every family in the Baltimore area.

For Rachel Zillig, a mom of two in Baltimore County, the pandemic had a huge impact on her family’s activities. With libraries, museums, and just about every other kid-friendly place shut down, “We had to seek out other stuff or we’d have gone insane just sitting in the house,” says Zillig, whose Instagram account, @BaltimoreFamilyFun, details their adventures in the area. Now that most places have opened back up, she’s looking forward to visiting old favorites like Port Discovery and the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, but she’s not giving up the local parks and outdoor activities they enjoyed during COVID-19. “Just walking around the Inner Harbor during the day is a fun activity for my kids. They love looking at the boats.”

If your family has a particular place you love to visit again and again, consider purchasing a membership. The pandemic had a devastating impact on the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector, with nearly 60 percent of museums forced to cut back on education, programming, and other public services, according to Artnet News.

But things are looking up, with plenty of Baltimore regional destinations open and ready to safely do business. Check out our guide to find out what’s happening at new and old family favorites throughout the region this summer.

PORT DISCOVERY CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
35 Market Pl., Baltimore, MD 21202.
Three floors of interactive exhibits and settings for imaginative play will keep toddlers and preschoolers entertained for hours. Kids ages 5-12 can build confidence and motor skills as they scale the multi-story SkyClimber. This always-changing museum is “huge but never seems crowded,” says Zillig, whose family’s favorites include the replica Royal Farms, a delightfully realistic pretend diner, and a water playroom. (Pro tip: bring a change of clothes!)

THE NATIONAL AQUARIUM
501 E Pratt St., Baltimore, MD 21202.
No matter how many times you visit the Aquarium, there’s always something new to see. You could spend an entire day searching for the sloths in the tropical rainforest or being mesmerized by all the different kinds of jellyfish. With more than 20,000 aquatic creatures, an enormous shark tank, and hands-on exhibits, kids will be educated and entertained every time. Note: strollers are not permitted.

MARYLAND SCIENCE CENTER
601 Light St., Baltimore, MD 21230.
Come for the dinosaurs, stay for the interactive science exhibits. Kids can create their own inventions, lie on a bed of nails, learn about the human body, and experience the electromagnetic spectrum through light and prisms. Don’t miss the planetarium, rooftop observatory, and IMAX theater, too.

THE MARYLAND ZOO
1 Safari Pl., Baltimore, MD 21217.
From the perky prairie dogs to the gentle giraffes to the cheeky chimpanzees, this world-class zoo is home to more than 1,500 amazing animals—including the largest African penguin breeding colony in North America. Your wild things can run amok along the shady paved paths and ride the new zero emissions electric shuttles back to the free parking lot when they’re tired.

BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART
10 Art Museum Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218.
There’s more to the BMA than the Cone Collection’s Matisses and Monets. Kids who like dollhouses will adore the Cheney Miniatures Gallery, and the museum’s African art collection features 2,500
masks, textiles, and other works from more than 200 cultures. Indoor voices are not required to explore the outdoor sculpture garden. Currently, reservations are required for free admission. Strollers and front baby carriers are permitted in the museum.

LAKE ROLAND PARK & NATURE CENTER
1000 Lakeside Dr., Baltimore, MD, 21210.
The Lake Roland Dam is the focal point of this 500-acre sanctuary in the middle of Baltimore. Popular among pet owners for its fenced-in Paw Point dog park (membership required), Lake Roland features a unique playground, a new nature center, various hiking and biking trails, and a boardwalk from the Falls Road Light Rail station. Stop by Tropicool Italian Ice afterward for a sweet treat.

OREGON RIDGE PARK & NATURE CENTER
13555 Beaver Dam Rd., Cockeysville, MD 21030.
This 1000-plus-acre park is a great place to burn off energy. It features several playgrounds, picnic areas, plenty of trails ranging from easy to challenging, and a quarry where you can skip rocks and watch the ducks. Several animal enclosures house bunnies, geese, chickens and more, and the nature center hosts educational events and storytimes.

LADEW TOPIARY GARDENS
3535 Jarrettsville Pike, Monkton, MD 21111.
Unicorn-shaped shrubs, windows carved into hedges, koi ponds, an enchanting teahouse, butterfly house, and gift shop are just some of the delights you’ll find here, along with 22 acres of space to run wild and enjoy nature. Admission required; children under two are free.

RASH FIELD PARK
300 Key Highway, Baltimore, MD 21230.
Baltimore’s newest park opened last November in the heart of the Inner Harbor. Kids can clamber up a pair of 35-foot wooden towers in the Adventure Park, slip down a giant slide, soar on the swings, dig in the sand pit, or bring their board and drop into the skate park.

THE GO-KART TRACK
10907 Pulaski Hwy., White Marsh, MD 21162.
Feel the need for speed? With three different go-kart tracks, a mini-golf course (half price on weekdays), and all the classic arcade games, there’s something for everyone here. Kids aged 3 and up can join a driver age 16+ on the Family Track, and speed demons at least 52” tall can drop the pedal to the medal on the Drift Track.

SKATEPARK OF BALTIMORE
1121 W 36th St., Baltimore, MD 21211.
Got a budding skateboarder or trick scooter rider? Strap on your pads and helmet and hit this Hampden hotspot. It’s free and open daily from dawn to dusk. If you need some new grip tape, Vu Skate Shop is just around the corner on Falls Road.

EASTERN WATERSPORTS
4001 Bay Dr., 7200 Graces Quarters Rd., and 7400 Graces Quarters Rd., Middle River, MD 21220.
You don’t have to drive to Annapolis or Ocean City to get a taste of salt life. With three locations, two within Gunpowder Falls State Park and two with legitimate sandy beaches, this seasonal shop rents kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, and canoes by the hour. Children under 10 can accompany a parent or guardian on a tandem kayak or paddleboard. Kids 10 and up can rent their own with a renting adult.

SPLASH PADS
Multiple locations.
Looking to cool down and get wet on a hot day, no pool membership required? Baltimore City is home to several splash pads, including at West Shore Park in the Inner Harbor, Mt. Vernon Children’s Park, and The Rotunda. Visit BaltimoreFamilies.org/pools for locations.

BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY “STORYVILLE”
There’s more to the library than storytime. Storyville, located at Baltimore County Public Library’s Rosedale and Woodlawn branches, is a play-and-learn center designed to promote early literacy and school-readiness skills in children ages 0-5. This enchanting child-sized village features books, toys, and activities for tots and their parents or caregivers.

