Washington County Weekend Post

2 • WASHINGTON COUNTY POST • SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2021 GMTODAY.COM By Karen Stokes Special to Conley Media JACKSON — Twenty six years ago, after much research, it was revealed that Jackson was in need of a child care center. Kiddie Kampus was founded to meet the needs of the community. Even today, 51 percent of Americans live in communi- ties classified as child care deserts. Kiddie Kampus at N168 W22224 Main Street provides care for children from six weeks old to the age of 12. "The center was built for individual classrooms so we can group the children with their own age group," said Lisa Schill, director at Kid- die Kampus. The children that are five and up can be dropped off at the daycare and transported by a school bus to school. "This is helpful to par- ents. They have one destina- tion to drop off their chil- dren in the morning and pick them up in the after- noon," said Schill. According to a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study, primary grade teachers applaud the way quality day care centers prepare chil- dren for elementary school. Children learn structure and routine at a young age and centers teach the ABCs, early reading, simple math and science and even general hygiene skills to their stu- dents. "We do help with the basic learning that they will need when they go to school," said Schill. "Day- care is helpful for children's socialization, they are very outgoing. I just feel they develop friendships so much more in this setting, they have that great interaction playing with other children. According to care.com, Kiddie Kampus encourages the children's holistic growth through play-based and child-centered activities. They aim to develop the children's social skills, emo- tional growth and physical coordination. "We do age appropriate programs. We do morning preschool programs which are structured with the older children. We do a letter a week, sounds and work on properly writing the letter. The younger ones do art activities and projects," said Schill. Kiddie Kampus is open Monday through Friday, 6 a.m.-5:30 p.m. For more information on enrollment, call 262-677-1234. Kiddie Kampus helps fill childcare needs in Jackson Children kick start early learning Chicken and Rice Casserole 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into cubes (approximately 1 1/2 - 2 pounds) 2 cups of water 2 cups of instant white rice 1 10.75 ounce can of cream of chicken soup condensed 1 10.75 ounce of cream of celery soup condensed 1 10.75 ounce of cream of mushroom soup condensed 1 envelope of Lipton onion soup mix salt and fresh pepper to taste Preheat oven to 400 degrees Grease a baking dish ( 9x13 baking dish) Mix everything in a bowl, (except the Lipton onion soup mix) and transfer to a baking dish. Sprinkle the Lipton onion soup mix on the top of the casserole and cover with foil. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 1 hour. Serve with a side salad or your favorite veggies. Submitted photo Kiddie Kampus was founded in October 1995 mainly due to a lack of daycare centers in Jackson. Submitted photo Lisa Schill reads to students at Kiddie Kampus.

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