For Emily Hartmann, it was always in the cards for her to open a daycare.

“I always loved working with children,” Hartman said. “I worked at a children’s theater when I was in high school. In college. I did a lot of nannying and I was a substitute teacher. I really just love working with children.”

Hartmann now owns Lavender Lane Early Learning Center, a personalized childcare space inspired by child-lead learning settings. The center is able to host six children. 

When Hartmann was at Endicott College, she focused on early education settings and was drawn to the Reggio Emilia and Waldorf approaches. The Reggio Emilia approach emphasizes child-centered, hands-on, project-based that nurtures a child’s natural curiosity. Waldorf is very similar, fostering a holistic development through outdoor activities, arts, and other community building crafts. 

“There’s so much academics now in kindergarten and even pre-school. It’s really wild,” Hartmann said. “They’re supposed to be building blocks and knocking them over to learn emotional regulation…the power of play is so important and underestimated in our culture. People think that if they’re playing they’re not learning, but how they learn is play.”

Lavender Lane Early Learning Center is designed to let children explore at their own pace. 

“I’ve basically been building the collection of resources since I was practically in high school,” Hartmann said. “I have a million children’s books and toys.”

The space is set up for free play, or as Hartmann calls it, “an invitation to play.” She rotates through areas, setting them up intentionally for play. There’s mats for tumbling, tons of books ranging from Eric Carle’s “Hear Bear Roar” to Claire Evans’ “The Croc and the Soc,” as well as a space for children to use their imagination more with blocks.

The blocks are “open-ended,” Hartmann said. A single block with a few gems might be food one moment and money the next in a pretend restaurant. There is no fixed purpose, as nothing limits the toy from being just a cat, sandwich or a ten-dollar bill. 

Hartmann has even made crochet food to accompany a kitchen set. There’s a burger, tomato, chicken wing, egg and even eggplant for the children to play with.

The group also has morning songs, and they talk about the weather. At the same time, if a child is not interested and wants to quietly read a book instead, Hartmann said “that’s okay.”

“It’s not actually developmentally appropriate for kids to have to sit that long at their age. It’s only normal or expected for one minute per age,” Hartmann said. “So if you have a two year old, them sitting and listening to something for two minutes is huge, and that’s where they should be. Kids are labeled as hyperactive if they want to move around, but that’s literally what they’re supposed to do. They’re kids.”

While “parallel play,” where children play side-by-side without interacting, is typical for children under five, Hartmann said her environment encourages deeper social development.

Hartmann’s 2-year-old daughter was playing with her friend in a playhouse and asked for some cookies, when the other responded “coming right up” and pretended to make the cookies and served them.

“That’s like kindergarten-level play,” Hartmann said. “When they have the environment and I’m not breathing down their back being like ‘play with this,’ ‘look at that,’ ‘what color is this,’it just kind of comes naturally and they learn from each other.”

She believes this kind of growth is essential to children’s development. The play allows the children to create a social awareness, Hartmann said. They’re learning, even if it doesn’t look like stereotypical classroom study. And while Hartmann still helps with counting and color recognition, she’s “setting them up for a better attitude toward learning.” 

“If they’re at four years old doing worksheets, then they go into a regular school, then they go to high school, high school to college, when are they playing?” Hartmann asked. “When are they being children? It’s so underestimated.”

Hartmann is now looking to expand her learning environment. Lavender Lane Early Learning Center is open from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“I feel like I have a lot to offer other families but still have that small group setting where I can give individual attention to each kid,” Hartmann said. “When you’re in a big setting, you really have to focus on basic needs first and then it doesn’t leave as much time for individual care and attention. Having a small setting, it’s like a classroom but it’s not 20 kids.”

Hartmann said she’s seen growth in both her daughter and stepson since they’ve been a part of the program. 

“Being able to be with me but having this socialization and learning how to be around other kids and all of that, she really learns from the other kids. They all learn from each other,” Hartmann said.