DUTCH WONDERLAND
2249 Lincoln Hwy. E, Lancaster, PA 17602.
This amusement park in Amish country is extremely popular with young families for a reason. The 48-acre layout is accessible, not overwhelming, and the rides are geared toward little kids. Duke’s Lagoon is a water park within the park that’s worth a visit all on its own.

HERSHEYPARK
100 Hersheypark Dr., Hershey, PA 17033.
Thrillseekers throng to this family theme park, created by the famous chocolatier Milton S. Hershey, which features tons of rides, including 15 roller coasters. There are plenty of attractions for the littler set, too. The one-price admission includes all the rides, the water park, and ZooAmerica.

SIX FLAGS AMERICA
13710 Central Ave., Bowie, MD 20721.
Six Flags is home to some of the fastest, tallest, wildest rides in the country, including Firebird, billed as “America’s only floorless roller coaster.” Younger kids can enjoy at least a dozen rides all by themselves. Admission includes access to the Hurricane Harbor waterpark, featuring an 800,000-gallon wave pool and 25 water slides.

KINGS DOMINION
16000 Theme Park Way, Doswell, VA 23047.
Got tweens and teens? Take a three-hour drive to this amusement park near Richmond. Already home to 13 roller coasters, the park will introduce Tumbili, a brand-new, 4D spin coaster, as part of its new-in-2022 immersive Jungle X-pedition. For the little ones, there’s Planet Snoopy. Admission includes access to the Soak City waterpark.

GROWN UP DINING, KID APPROVED

Dining out with kids doesn’t have to be expensive or stressful if you choose one of these family-friendly eateries, offering everything from pizza to medieval feasts.

R. HOUSE
301 W. 29th St., Baltimore, MD 21211.
Food courts and food halls, like this one located in Remington, are great options for dining with kids for a few reasons. First, there’s something for even the pickiest eater. Choose from 10 stalls offering a variety of fare, from pizza and fried chicken sandwiches to poké bowls and Korean BBQ. Second, the kids can be as loud as they like, and there’s room to stretch your legs when sitting at a table gets tiresome.

BELVEDERE SQUARE MARKET
529 E Belvedere Ave., Baltimore, MD 21212.
More than a food market, this North Baltimore hotspot near The Senator Theatre is a great place to dine indoors or out at any time of day. Food vendors include Atwater’s, Ejji Ramen, Plantbar, and The Pizza Trust. The Square hosts a Friday night concert series during the summer months.

STONE MILL BAKERY & CAFE
10751 Falls Rd. Suite 123, Lutherville-Timonium, MD 21093.
If you’re shopping at Greenspring Station or have a kids’ sporting event across the street at Meadowood Regional Park, pop into this bustling cafe for refreshments. Choose from salads, soups, sandwiches, and unparalleled sugar cookies. If the weather’s nice, sit outside by a babbling brook and let the kids climb on the stone turtles.

JASON’S DELI
8874 McGaw Rd., Columbia, MD 21045.
With menus for kids, vegetarians, and gluten-sensitive diners, this reasonably priced chain has long been a favorite for families. (The free ice cream doesn’t hurt!) Sadly, the Timonium location closed during COVID, but the Columbia restaurant is open for business.

MEDIEVAL TIMES
7000 Arundel Mills Circle, Hanover, MD 21076.
If you dread family dinners or just want something different, there’s nothing like a meal and a show set in a medieval Spanish “castle.” Feast on turkey legs–or a surprisingly tasty vegetarian option–as you watch knights on horseback jousting for a fair maiden’s hand. Yes, it’s a bit sexist and over-the-top, but the spectacle is part of the fun. If you’re looking to get your kids off screens and into a real-life adventure, this is it.

If I’m being honest, I have a certain level of anxiety in writing this essay. Putting to paper all of my shortcomings when it comes to combating systemic racism opens me up to criticism. Admitting my outrage without action is just hot air. Just believing Black Lives Matter as some abstract thought isn’t enough. I keep seeing the same message: If you’ve ever wondered what you’d do during slavery, the Holocaust, or the civil-rights movement, you’re doing it now. In my mind, I’m getting arrested at a “sit-in.” In reality, I’m at home with my four children doing my best to home-school and get through a pandemic. Am I not as brave and progressive as I thought?

My kids—Milo, 13, Willa, 11, and Zeke and Gideon, 9—spent their first years of life in Baltimore City. They attended a public charter school that pulled students from every zip code, and our classrooms were filled with students of many different races and economic backgrounds. A few years ago, when we moved just over the line into the county, our kids enrolled at a school that we love, but where we, as Jews, represent one of the few examples of diversity.

We—my husband, Ron, and I—try to teach our kids daily about what’s right and wrong. We talk about the news, never hiding the hard stories. We vote—in person when we can and always dragging our kids along, so they grow up knowing that this is what we do in a democracy. We repeat, over and over, that everyone is loved and welcome and equal in our eyes.

We march, as we did in that first big Women’s March in Washington, D.C., after the last election (and the subsequent smaller ones in Baltimore). We’ve also marched against gun violence and for abortion rights and now we stand in the streets for Black lives. I go for many reasons, but mostly to breathe in—if only metaphorically now through my mask—the air of like-minded people. And make sure that my own voice is heard.

But are we just surface activists? After the BLM march in Roland Park, I posted a picture of my daughter holding her “RACISM IS A PANDEMIC” sign on social media and wrote: “I worry about posting the wrong thing and offending someone. To post #blackouttuesday or not. To attend a mostly white protest in support of racial justice or not. But then I thought, if I do nothing else but show my daughter that we don’t sit idly by when we see our fellow humankind hurting, that’s enough.”

But let’s be honest. That’s not enough.

It’s time for the tough conversations and self-reflection.

It’s time for the tough conversations and self-reflection. My kids are my opportunity to do better.

I think about reaching out to my friend, Tanika White Davis, a Black mom who has twin boys a year older than mine and an 8-year old daughter, but then I see she has posted her newest Sun parenting column, “No Sage Words for This Moment in History.”

“It is all just too much,” she writes. “And I am exhausted from feeling all of it, all at once.” How do I put my burden on her after reading this? “I know I should have more to say,” her column continues. “But I am no sage. I am just a mother of three Black children, trying to protect them. You’ll forgive me then if I spend what’s left of my energy doing just that.”

I want to say to her: “Help me help you.” But that just feels like extra work for her. (Though she later scolds me: “You know you can always reach out to me.”)

Instead, I reach out to Traci Wright, dean of students at The Park School of Baltimore in Brooklandville. We talk about race and privilege and kids. Wright leads the school’s formative Civil Rights trip, now in its 16th year, that takes students and faculty from Park, Baltimore City College High School, and City Neighbors High School on a tour of the South. From Atlanta to Birmingham to Montgomery to Little Rock to Selma, they visit sites and meet people who were instrumental during the 1960s movement for racial equality.

