Having worked in early childcare for some years, artist Elena Aguirre dreamt of having a place where she could offer her family and daughter a peaceful, art-filled education experience. As owner and founder of Wunderkind Learning Company, in Garfield Ridge, her dream came true.
On June 7, Aguirre marked her successful business’ two-year anniversary celebrating the “transition” of the preschool children who are moving into kindergarten. Younger students also performed as part of the ceremony.
Wunderkind employs the Reggio Emilia Approach, an educational philosophy emphasizing a child’s personal growth process rather than numerical age.
“I started researching for an education philosophy that aligns with my approach,” Aguirre said. “We include some Montessori principles but Reggio Emilio is what spoke to me the most because of its art.”
Aguirre, an artist, loved the way the Reggio Emilio Approach communicates emotions and ideas, she said.
The philosophy embraces childrens’ right to learn by reaching individual potential. Based on the idea that each child has 100 ways of thinking, emphasis on expression,, understanding and encountering differences unites all levels of experience rather than isolating one experience from the other.
“It’s having the freedom to explore,” Aguirre said. “Wunderkind is not a regular daycare. Reggio Emilio emphasizes the classroom as a third teacher. We offer areas that children can explore through art with different materials. Our teachers are guides who connect with the children’s natural curiosity and follow what the children want to learn.”
Erika Changuan, Wunderkind’s director of operations’ duties include ensuring smooth daily operations and activities including teacher and families’ support.
“We are planning to do more,” Changuan said. “With the help of our consultants we have individual meetings for families depending on each family’s need to ensure we are meeting everyone where they are to provide the best services possible.”
After two years in business, Wunderkind’s success and student waitlist grabbed the local Alderman’s attention.
“I’m very proud of this new addition to our neighborhood,” said Alderman Silvana Tabares (23rd) who spoke after the ceremony. “As a working mom, we rely on childcare; they are really doing good work. I want to see them continue to grow. We have a lot of families here, a lot of working moms who believe in the program. I wish them the best!”
With childcare being one of the most expensive costs for Chicago parents, funding continues to be offered via the Childcare Care Assistance Program. The program is funded by the federal government and the State of Illinois.
According to the “2023 Report on Childcare in Cook County,” a CCAP increase in income threshold to 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) in fiscal year (FY) 2022 and another in FY 2023 to 275%, allowed more Cook County children to remain on the program. Initial income CCAP eligibility also increased to 225% of FPL at the same time.
Still, childcare remains unaffordable for many families despite rising income over the previous 10 years that isn’t keeping up with rising childcare pricing.
Wunderkind continues to accept federal Childcare Care Assistance Program funding and has not been affected by federal funding cuts because none have occurred.
Operations Director Changuan pays attention to funding for families.
“It’s nerve wracking thinking that funds can be cut off,” she said. “Every child deserves the opportunity to receive a quality education, not just people who can pay for private daycare. Hopefully it doesn’t happen and funding continues for families who need it.”
Despite challenging financial headwinds for all early childhood education providers, lead pre-kindergarten teacher Soraya Grihalba remains dedicated to her calling.
A long-time Reggio-Emilio teacher, Grihalba believes in its education philosophy.
“As teachers, we are guiding our students,” she said. “Young children begin discovering the environment by themselves. They directly explore their surroundings by investigating and making a hypothesis about what they see, touch, smell and hear. That’s how they learn. The teacher guides each student by answering their questions.”
The students learn based on their own choices and classroom and mini-environments created based on interest in topics acts as the third teacher in the Reggio-Emilio philosophy, she added.
Parents Brian and Christine Lewis said the school’s location is not only convenient but its Spanish immersion inclusion was what they wanted for their daughter Estelle.
“We went in and loved the people, the teaching style and its Spanish immersion, our daughter’s learning a lot of Spanish and they care,” Christine said. “They take a lot of your feedback; it’s been a great experience.”
