Hello! My name is Rachel Corcoran 
. I am 34 years old and have an 8 year old daughter. I started doing daycare when my daughter was 2. At the time I was working in a nursing home as a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. I was doing therapy for 7 years. During my time in the field I worked with several different patient populations including the elderly, brain-injured adolescents and adults and developmentally disabled children, adolescents and adults.
When I had my daughter, I realized I had a lot to offer children. I am fun, enthusiastic, patient, silly, caring, creative and energetic. I spent the first couple of years looking into how to become a home daycare provider and preparing my home to meet and exceed OCCS (now EEC) standards. I feel there are many benefits to having children learn in a home environment. Having an OT background, I appreciate the importance of learning by doing in real life situations. The home environment offers many opportunities for practical learning and it also offers a sense of comfort to children to be involved in normal everyday routines.
I have now been in business for over 5 years and have a full house. I have a license for 10 children and 1 assistant. My house is open all year round and I provide a structured yet flexible schedule which includes a preschool curriculum, meals, play time inside and out, rest time and lots of TLC.
Throughout the week we do many activities, usually theme based, in the areas of math, science, language development, dramatic play, art, music, computers, books, sensory and manipulatives. The children have daily opportunities to develop language, cognition, fine and gross motor skills, socially, and in personal care.
I believe that young children need support, love, structure, and consistency. They need space to explore, move and feel safe in. Young children need variety in their daily schedules and creative outlets for self expression. Children should not be hurried; they should be given enough time to complete tasks and activities to minimize stress in their daily routines. Young children need clearly stated, fair, and age-appropriate limits that are explained in a way that helps them understand why they should comply. Children also need to be fed nutritious food to foster healthy brain development. They need to feel safe and protected. Young children also need opportunities to be successful and opportunities to challenge them. Healthy self-esteem develops from a child feeling competent, worthy and in control. I believe that young children deserve respect, individual attention, to be heard, and to be advocated for. Children should never be humiliated. Children are worthy of the same common courtesies we would expect for ourselves.
I have my CDA (Child Development Associate) and have taken many workshops and a couple of college courses including Early Childhood Development and Behavior Management. I am affiliated with Home Health and Child Care and Community Partnerships for Children
Helping children to enter the world with a positive outlook and a complete and secure sense of self is my every day objective.