“They learn the importance of speaking up and being involved,” says Wright. One of the local stops is the Hampton National Historic Site in Towson, a vast 18th-century estate that still has its original stone slave quarters, which she suggests I visit with my kids for a guided tour. “They do a phenomenal job of helping kids understand the system of slavery,” says Wright. “No one is born a slave.”

Wright is full of wisdom and suggestions and kindness toward my jumble of questions. She forwards me a piece on NPR’s the Hidden Brain about how it’s more important to change the way that a community thinks about race and racial bias than it is to focus on one individual person. She tells me to read “75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice” on Medium and says she even learned things from that article that she, as a Black woman, should be doing.

I tell her about the “inclusive parents versus anti-racist parents” post from Curious Parenting, a caregiver online community, that I keep seeing shared by friends. In one example, an inclusive parent makes sure their child’s library is racially diverse. An anti-racist parent intentionally includes books that go beyond slavery and the civil rights movement to include reads on ballerina Misty Copeland or NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson or poet Maya Angelou. I realize that I fall into the former category.

Wright emphasizes that it’s important for students—hers at Park and mine at their Baltimore County public schools—to feel empowered. “It’s up to the adults to create a culturally relevant curriculum,” she says. And what is culturally relevant? Well, if you live in Baltimore, says Wright, “just open your eyes” and look around. That includes teaching about both current events and history in a real and truthful way.

In addition to Wright, I speak with Mark Riding, a high-school English teacher at the all-girls Maryvale Preparatory School in Lutherville, where he is the only Black faculty member.

“I’m not an expert, but I am a passionate educator,” he tells me. There have been only a handful of Black teachers in the school’s 70-year history. “The students are overwhelmingly white,” says Riding, the father of two teenagers. “I’ve done a lot of thinking, even more since the upheaval happened: How can I bring a fresh perspective to a community that is sorely lacking that [Black] perspective?” Despite some pushback over the years, Riding has always made it a priority to amplify the histories and lessons of the marginalized, from feminism to the Black voice.

This spring, he saved for last the Harlem Renaissance—the artistic explosion of Black culture in New York in the 1920s—and ended up having to teach it virtually. But he and his students still got in deep about why there needed to be a renaissance in the first place. And they also talked about the intersection of race and gender. “No matter what racial or ethnic background, you are marginalized for being a woman,” Riding told them.

Where do I go from here? I don’t write this to feel better about myself.

The final assignment was to write a poem exploring their own differences. Riding was surprised and impressed to see topics ranging from religion to sexuality to racial disparities. “Everyone has knots in their ropes,” he says. But recognizing that helps you “understand other people’s knots.” That’s a difficult concept even for adults, he says.

Riding told me, “I wanted to expose these girls to the dark, scary, disgusting history” of the Black struggle. But also, what came out of the struggle: music, poetry, stories, and the civil rights movement.

Wright says she’s been energized to see “the far corners of the state” reacting to this moment, as well. There are BLM marches in Harford County and on the Eastern Shore.

“People are seeing these issues as their own,” she says. “They’re becoming everyone’s issues. When people are marginalized, we are all marginalized.” Kids see that—sometimes more than parents—and are responding.

I tell Wright I have great expectations for my kids, as Jews, a group that has faced its own marginalization and decimation. Our house is filled with books about the Holocaust, we’ve visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., we’ve listened to survivor stories, and we feel it deeply and personally when a synagogue is under attack or a group of white supremacists are called “very fine people.”

Wright understands the connection I’m trying to make. “You have experienced other-ing and genocide,” she says. “The Holocaust happened not even on our soil.” But there is an outrage surrounding violence against Jews that isn’t always extended to Blacks, she notes. Wright recommends finding books on coalitions between Blacks and Jews to make this even more relatable to my children. “What is the history here in terms of people coming together?” she poses. “Baltimore is a segregated city. We live in our own pockets. We don’t really socialize. How can we bring people together?”

I’ve been thinking about that a lot. It came up in a conversation on Father’s Day. We (me, my husband, my own mom and dad) were sitting around the table discussing the BLM movement. My mother is 71 years old and, still, this movement has awakened her in new ways. As a first step of what she hopes will be many more steps, she just became a member of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Wouldn’t you want every person to walk through Jewish museums to better understand our plight and resilience and culture?” I say to my mom. “I would guess the same is true for that museum.” We’ll go together as soon as we can, I tell her.

Prior to this moment, and this movement, I’m not sure we would have had this conversation. And that’s what I have witnessed more and more—the conversations. “Can this happen in schools?” I ask Wright. “Public schools are more racially and socio-economically diverse,” she says. (And while that might not be true for our elementary school, it certainly is at Dumbarton Middle School, which my oldest attends.) “Public school is real life,” she says.

It’s the place where you are together with people who look different from you. It should be the best place for listening and sharing and growing.

Wright acknowledges that the conversations about institutional racism are not easy for anyone to begin. But it’s our jobs as parents to foster relationships, she says, whether it’s making sure we are on sports teams that are diverse or forming a book or movie club with families that create a safe space for honest questions and discussions.

“Initially, it will likely feel forced,” says Wright. “But we have to work harder to combat the systems of oppression. It’s okay if it makes you feel nervous or uncomfortable because the more we talk about it, the more it becomes second nature. It’s retraining our brains to see what we’ve been missing all along.”

In the days that follow, I spend a long time scrolling through posts on the Anti-Racist/Social Justice Parenting Discussion Group on Facebook that I joined during the heat of the protests. There are virtual events (the Reginald F. Lewis Museum’s African American Children’s Book Fair), town halls (“How to Raise and Teach Anti-Racist Kids,” hosted by author Kwame Alexander), and fundraising ideas. I can’t do it all, but I can start somewhere. I sign up for Zoom calls about raising socially conscious children, and I order Jason Reynolds’s and Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped: Racism, Antiracisim and You and Veronica Chambers’s Resist: 35 Profiles of Ordinary People Who Rose Up Against Tyranny and Injustice.

Where do I go from here? I do not write this to feel better about myself, or to say that Googling or reading or even protesting makes me a social-justice warrior mom. But I do understand that there is a time to talk and a time to listen. A time to teach and a time to be taught. My kids are watching me and all my actions. We, as a family, need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. We need to hold ourselves accountable.

I promise that we will.

