Shining Stars Child Care Celebrates Success of Year One
Shining Stars Child Care, located at 1017 Laurel Street in Marshfield, is celebrating its first year at this location. Owners Mark and Deb Decker previously had another child care center for four years, which merged with this new location. A 30+ year veteran of the industry, Deb officially acquired the facility in October 2016 and has since dedicated her time to repainting, repairing, and rebranding the former facility.
“We’ve painted every wall, cleaned, and the atmosphere is now more child-friendly,” said Decker. “Staff morale is better now, too.”
Decker is proud of the transformation to the child care facility in the last year, and it is obvious she has brought her skills and experience to Shining Stars. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Family and Social Science from the University of Minnesota, Decker is also an active member of the WCCAA (Wisconsin Child Care Administrators Association).
Decker is dedicated to ensuring the best possible environment for the children in her care, and one aspect of her teaching philosophy is “play-based learning.”
“It’s the whole idea that children learn best through play,” said Decker. “For example, what do kids learn while they are in the sandbox? They learn math skills: size and quantity. They learn sensory, the hard and the soft, and social skills, like how to share. The list goes on. It works because most kids learn at a different rate.”
“One of the greatest benefits of play is developing social competence,” she added. “Kids get to make their own choices. If they don’t learn how to problem solve at this age, how will they when they are older?”
Along with play-based learning, employees are encouraged to be creative, resulting in a fun and educational environment for children.
“We offer an emotionally healthy, nurturing, and secure environment,” said Decker. “My philosophy is children thrive when they are provided the opportunity to play. Our schedule involves both inside and outside physical play, and integration of music and creative expression.”
Accommodating to parent’s lifestyles is another important value at Shining Stars Child Care, and with this in mind Decker and staff maintain an open-door policy for parents and caregivers. Everything they do is with the best interests of the child in mind.
“We’re always about the kids. Everything is child-initiated,” said Decker. “I like to empower the staff to allow them to be creative, but we all follow our licensing and Young Star rules.”
Also impressive, the most recent of regular inspections by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families resulted in no violations.
Shining Stars Child Care is open weekdays from 5:00am-6:00pm and conveniently located just off of Veteran’s Parkway. They offer flexible payment plans and employ highly-qualified staff. Those interested in enrolling their children are encouraged to call and take a tour of the new facility.
