Working Mom Runs Daycare
Allie Peck has been running Stepping Stones Daycare in Noel for almost two years.
Allie Peck has been running Stepping Stones Daycare in Noel for almost two years.
She started the business because she was working at her grandfather’s convenience store cooking hamburgers and French fries and she had to be away from her children all day.
“I realized I didn’t want to be away from my kids and I wanted to start my own business,” she said.
Peck went back to school to become certified to run a daycare. She said Trudy Townsend of Jane was her inspiration. Townsend, who has a daycare, watched her children while she was in school.
She told me, “You can do this, girl!”
Peck’s schooling took one semester, but the licensing process took a year. She had to make sure her space, which is considered a home daycare, was safe and that she had all the required equipment. She had to complete a lot of paperwork such as her CPR certification, evacuation plan and safety procedures. Once she got the daycare open, though, she found she had something she really enjoyed.
“I love being able to spend time with my own kids. I also enjoy teaching the kids and watching them learn and grow,” she said.
She purchases preschool curriculum that she tries to incorporate into the day, she said. The majority of children at the daycare are ages 3 and 4, although Peck cares for a couple of infants and takes children up to age 10.
Of the curriculum, she further explained: “We will learn about a certain topic. They have to color, cut, paste, and it goes along with our theme. The themes are weekly. For ocean week we made a crab, learned about submarines and did a water activity outside.”
Peck said there are hard aspects to her job, such as challenging behavior from the children and being the only worker.
“There’s no time off. You’re here five days a week from 7 to 5 and you can’t be sick. You have to have lots of patience.”
She also noted that keeping up with state rules and regulations is challenging, because those are constantly changing.
“For the most part, I love it, though. It’s pretty fun. Kids are fun,” she said.