A few weekends ago, I was having a bad morning. Edie hadn’t slept well and Lou was whining for canned whipped cream for breakfast. I was trying to cook unwanted scrambled eggs while Edie simultaneously demanded to be held while wiggling to get down. The house was a mess, the cats kept jumping on the counter, Lou was standing on the tops of my feet to get my attention, and I could feel myself coming undone. Intuiting my subtle behavior (I was a borderline monster), Rob neutralized the situation with an episode of Paw Patrol and suggested I take two hours to go do something for myself.

It turns out his acknowledgement was enough. Suddenly, having the choice to leave or stay opened me up to readjust my mood, and that slight adjustment was enough to buoy me back to homeostasis. I felt grateful to have a partner who recognized the need to take a beat, and that made me want to hang back and finish making eggs for him while our children picked Cheerios from between the sofa cushions. In the end, I stayed and enjoyed a slow morning with my family. But it got me thinking about all the amazing things we parents can do for ourselves in two hours. It’s the perfect amount of time to get out of the house and do something alone without carrying the guilt of leaving your spouse a man down.

Here are a few places where you can spend an hour of your time (with travel time and a stop for coffee built in) and restore your peace or body or sanity or whatever else those barnacles have taken from you.

Intuitive Wellness: I seriously almost didn’t include this one because its such a special, perfect place and I’m selfish and didn’t want to share. But who am I to deny the achy, stressed people of Baltimore their 60 minutes of holistic, healing, heavenly massage? Book an appointment at this Roland Park sanctuary and win the battle Legos have waged on your feet.

Movement Lab: Have you ever taken a sound bath? Or hung upside down like a beautiful bat? Or jumped so hard on a trampoline that not peeing yourself a little feels like a miracle of physiology? Movement Lab offers really diverse classes in an incredibly inclusive, accessible environment. I walked into my first anti-gravity (!) class thinking I’d be carried out by paramedics, and by the end I was trying to catch glimpses of myself in the mirror because I needed to see how cool I looked hanging upside down. (I actually looked pretty terrible but I was still wildly impressed.)

The Ivy Bookshop: Get a coffee, take yourself to The Ivy, and strike up a conversation with their staff. Let someone who knows and loves books guide you around until you find the perfect one. Remember that the internet is convenient but the algorithms telling you what to buy haven’t actually read the book. Use the remainder of the hour to read in your car with the heat on.

Lake Montebello: Do a lap or two. Parking is easy, the path is flat, and the lake is pretty. Get out and move your body while listening to a podcast (might I suggest Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend?). I’m also really interested in getting into roller blading, so maybe you could buy a pair and do that, and I can decide if you look cool enough for me to invest in the sport as well.

B.Willow: This is one of Lou’s favorite places so I feel a little bad going without him, but whatever. It’s a very calming space (they just opened a new Canton location, which I’m assuming is equally tranquil) and it’s so nice to wander around, choose a plant, dig in soil, and bring something beautiful into your home.

A bar: I have the great fortune of living within walking distance of several lovely food and beverage establishments, and have no shame in taking myself to a bar stool and enjoying a drink like a damn adult. Order something pretentious like a craft beer in a special glass or a cocktail featuring a mostly irrelevant garnishes. Pull out the book you picked up from The Ivy during your last jaunt, and pretend to read while spying on all the 23-year-olds complaining about how tired they are. Refrain from commenting because getting into bar fights is not what this restorative two hours is all about.

Memories of growing up in Baltimore in the 1990s conjure up many nostalgic thoughts, and one in particular is John “Kinderman” Taylor. He became a household name for his in-school performances, signature smile, bowler hat, red suspenders, and catchy songs like “Friends.”

After news spread on social media yesterday that Taylor had passed away, an outpouring of sorrow and love for the child entertainer flooded news feeds. In an original post from the Facebook group Straight Outta Baltimore, it was announced that the beloved performer passed away after a lengthy illness at age 82.

“Farewell my beloved Kinderman,” wrote Diana Fowlkes. “I will never forget all of the chuckles, Lolol in public, lessons you taught me, and for being my mentor and beloved friend.”

But, in fact, Taylor is still alive. His friends and family quickly jumped on Facebook to dispel those rumors.

“Dear friends, I am writing this post on behalf of our beloved friend John Taylor—known far and wide as the Kinderman,” said Linda Joy Burke on Facebook. “Some of you may have seen a post on his personal page that appeared to state that Kinderman had passed. He has not.”

In that same post, Burke explains that Taylor was diagnosed with a terminal illness last month and is currently in hospice care in Columbia. His brother, Randy, also felt compelled to post about his status to dismiss the rumors.

“Come on y’all, Kinderman is resting peacefully in his bed. . .not RIP,” he wrote. “FALSE NEWS . . . however he is happy to know how you feel. Knowing him, he would push out his hand and say, ‘SAVE. IT.’”

As a three-time Emmy award-winning host and former co-producer of WMAR’s It’s Kindertime, and The Kinderman Show, he has reached thousands of children across the state with his innovations in educating, entertaining over the past 50 years. His unique approach to teaching is brought to life by incorporating movement, dance, rhyme, song, story-telling adventures, and interactive learning games.

Now that his family has confirmed that he is indeed alive, they are grateful for the outpouring of love and happy to know that his legacy has had such a major effect on those he met. Burke says that Taylor would love to hear from everyone and is accepting cards that can be sent to Gilchrist Hospice in Columbia.

“He is now on the most important journey of his life, and he truly does appreciate each and every one of you that has sent him messages,” she said. “Continue to hold him in prayer.”

There are a few things that define summer in the city: snowballs, swimming pools, and summer camps. For the third year in a row, Baltimore native and New York Jets linebacker Brandon Copeland is bringing his football camp back to Gilman this weekend.

The Beyond the Basics football camp is run by Copeland, his wife Taylor, and family and friends to give back to the community that helped shape him into the man he is today. With the support of the NFLPA, beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, July 7, more than 400 kids will flock to Gilman’s Roland Park campus to participate in a day of football drills, community service, and mentorship.

Copeland says that the camp goes beyond football. He wants to make this day more meaningful to the kids than just running routes, catching passes, and going over drills.

“For us, it’s not about football at all—I really could care less about the football part,” Copeland said. “We really have some messages and exposure to help kids activate and understand their potential for success in this world.”

Never having attended a football camp growing up, Copeland drew inspiration from helping out his teammates at theirs and wanting to create something he always wanted as a kid. Since its inception, the camp has seen a steady growth in attendance from every part of Baltimore City and County.

Last year, nearly 300 kids attended the camp and, this year, he’s expecting 100 more. Although the camp is free, it’s reserved for kids ages 11-17 who are excelling in school and Copeland actually requires registrants to bring copies of their reports cards and transcripts. Some students will receive laptops and Kindles to help them further excel academically.

