Our child has been enrolled at Darling Dolphins Childcare for a year and a half now. We appreciate them more than they will ever know. Our child has learned so much and has made so many memories and friends. Thank you for your hard work, dedication and kindness. We have nothing but good things to say about them and their family. Thank you for all you do!
1(805)980-0625
🐬Infant & toddler care ages 6 weeks through age 2 years old🐬
Open Mondays through Fridays
7am to 5pm
located in Lompoc, Ca
Small ratio of 1 teacher and 4 to 6 infants and toddlers
🐬Waitlist & Tours 🐬
Please call or text to be added to our waitlist for our next infant openings!
The average infant waitlist is usually around 6 months to a year. It is important to get on our waitlist as soon as you know you will need infant childcare.
If you would like to schedule a tour of our facility, please call or text us to schedule a weekend appointment.
🐬Ratios and Enrollment 🐬
4 infants total (under age 2) to 1 adult or
3 infants (under age 2) and 3 toddlers (age 2) to 1 adult
Little ones move on to a preschool program around age 3.
Our next infant opening will be around September 2025.
🐬 Philosophy & Mission Statement 🐬
To provide a loving, safe and developmentally appropriate environment for all infants and toddlers enrolled in our program.
We will work hard each day to create a collaborative environment with families to help each child learn and grow. We will respect each child’s individual needs, personality, learning style, interests, culture, and family background. We strive to treat everyone with respect and kindness, act with integrity in our daily actions, live our values through collaboration, find innovative ways to help serve our community and strive for excellence in all we do. We will use every experience to learn and grow and improve to keep helping families find quality and educated childcare.
🐬Curriculum🐬
We create a curriculum based on the child’s age, interests, and early childhood education. This will include fine and gross motor skills, sensory play, dramatic play, emotional and social skills, learning to color with crayons, the alphabet, counting, reading books, flash cards, colors and shapes, singing songs, outdoor play, obstacle courses, building forts and free play.
An infant and toddlers job and how they learn the most is through play.
We provide the materials, nurturing, toys, activities and environment and children will learn through experiences and exploration. We believe it is important to let infants and toddlers be little as long as possible since they are growing and developing every single day. Play is learning, it is the work of childhood.
🐬About the Owner🐬
The owner and teacher is a mom of two and has 20+ years working in the childcare industry. She loves to teach, read and go on walks. She loves spending time with her family and they love going on adventures to the ocean together.
She has a Masters Degree in Elementary Education. Her family helps her with the little ones as much as possible to provide a safe and loving home and facility.
She love whales and dolphins and are excited to combine her love for them in her childcare business. She is an advocate for protecting and educating about marine mammals. She hopes she inspires others to love the ocean and marine mammals and maybe inspire the littles ones to be future teachers, marine biologists and advocates.
🐬Their Home and Facility 🐬
Their facility is licensed and they are trained in CPR and First Aid. Their family are also all mandated reporters in Ca.
The privacy and safety of their family, home and the children they care for are very important to them so they do not post any personal information or photos of the children or their family online.
🐬Darling Dolphins Childcare Marine Mammal Adoptions🐬
We adopted the Southern Resident Orca L25 named Ocean Sun, who is thought to be Tokitae’s mother. Tokitae was held is captivity for 53 years at Miami Seaquarium and passed away on 8/18/2023. She was a cherished and beloved orca from the Salish Sea. To learn more about orca adoptions, please visit http://whalemuseum.org
We also adopted a beluga whale we named Coral who lives in Alaskan waters. Please visit http://belugawhalealliance.org to learn more about beluga adoptions. The little ones at Darling Dolphins Childcare voted for the name Coral for their adopted beluga.
Our next adoptions will be a dolphin and humpback whale! 🐬🐋
🐬We love to read!🐬
We believe reading builds confidence and character and helps children gain important cognitive and literacy skills.
Reading helps children gain empathy and compassion for others and use their imagination.
Children learn important social - emotional skills by building bonds with their caregivers and exploring different topics such as friendships, emotions, spreading kindness and how to problem solve.
A picture of our Ocean Library is below
🐬🐋🦭🐠🌊🐙🐳🐢🦀🐟🦈🪸🦦
🐬Enrollment Fee and Tuition🐬
For all newly enrolled families, there is a non-refundable $500 enrollment fee due with the first week’s tuition. This covers the last two weeks of childcare.
*Weekly tuition is $250
This also allows us to purchase a folder for each child’s paperwork, to buy drinking cups to remain at school, ink for paperwork, diapers and curriculum supplies. It also allows for the wear and tear of toys and of our home to maintain a safe environment for each child.
* Please keep in mind everything for our business is paid for out of pocket.
This also will ensure families are serious about enrolling their child so we can run a successful educational environment and business.
*The $500 Enrollment Fee and $250 first week’s tuition is due before the child starts their first day.
*We send families our parent handbook and contract when they schedule a tour.
Only full time Monday through Friday care is provided
Diapers & wipes are provided by the facility
Food, formula and milk is provided by the families
🐬Family Childcare Role🐬
Family childcare is not babysitting or being a nanny. It is not comparable to any childcare center. It is families in relationships with a professional childcare provider in a family home and small business. It is designed to be a second home environment and families who trust each other, care for each other, partner together and educate each other to provide the best care possible to each child.
🐬Qualifications & Expectations🐬
Being licensed helps our home and business ensure it is safe for the children we care for.
Everyone in our home is fingerprinted and cleared through the DOJ, FBI and CACI. We are all mandated reporters and CPR and First Aid Certified.
Kindness, integrity, empathy, a good moral compass and building healthy relationships are very important to our family and business. It is very important we have families that we can trust with their words and actions and that trust us, knowing their babies are loved, nurtured and taken care of every day.
We want our home and business to be a safe and happy place for each child and family enrolled. We want families who respect our rules and values, appreciate us, can communicate in a healthy and respectful way and will work together as a team to help their child thrive.
Because this is also our home, we will choose which family to enroll after we have completed tours for a spot opening.
🐬When to Keep your Child Home & Illness Policy 🐬
Child is running a fever of 100 degrees or more
Runny nose that is green/ yellow
Constant runny nose and cough that lasts more than two weeks (and has not seen a doctor yet)
A new rash anywhere on the body (excluding eczema or psoriasis)
Child is vomiting or has vomited in the last 24 hours
Head Lice or Bed Bugs
Diarrhea (Child has 2 or more loose bowels in the last 24 hours)
An eye infection (red, yellow or white mucus and has not seen a doctor)
Unusually tired, lack of appetite, confused and cranky, in pain, or lethargic.
Sore throat or earache (and has not seen a doctor yet)
We understand common colds and runny noses happen. Please just be mindful, it is likely every child, teacher and child’s family may catch the cold. Exclusion from daycare is not required, but If the runny nose and/or cough lasts more than 2 weeks, please keep your child home and take them to the doctor though.
Please be aware it is very common for children to get sick once starting daycare because they are around other children in a group setting. This is with any daycare; home or a center. Eventually children build immunity over time. Building immunity to illness while children are young can help prevent more illnesses when children start elementary school because they have been exposed to the germs already.
🐬 License 426215921 🐬
Testimonial
Testimonial
Our child is attending this wonderful home childcare program. We are very grateful for them and all of the love and support they have given us. They are a wonderful asset to our community and provide excellent care. They go out of their way to make sure each child knows they are loved and special. We know our child is in great hands every single day.