Amanda Klingman
Home Child Care Provider
April 8, 2019
After ten years as a property manager, Amanda Klingman decided to become a home child care provider. She founded her business based on what she felt parents wanted and needed, that their children would feel safe, secure and loved. She also desired to provide availability that is needed for working parents. Fourteen years later, she loves every minute she spends with the children and knows she made the best decision for her and her family.
"I felt a need to provide everything I wanted for my own child and couldn’t find in the area where I worked. Now I am that provider for other children.”
A major component for Amanda to consider herself a quality provider is to ensure nutritional meals and snacks are served. Her motto is "If you make it, they will eat it" and she takes pride in finding different healthy recipes the children enjoy eating. Amanda teaches the children how food helps the body, takes them to the store for healthy shopping, and involves them in kitchen activities. She credits her CACFP sponsor with helping her understand nutritional labels and providing a strong support group.
Amanda enjoys making learning events special for the children. They attend Field Trip Friday together, visiting places like the zoo, aquarium, parks, and holiday picture opportunities with Santa. She even completes these trips with matching outfits! Amanda keeps her expectations consistent – teaching manners, kindness towards others, and overall behavior skills.
When a child joins Amanda’s child care, she welcomes them into an “extraordinary family.” Her hope is that the kids will love each other like siblings and she is able to make a difference. Caring for them like they are her own, she helps parents as much as she can and works to incorporate cultural, dietary and learning differences treating each child as the individual that they are. Her greatest joy is to simply take time to watch them play and enjoy life realizing everything does not have to be complicated.
From South Windsor, Connecticut, Amanda has been a CACFP participant through Access Community Action since 2009.