“We want to make sure we’re equipping these kids with the necessary tools to be successful,” Copeland said. “If a laptop can help them study for the SATs or write that college essay, we’re more than happy to help.”

A big aspect of the camp also focuses on community service and the importance of giving back. For the first hour, kids will be split into two groups—the first group will be packing backpacks and the second will be packing toiletry kits. Each of the items will be donated to the Franciscan Center of Baltimore that provides emergency assistance to residents who are struggling economically.

“How cool is it for an 11-year-old that you just built a book bag that will benefit another kid in need,” he said. “We want to teach them that you can be a blessing to someone else even if you’re young and broke. Spending your time doing something meaningful can benefit someone else.”

Copeland also stresses the importance of having a backup plan while pursuing a professional sports career. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, the linebacker spent his time working as a part-time analyst for Weiss Multi Strategy Advisers during the NFL off-season. He and his wife have also ventured into the world of real estate, most recently flipping a home in Baltimore.

“I’m always sharing career options and goals outside of football with the kids,” he said. “Anything can happen. It’s not a crime to also enjoy law, and literature, and design. You have more time in your life not playing football than you do actually playing. You need to find something to do with the rest of your life.”

Although registration is officially closed, Copeland allows walk-ons because he says that he has a hard time turning kids away. His goal is to bring something to the kids that will help to shape them into successful athletes and, more importantly, well-rounded people.

“We don’t want to lose the reason we started doing this,” he said. “We want to positively affect these kids and expose them to other opportunities and professions and role models that look like them. If we can’t do that, we’ve ultimately failed as a camp.”

Over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has been under fire from opponents and allies following the images and sounds of more than 2,000 young children who were separated from their parents and being kept in cages in a detention center in Texas. Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order that ends the policy of separating migrant children from their parents who are detained.

“So, we’re going to have strong—very strong borders,” Trump said. “But we’re going to keep the families together. I didn’t like the sight, or the feeling of families being separated.”

These comments come after he earlier argued that “you can’t do it by executive order.” The President is now ordering that family separation will be replaced with the detention of entire families. It’s not immediately clear what will happen to the detained children or when they will be reunited with their parents.

Since May 24, when the “zero-tolerance” policy was enforced, there have been dozens of immigrant children from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras in Maryland that were separated from their families after crossing the border into America illegally. While the President’s order will stop the future separation of child and parent, local organizations are concerned about the well-being of the children already separated. The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) that works with refugees and migrants openly opposes the practice of family detention.

“While children will no longer be ripped from the arms of their parents for the sole purpose of deterring immigration, they will go to jail with their parents,” said Kay Bellor, VP for programs at LIRS, in a statement. “Jail is never an appropriate place for a child.”

For the past two years, the Catholic Charities of Maryland’s Esperanza Center has been running a family reunification program that helps minors reunite with their families. The center has helped 243 unaccompanied minors who have crossed the border—including eight who were forcibly separated from their parents—so far this year.

“We haven’t received any guidance from the [Trump] administration for how they are going to handle the children who have already been separated,” said Helany Sinkler, who runs the reunification program. “Although the children are being cared for and looked after in the shelter, there’s nothing better than reuniting a child with their family.”

Sinkler says that the reunification process is not an easy one and predicting how long it takes is tougher. Locating and approving a sponsor is a tedious process including finger printing, background checks, and myriad communication across borders given that most children arrive with nothing but a name and phone number for a relative. During that time, the child is placed in either a shelter or foster care, depending on the age, until a legal sponsor is appointed.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, and the American Psychiatric Association have all issued statements warning against the traumatic effects of separating families—representing more than 250,000 doctors in the United States.

“To pretend that separated children do not grow up with the shrapnel of this traumatic experience embedded in their minds is to disregard everything we know about child development, the brain, and trauma,” the doctors wrote in a statement to President Trump.

In addition to the reunification process, director of the Esperanza Center Val Twanmoh says that they are working with children have suffered traumatic experiences both in the home country and once crossing into the U.S. She stressed a need for increased counseling and mental health workers to assist with the transition of the children.

“Finding bilingual mental health providers is extremely difficult,” she said. “We normally have to refer them out because we don’t have the workers to accommodate it. It’s extremely difficult.”

Sinkler is still planning to do all she can for as many children as she can with the current resources she has but is still in disbelief that something so “unbelievable and incomprehensible” is happening in this country.

“When you’re talking about family separation, there’s now this added layer on top of everything they’ve already suffered in home country,” she said. “We are essentially re-traumatizing the children that came seeking protection and fleeing already horrible conditions. It’s unreal that this is America that is doing this. This isn’t another country that’s notorious for not being sympathetic. This is not what we do.”

The Elephant with a Knot in His Trunk is a picture book with talking animals, true, but all ages can glean some wisdom from its pages, as it’s charged with truths about how we overcome what we perceive as our shortcomings, and ultimately how that shapes our identity. The story is elegantly told and illustrated with a lushness of loose, textured graphite lines and rich watercolor that emotes the wildness of the jungle.

Stuart Sheer, an orthodontist practicing in Mount Airy and Finksburg, was inspired to write a story after numerous trips overseas helping children with cleft palates (an orthodontist is needed to make a diagnosis and treatment plan). He witnesses firsthand how these kids are bullied and in some respects separated from the rest of society because of their inability to speak clearly. In working with surgeons to repair cleft palates, he understands how dramatically those changes affect children’s confidence—and he thought a book might help in the healing process as well.

He first wrote about a girl with a cleft palate and had planned to publish it and give it to clients, but the story took another shape when he began collaborating three years ago with Pikesville children’s book author and illustrator Nancy Patz to develop the book, which they self-published and released in November.

“It’s easier to show emotions through animals sometimes,” Patz says (though she still uses herself as a model in the mirror).

Kofi is an elephant born with a knot in his trunk, as the title suggests. This not only limits what he can do (even drinking proves challenging), but makes him a target for bullying. He goes to great lengths—indeed, risking his life—to undo this knot. Eventually, a doctor (a monkey) operates on him and is able to untie the trunk, leaving behind a kink but allowing Kofi to do eat, drink, and trumpet-call like the others. Meanwhile, he faces an agonizing decision when he spots his biggest nemesis drowning in a whirlpool and has to quickly decide whether to try to save him. Kofi lends his trunk, pulls Big Ebo to shore, and realizes his value in a way he hadn’t previously.

“The book applies to people without disabilities, too,” Dr. Sheer says. “All of us feel somewhat not whole. . . . People say it’s timely, but bullying has been going on forever.”

