New York, NY
Basic Trust

Basic Trust (BT) is a not-for-profit childcare center committed to providing a safe and loving environment for infants, toddlers and preschool children. Each child is nurtured and supported in a home-like setting with mixed age groupings. We let the children into our lives and together we explore the world as part of a rambunctious family.

(http://basictrust.org)

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Breakfast With the babies Ellen is frying banana fritters in the kitchen. Sophie and Tess sit on the counter munching bananas and watching the batter brown. Out in the front room Rafiyah is reading to Owen and Sam. Stephanie is zooming from room to room with a shopping cart. Eric puts Dylan to sleep away from the hubbub with a song and a bottle in the crib room. Emily and Alex get the other kids' hands washed for morning snack. The fritters are served to everyone's delight. Seth eats three and asks for more. Elias likes to smash his in his hair. The Toddlers Get The Giggles Sofie thought it would be fun to draw with crayons. Molly wants to know why the paper needs to be taped down. Tess couldn't wait for her paper to be prepared and tore it off the table with great zeal and proceeded to color the torn shreds. Sam dashed over to see what he was missing but decided it was more fun to patrol the room with Daniel whose face held a permanent grin.

Later, riding in the buggy to the park Sam pointed out every parked car as 'mine'. Once there Alex, Sam and Sofie spent a long time climbing. They took turns checking in with Eric, a quick hello was fine for them but Molly wanted to cuddle up on the bench, until she saw Tess (who was her own entertainment today). Her giggles and laughter amused Molly and were so infectious that Jack and Sofie joined in first and then she had us all giggling. That lasted all the way back to BT. We never did find out why she was laughing. Raining Flowers: The Big Kids In Central Park Sam B., Renee, Nicholas, Ishan and Linus are out with Mary on this lovely morning soaking up the sun in Central Park. Renee spies a black and white spotted horse eating grass under a tree. After a chat with the 'horse lady' the group saunters on and discovers a beautiful pink tree in full bloom. They spread out a blanket and pull out food and watercolor paints. Ishan and Linus eagerly take some paper, and as the others follow, a gust of wind blows in and showers everyone with petals. All five kids holler 'It's raining flowers!' Linus says, 'No, it's raining petals of flowers, actually.' Sam B., 'It's like snow!' and Renee, 'No, it's like soft tortillas!' After a short painting session, everyone jumps up and races around. Nicholas starts a jumping-over-the-water-bottle game which is an instant hit and all the kids line up to take a turn...A very sweet, idyllic morning. (SOURCE: A BT DAY page at www.basictrust.org)

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