Mothers Day Out to start Friday

By Sam Waller

Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church will begin its Mothers Day Out childcare program Friday at MMPC.

Mothers Day Out director Brandi Lehew said the program is open to children ages 1 to 5 who haven’t started school yet.

“We have a monthly curriculum that we follow,” Lehew said. “We learn Bible stories and music. We’ll have arts and crafts and take field trips.”

The program runs Mondays and Fridays through May 23, the Monday of the last week of the school year.

“We follow the Albany ISD school calendar,” Lehew said.

She explained that the program is structured like a normal school day.

“We learn and color, and have different activities in a classroom setting,” she said. “We do it all. We have naptime, lunchtime, and recess.”

Registration for the program has ended with 24 children enrolled.

“We’re full for this year,” Lehew said. “We’ll open it up again in the spring for the next school year.”

Lehew said enrollment in the program tends to vary from year to year.

“Last year, I think we had one 1-year-old,” she said. “This year, we have a really big group of 1- and 2-year-olds.”

Lehew is in her first year as director after teaching in the program for two years.

“We’re excited to start the new year,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of new teachers who are really excited to take on instructing these little ones. It’ll be a fun year.”