“Who has not been outside the circle?” Patz echoes. “Your hair’s too straight, your hair’s too curly, you’re too smart, you’re too dumb. . . . But this book is also for the people who are picking on others, to show what it feels like. What Stuart contributed, in large measure, was his complete empathy with his patients. He wanted a book to ease their emotional distress.”

In one scene, Kofi’s anxious parents watch from the edge of the jungle as a nervous Kofi talks with the doctor who is about to operate on him. Dr. Sheer has watched the human version of this scenario play out again and again. 

As nurses lead a child away from the parents for the procedure, both children and parents are apprehensive. They all have to trust, quite often through a language barrier, that the surgery will help. Sometimes families travel for weeks from remote locations to have the surgery performed.

Dr. Sheer and Patz chose to keep a curl in Kofi’s trunk after his operation to reflect the imperfections that occur in real-life surgeries.

Anti-bullying groups and others are interested in using the book for educational purposes, Dr. Sheer says, which came as a pleasant surprise, as he has done little to promote it.

But perhaps the most rewarding feedback came by way of a class of first-graders who was recently given the assignment to make a drawing about the book and tell what lesson they had learned from it. The teacher showed Dr. Sheer the students’ images, with taglines like “Be a buddy, not a bully” and “Treat people the way you want to be treated.”

“We’re responsible for each other,” Patz says. “That’s really what Kofi proves.”

Kate Ansari was 14 weeks pregnant with her first child when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Following her son Mclaren’s birth—and her own surgery, hormone replacement therapy, and six-month recovery period—she eventually quit her job as a FOX 45 morning show executive producer to become a full-time mom and try to lead a more natural lifestyle.

She soon recognized the need for completely natural products for young children and expectant or new mothers that were free of parabens, dyes, artificial fragrances, and preservatives. She enlisted the help of her sister Emily Derr, and, after some trial and error, Dear Baby Products was born in March of 2014.

The sisters sold a small roster of items at local farmers’ markets in Howard County, as well as online. They saw an immediate response. In particular, the farmers’ markets served as a great outlet to get to know their market directly. While scanning message boards on websites like whattoexpect.com, Ansari also noticed that many pregnant women were looking for a variety of products that weren’t available in a pregnancy-safe form.

“There are all of these do’s and don’ts with pregnancy, so we wanted to create [a product-line] where you can buy anything from our store and feel good about using it,” Ansari explains.

They also realized that the need for Dear Baby Products is not exclusive to babies and pregnant women.

“Really, the ingredients we use are perfectly fine for anybody and a lot of things can double as an adult product,” says Ansari.

For example, the company’s diaper rash treatment, also known as “bottom paste,” is great for eczema, and the baby powder moonlights as a dry shampoo.

As the demand grew, so did their busy schedules. Both sisters are getting their MBAs online—Ansari at Carnegie Mellon and Derr at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ansari, who is in remission, now has two young children and Derr has a full-time job in finance.

Juggling their careers, schoolwork, and family can be a bit challenging, especially since all their products are handmade in Ansari’s Fulton kitchen. But Ansari’s and Derr’s hard work is paying off, with Dear Baby now being sold at Whole Foods, on Etsy, and in boutiques all over the country.

And the sisters are prepared to grow and are confident about their future. “When life gives you lemons—you don’t have to settle for lemonade. You make lotion and launch a business.”

What do you want from a child-care center? It’s probably a long list: You’re looking for a home away from home, a place that’s warm and relaxed, but orderly and efficient; nurturing and fun, but unfailingly devoted to molding little minds and preparing youngsters for the rigors of kindergarten and beyond. Of course, it must be secure—locked entries and vigilant staffers are the word of the day—safe, and clean. But not so much so that it feels institutional. It helps if there’s a highly educated and trained staff that’s been on board forever. And if it proves to be a place your child delights in attending—if he or she is bolting into the classroom, rather than clinging to your pant’s leg with a wimper—you’ll probably do a little jig as you walk out the door each morning.

Fortunately, as tall an order as it is, finding the perfect child-care center is not impossible. In fact, there’s no shortage of centers in the greater Baltimore area that offer just such an environment.

We scoured the area and turned up a host of fabulous providers, then narrowed our list to 12 we believe provide the very best in care. Read on to learn why they caught our eye.

Knowledge Beginnings

Where: Laurel Web: knowledgebeginnings.com Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., after-school care and part-time care offered. Ages: Six weeks to 12 years. Fees: $269-$288 per week. Highlights: Offers staffers a tuition-assistance program; many staffers are working toward a CDA (child development associate) certification or degree. All staffers are also trained in CPR and first aid and the center is NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accredited. Breakfast, lunch, and two snacks are included in the tuition.

Looks aren’t everything, of course, but it’s hard not to be impressed when you walk into the gleaming Knowledge Beginnings child-care center in Laurel, with its smartly polished hardwood flooring and its tastefully painted walls.

Classrooms circle a large central area that houses dedicated space for special subjects like art, science, and language and literacy instruction. It’s a clever setup that not only gives kids a nice time out of their classroom each day but also ensures that each of the main classrooms boasts plenty of natural light and direct access to the outdoors.

Other nice touches include infant, toddler, and two-year-olds’ rooms with two-way glass so parents can take a sneak peek at their little ones, plus a closed-circuit TV system that can serve a similar purpose. Inside the infant rooms, laminated pictures of the children adorn the floor, where tiny crawlers are most likely to see them. Food is labeled and color-coded to avoid any mix-ups and daily written reports to parents include more than just a recitation of diaper changes and feeding times.

The curriculum is play-based but preschoolers and pre-K students have some access to computers for educational use and can take advantage of optional “enrichment” programs in phonics, math, music, Spanish, science, and cooking.

Celebree Learning Centers

Where: Bel Air (plus 17 other locations in MD) Web: celebree.com Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Fees: $80-$230 a week. Ages: Six weeks to 12 years (for before- and after-school care), part-time care is available. Highlights: Most teachers hold bachelor’s degrees and all lead teachers have CPR and first aid training. Celebree also offers teachers financial assistance for career development. (In turn, it boasts a turnover of just 7 percent.)

It’s a gorgeous spring morning but all’s quiet in the infant room. Two staffers sit in padded gliders, each rocking a baby in her arms. (One has another infant bobbing lightly in a bouncer at her feet.) Nearby, two more little ones are fast asleep in their cribs.

 Elsewhere, the action is at full throttle. The toddlers have sunscreen on and are ready to conquer the playground, while their older peers gear up to tackle the playground equipment. In the preschool rooms, the three-, four- and five-year olds are in various stages of play.

