Educare Lincoln holds open house

Educare is essentially an all year round preschool for low-income families. 

Around 300 teachers from 15 different states went to Educare Lincoln on N. 14th St., next to Belmont Elementary, to learn about their teaching programs.

Educare Lincoln focuses on social and emotional skills. They have routines everyday to make sure their students are prepared for kindergarten. 

“We focus highly on serving children that otherwise might lack opportunities and provide them the type of experiences and research-based preschools practices that help them enter kindergarten ready to learn and be successful,” Michelle Philips, Educare’s interim executive director, said. 

Educare Lincoln uses “continuity of care.” They take children as young as six weeks. When the baby starts at Educare, it stays in the same class for three years. 

The teachers say children need predictability and a routine to build strong relationships. 

One Lincoln mother has taken four kids to Educare, and said the experience has been amazing. 

“It gives us the consistency of childcare for our kids and we know they’re in an environment where they’re actually learning, especially those social, emotional skills that they’re going to need for school,” Angel Manzo, a parent of a student at Educare, said. 

The other early childhood teachers from across the country plan on taking some of what they learned from Educare back home. 

“We have been opened up to so many more opportunities for our classroom, and to bring back with our fellow coworkers and colleagues and our family back in Oklahoma City,” Katie Mordford, a teacher in Oklahoma City, said.