Kiddie Academy
by Laura Breen Galante
Kiddie Academy is an educational child care provider that offers learning for infants and children up to age 12, with convenient locations in Sanford/Heathrow and Longwood/Lake Mary.
Kiddie Academy participates in the Florida Department of Education’s VPK Program, a kindergarten readiness initiative. The child care center strives to meet or exceed the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program’s criteria, with a curriculum that includes language and literacy, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), social and emotional growth, gross and fine motor skills, Character Essentials, and music.
“Our greatest goal is to get children ready for kindergarten, not only academically, but also socially and emotionally ready,” says Karina Rodriguez, executive director of the Longwood/Lake Mary and Sanford/Heathrow locations. Husband and wife Ted and Hilda Cockram are the owners.
Teachers at Kiddie Academy follow activities guided by the school’s proprietary Character Essentials curriculum, which focuses on building foundational character traits such as respect and compassion.
“Not only do we teach children how to start their educational journey,” says Karina, “but we also teach them how to be a good person.”
At Kiddie Academy, children practice expressing emotions, following routines, and taking ownership of tasks, which build self-confidence, empathy, generosity, and patience. Four-year-old VPK students work on interpersonal skills that are essential for emotional development. In the classroom, they are taught about making friends, recognizing socially acceptable behaviors, working together to complete tasks, and asking for or offering help.
Students develop language and literacy skills through age-appropriate books. Kids write words, draw pictures, make connections between letters, words, and sentences, and do introductory reading and writing. They even learn some Spanish. Excelente!
Fun STEM activities include building patterns, identifying numbers and sequences, and using measuring tools. Learning through music and dance encourages an understanding of rhythm and tempo. Kids also improve their motor skills and learn about nature by tending to an on-site garden, where they help grow spearmint, tomatoes, and vegetables.
At Kiddie Academy, students take the FAST (Florida Assessment of Student Thinking) readiness exam. The educational child care center also holds parent-teacher meetings three times per year to ensure that all children are kindergarten ready.