Regardless of what they’re doing, each of the students—or “friends” as they’re called here—is almost certainly in the midst of a learning experience, says center director Shelby Logue, and that’s by design. In addition to using something called the Conscious Discipline program to teach social skills, Celebree uses another program, the Creative Curriculum, which centers on “purposeful play.”

Padonia Park Child Centers

Where: Cockeysville Web: padoniaparkclub.com Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mon. to Fri. Fees: From $939 per month for full-time care for four- and five-year-olds to $1,150 per month for infants. Ages: Six weeks to 12 years (for before- and after-school care for Pinewood Elementary students); part-time care is offered. Highlights: Preschool and pre-K staffers have bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education or family studies. The four-year-old and pre-kindergarten programs are accredited through MSDE. All staff are first-aid and CPR-qualified, exceeding the state mandate of one staffer for every 20 children.

When six-year-old Erica Gartland headed off to kindergarten earlier this year, she fell into the routine without missing a beat, says her mother, Kristen Gartland. “She entered kindergarten reading. She was prepared—she knew all the rules that you have in a structured program.”

And Erica knew one other valuable thing that many kindergartners don’t: “She’s an excellent swimmer,” says her mom. That’s mostly thanks to Padonia Park’s summer program, which includes eight weeks of daily swim lessons for all of its students over the age of three.

Located on the grounds of Padonia Park swim club, the child-care center not only has access to the pools, but also to three playgrounds and 30 leafy acres—perfect for nature walks and science activities.

So what goes on inside? Padonia has just started offering an infant program, although slots are filling up fast. For the older children, the focus, says director Cindy Carter, is on teaching independence, social skills, self-help skills, physical fitness, dealing with stress, and “academics.” Classrooms are run by experienced teachers and filled with opportunities for creative play. The result: children who are ready for school, and make a splash getting there.

College of Notre Dame of Maryland: A Child’s Place

Where: North Baltimore Web: ndm.edu/about/achildsplace Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Mon. through Fri. Ages: Three to six. Fees: From $920-$985 per month. Highlights: MSDE-accredited and seeking a Middle States accreditation. All teachers have college degrees in education or a related field.

Ask around about child care in northern Baltimore City and chances are you’ll be directed to A Child’s Place, which has an enduring word-of-mouth reputation as a high-quality early education center.

Turnover at the center, which is tucked away in the center of the College of Notre Dame’s campus, is low and the staff highly experienced. “Half the people here are grandparents, although we don’t look it,” says director Leslie Hinebaugh. But there’s also an infusion of youth, thanks to a work-study program that brings Notre Dame students in to help out. Notre Dame and Loyola University both use A Child’s Place as an observation and training site.

While there is plenty of play going on each day, the curriculum, which includes instruction in English language arts, social studies, science, math, Spanish, music, and art, is not play-based. Instead, as Hinebaugh says, “our program is a combination of academics and love.” That translates to lots of hands-on, one-on-one instruction.

Downtown Baltimore Child Care

Where: Downtown Baltimore (Its Park Avenue location will close in August, although its University Center location will remain open.) Web: dbcckids.org Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (beginning Aug. 30, currently 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.), part-time care available for all but infants. Ages: 12 weeks through pre-K. Fees: $1,049-$1,671 per month. Highlights: All staffers have taken infant and child CPR and first aid and are slated to take medication administration training this summer; many have or are working toward degrees.

You don’t really expect to hear the squeals of delight or the chatter of little voices here, in a space nudged up against the University of Maryland at Baltimore’s downtown campus. But behind the brown wooden fence on Arch Street, DBCC has carved out a little oasis of fun for the wee ones and built itself a strong reputation for high-quality care—so much so that it’s an approved trainer for the child care community.

How do they do it? First off, high child-to-staff ratios—in the infant rooms, for example, it’s 2.25:1, compared to a state mandated 3:1. And the facility itself is thoughtfully designed to spur imaginations and engage even the tiniest tykes. DBCC’s 8,000-square-foot playground—divided into a grassy clearing for picnicking and story time, an infant/toddler yard, and a preschool area—offers plenty of time for active play.

But what really defines DBCC may be its philosophy, which is heavy on learning-through-play. The center shies away from rote memorization, as well as screen time. “We have a TV and VCR, although I think it is circa 1982,” jokes executive director Margo Sipes.

Bryn Mawr Little School

Where: North Baltimore Web: brynmawrschool.org Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Mon. through Fri. Fees: Full-time for ages three to five is $16,000 for 10 months; limited part-time hours available. Ages: eight weeks to six years. Highlights: Lunch and snacks included in tuition. Great staff-to-child ratios, beautiful facility on a leafy, private-school campus; most teachers have a bachelor’s degree in education (several have graduate degrees). MSDE and AIMS (Association of Independent Maryland Schools) accredited.

When the three teachers in Bryn Mawr Little School’s four-year-old group wanted to reinforce their pupils’ understanding of the alphabet, they could have passed out photocopies and let the drilling begin. Instead, they had the 24 children lie on the floor in groups of three or four and curl their bodies into the shape of each letter. In the end, the class had an inventive series of letter-shaped photos to display in the Little School’s annual art show. “They had such fun with it. And it’s more experiential and meaningful to them,” says director Pat Wells Sheridan. “They all remember exactly which letters they were.”

It’s a good example of the Little School’s hands-on approach, which offers plenty of “planned experiences in all areas of development and learning,” says Sheridan. Of course, there’s also lots of free time, which can take place outside on two roomy, shaded playgrounds or inside, in a first-rate facility that boasts sunny rooms and educational materials strategically placed where children can reach them with little adult intervention.

Being on the K-12 campus also has its benefits: Little School students interact with the big kids and Bryn Mawr’s cafeteria provides a hot lunch for Little School students and teachers, who dine together, family-style.

Play and Learn

Where: Hunt Valley (and other locations) Web: playandlearnmaryland.org Hours: 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; part-time care available for all but infants. Fees: $194-$226 per week. Ages: Six weeks through kindergarten. Highlights: Not-for-profit, working toward MSDE accreditation; all teachers participate in the MSDE credentialing program.  

It’s go time in the infant room at Play and Learn Hunt Valley. On the floor, one determined baby is working on his crawling skills. Nearby, two infants in cribs are just emerging from sleep and are showing signs that they’re ready to be picked up. And, separated by a small gate, an older infant is sitting in a chair nibbling some lettuce.

In the children’s rooms, there’s plenty to love, too. The curriculum is based on learning through play, and the daily journals follow the children through their years at Play and Learn. “It will go in their personal portfolio when they graduate from the program,” says program director Marina Eleni Maier. Not only do the journals help teachers and parents track progress, but “it’s a great gift to give to each of the parents as a keepsake,” she says.

