OUR STORY

Damaris: Owner

I created First Steps Home Childcare over 15 years ago from my love of children and my interest in their development. My desire to ensure that all children were loved in a safe and nurturing home environment became the catalyst for me to open a daycare to service the needs of working parents in the Chicago area.  I wanted parents to feel secure knowing that their child was well cared for while they returned to work and help their children establish good behavioral habits early on in their lives.

Here at First Steps Home Childcare, we not only foster a loving atmosphere, but we actively engage with your child to help them progress through the stages of growth and development as outlined by the American Pediatrics Association.

I have participated in the childcare industry since I was a teenager – helping my aunt care for children in her own daycare – where I watched after both infants and toddlers on a full-time basis.  Having my family be in the industry for over 50 years, has afforded me hours of experience in daycare set-up, nanny/babysitter training as well as sleep training and behavioral modification.

I am finishing up Early Ed teaching degree at Northeastern Illinois and am a graduate of Harrington College and have more than 100 hours of continuing education in Child Development and Early Childhood Education.  I also completed a Fellowship in Child Development in Paris, France.

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