Malden early ed. center makes life easier for families
Kaley Brown / Special to the Free Press Observer| Wicked Local
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Her mom called her children and grandchildren "little love bugs." When her mother was battling cancer, she encouraged those little love bugs to show support with symbols of ladybugs as opposed to the classic pink ribbon.
Today, Rosemarie “Missy” Raduazzo’s recently-opened Little Love Bug Learning Center in Malden on Eastern Avenue keeps her mom’s legacy alive through its name and its practices.
Raduazzo and her business partner, Erin Traver, made the decision to start their own daycare after becoming burnt out in their respective fields. Raduazzo had spent 35 years in traditional education while Traver worked in the restaurant industry for nearly two decades prior to starting up Little Love Bug.
Traver is actively enrolled in college studying early childhood education as she seeks to become a licensed teacher at the daycare.
“This has been a lifelong dream of mine, to own my own daycare,” Raduazzo said.
Through her experiences in over three decades-worth of education, Raduazzo took note of what she did and did not like about traditional childcare and has blended all of her knowledge into her ideal version of a learning environment.
Raduazzo particularly disliked how she could not amend certain norms she disagreed with in the field of education, hence why she decided to open her own daycare where she made her own rules.
The long hours, year-round operation and ability to be flexible with parents’ schedules makes Little Love Bug Learning Center stand out amongst other daycares.
The preschool opens at 6:30 in the morning, with drop-off starting at 7 a.m., and closes at 6 o’clock at night, which allows many families the opportunity to go to work without worrying about arriving to work late or having to leave early because of strict drop-off and pick-up times.
Andrea Rawlinson, mom of a 3-year-old currently enrolled at Little Love Bug, said the daycare’s flexible hours are the best part of sending her son there.
“I don’t need to get him there at a certain time or drop him off at a certain time,” Rawlinson said, “which has made it easier to get him there on the days that I start work earlier or later.”
Traditional daycares often give firm times for families to bring their child in and pick them up at the end of the day that are rarely able to be amended based on the guardians’ everchanging schedules.
The idea of offering flexibility to parents was initially geared toward first responders who often work rotating shifts; however, Raduazzo and Traver say families of all kinds find this initiative beneficial. Allowing families the opportunity to drop off and pick up their children at different times every day can take another stressor off of parents.
Traver also explains that Little Love Bug’s 11-and-a-half-hour days give families the opportunity to keep their child at one daycare as opposed to searching for two different locations in the morning and in the afternoon, which can be costly and inconvenient for some.
Similarly, Raduazzo and Traver came up with the idea of curating programs for families with children of varying ages to utilize during school holidays and vacations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many parents to rapidly use up their sick and personal time due to unforeseen circ*mstances, a situation that can make caring for their children while they are on school breaks difficult. Little Love Bug offers a school-age program that allows parents to drop off and pick up all of their children in one place while the young ones are on vacation.
Raduazzo and Traver do not close the learning center for any longer than a couple of days at a time during the holidays, making childcare advantageous for families who are not able to take time off of work.
Little Love Bug also cares for children with disabilities, something that Raduazzo said few daycares are able to offer, especially amid the pandemic.
“If it’s possible to do it, then there’s no reason why we shouldn’t,” Raduazzo said.
Many learning centers turn away families looking to enroll their special needs children due to a lack of funding or staffing required to adequately care for them. However, Raduazzo and Traver try to accommodate every child they can regardless of their needs.
Little Love Bug also offers drop-in care, which gives parents the opportunity to bring their children to the learning center on short notice and who have irregular schedules. This form of childcare can also allow a parent to participate in activities with their child on the premises of the preschool.
Raduazzo and Traver acknowledge the pandemic has heightened anxiety among parents in a number of aspects of life relating to their occupation and the safety of their children. They hope to relieve at least a little bit of collective stress in the lives of the families they serve.
Traver, a first-time mom to a 1-year-old boy, was nervous about enrolling her child in the Little Love Bug Learning Center, despite being a co-owner of the daycare. Handing off her child to someone she did not know was not easy because she and her family were all that her child knew prior to starting at the preschool due to the pandemic.
“The best thing for my son was bringing him here,” Traver said. “In the month-and-a-half that he’s been here, his language has exploded and he is almost crawling finally.
The benefits of bringing [your child] into a daycare setting are exponential,” Traver continued.
Rawlinson echoed similar sentiments as her son had never been in daycare prior to being enrolled at Little Love Bug. She said her son and all of the teachers have a great relationship and her child has benefited from having structure through naps and lunchtime, something that was not as easy to stick to at home.
“It is a blessing knowing he is in good hands as I’m walking away,” Rawlinson said.
Pandemic pressure
Raduazzo and Traver are committed to providing a safe and educational environment for children ages 5 and under, many of who have been affected developmentally due to the pandemic, being unable to traditionally interact with children their age and acquire mastery such as gross motor skills.
As the days start to get warmer now that spring has sprung, Raduazzo, Traver and their staff are excited to give the children even more time outdoors, something that both of them feel is crucial to young ones’ education.
The pandemic also largely reduced children’s time outside as many have been stuck inside for much of their lives since March 2020, if they were even alive at the time. Little Love Bug is looking forward to doubling its playground area as outdoor classrooms that feature sand sensory stations, water troughs, mud kitchens and even places for infants to take naps in the fresh air.
Traver also noted that allotting more time for the children to be outside helps lessen some parents’ worries about COVID and other illnesses their kids may be more prone to catching if they were spending the majority of the day inside.
The two women behind Little Love Bug hope to serve Malden and neighboring cities by allowing the parents of the children they take in to serve their own communities and taking at least one weight off of their shoulders through reliable childcare.
“We both realize that we’re not going to be millionaires doing this, but we want ourselves, our teachers, and the families to be able to live comfortably with a good work-life balance,” Raduazzo said. “Our goal is just to do the best that we can and to make changes and a difference when we can.”
Kaley Brown is a journalism student at Endicott College.