Temple Oheb Shalom’s Learning Ladder

Where: Pikesville Web: templeohebshalom.org/lladder.htm Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mon. through Fri. Fees: From $886 per month for full-time care for three- and four-year-olds to $1,380 per month for full-time care for non-member infants; part-time care available for older children. Ages: 10 weeks to five years. Highlights: Working toward MSDE accreditation; participates in MSDE’s teacher credentialing program.

If you hear music coming from inside Oheb Shalom’s Learning Ladder, then it must be Wednesday morning. In the spacious multi-purpose room, music teacher Becky Gordon is strumming a guitar while she and eight three-year-olds sing “Boker Tov.” (That’s Hebrew for “good morning.”)

Like the rest of the center, the room is decked out in primary colors and looks thoroughly pre-school, but the real focus here is on learning, which is done in a play-based, non-academic environment. And while not all of its children are Jewish, if you’re interested in having your kiddo learn about Jewish culture and possibly pick up a little Hebrew, you’ll find ample opportunity here.

La Petite Academy 

Where: Towson Web: lapetite.com Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Ages: Six weeks through five years. Fees: $185-$230 per week. Highlights: In the process of obtaining National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA). Breakfast, snack, and lunch are included.

For anyone eager to take an active role in shaping their child’s day-care environment, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing parents’ suggestions embraced by those in charge. At La Petite, “they want parents to bring their creativity to the table,” says Lori Hardesty, whose nine-month-old and three-year-old attend La Petite. “And they give us great support to make it happen.”

Case in point: A fellow parent’s suggestion that the center institute a “Special Person” day, in which students can invite an adult friend or relative to spend time in the classroom. Shortly after the idea was presented to the parent board, center director Emily Sweet was hard at work bringing the plan to life.

In fact, thanks to Sweet and others at the center, La Petite, which is located on the campus of GBMC, manages to create a tight-knit community of families “where everyone seems to know everybody and the teachers and staff know all the kids, even if they’re not the primary teacher,” says Hardesty.

As a parent—Sweet’s own two-year-old is a student here—”just watching my child in her classroom, I really see the teachers incorporating our philosophy, which is learning through play.”

The Learning Tree Preschool & Child Development Center

Where: Annapolis Web: learningtreecdc.net Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fees: From $189/week for three- and four-year-olds to $300/week for infants. Ages: Six weeks to four-and-a-half years. Highlights: All staffers have CPR and first aid training; 50 percent of the staff has medication-administration training; the center is accredited by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) and has a MSDE-approved preschool. All staffers take part in the MSDE credentialing program and many either have or are pursuing a degree.

When Lee and Cecelia Pfeffer left the world of public school education in 1984, they didn’t stray too far. Instead, they combined their learning know-how—he had 13 years of teaching experience; she had 17—and opened the Learning Tree, first in their home and

later in an Burtonsville office park. Sixteen years later, they’ve expanded from an original capacity of 17 children to 88, and added a second location in Annapolis that is run by two of their children, both of whom have degrees in early education.

For the older kids, there are formal(ish) school hours from 8:30 a.m. to noon and then 3 to 4:30 p.m. But The Learning Tree follows a play-based philosophy, so what you won’t find here are three- and four-year-olds sitting at desks and tackling endless worksheets. What you will find: a child-first environment and a focus on continual improvement.

“You know that old saying about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks?” asks Learning Tree vice president Lee Pfeffer. At Learning Tree, the pressure’s on the old dogs to learn those new tricks.

By August 2011, for example, all child-care centers must comply with new regulations requiring at least one staffer per center to take medication-administration training. “We already have 10,” notes Pfeffer. “And we started two years ago.”

Step-by-Step Children’s Learning Center

Where: Sparks Web: stepbystepclc.com Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fees: Full-time care ranges from $230 per week for four- and five-year-olds to $310 per week for infants; part-time care is available. Ages: Six weeks to six years, plus before- and after-school care for kindergarteners (with bus service to Sparks Elementary). Highlights: The director has a master’s degree in early education, several teachers have degrees (one also went to Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Clown College, which surely comes in handy with the six-and-under set), and others are pursuing degrees. All staffers have first aid and CPR training; infant teachers are certified in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) training. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks included in tuition.

If it’s 2 p.m. on a weekday afternoon, it’s most likely quiet at Step-by-Step, save for some gentle music floating through each of the center’s rooms. Nap time! But while the kiddies rest, the center’s teachers are in high gear, cleaning up—with eco-friendly products—and returning their rooms to order, ready for an afternoon of learning through play.

Whether they’re outside on the spacious playground or indoors in one of the center’s eight classrooms, kids here have no shortage of ways to keep busy. Learning is both structured and free-form and includes language, art, music, math, phonics, Spanish, computer classes, Rebounders (for gymnastics), cooking, and science. The curriculum is “constantly refreshed to reflect the latest trends in teaching techniques,” says center director Gabrielle Frizzera-Flowers, who opened Step-by-Step 10 years ago and whose two children attend.

The business has grown beyond Frizzera-Flowers’s expectations—her original “great room” is now a classroom for five-year-olds. That’s a good sign, but also means there’s usually a waiting list—six months or more for older children; a year for younger children.

St. Paul’s Plus

Where: Brooklandville Web: stpaulsplus.org Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fees: From $915 a month for part-time infant care to $13,950 annually for four-year-olds. Ages: Six weeks to five years. Highlights: All lead teachers have a bachelor’s degree, while assistants have at least 90 hours’ training, plus experience. Infant and toddler staff have an additional 45 hours of training.

It’s 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday and a tiny army of infants are strapped into their triple strollers. On another day, they might just sit contentedly while their teachers take them for a stroll on St. Paul’s gorgeous campus. (The center, which is co-ed, is owned and operated by St. Paul’s School for Girls.) But today they’re headed for the girls’ school’s playing fields, where they’ll roll around on a blanket or crawl on the grass. Later, they’ll head back for a snack and maybe a nap and some tummy time on a soft rug. Not a bad way to spend a day.

 And their slightly older peers have it pretty good, too. The center’s physical surroundings are first-rate, with a setup that’s orderly and well-planned and boasts lots of natural light and room to move. There’s also a robust curriculum that is “hands-on and experiential,” says director Isabel Nussbaumer. To help develop social skills, teachers use the same Conscious Discipline program employed by Celebree. And the regular school day includes time with teachers in French, Spanish, science, music, and the library, as well as visits from instructors in Abrakadoodle (for art) and Rebounders (for gymnastics). For an extra fee, parents can enroll children in afternoon activities like soccer, computers, and dance. There is a kitchen for cooking projects, a multipurpose room for indoor play, and a library.