Before Jennifer Tommasini ventured into the childcare business 25 years ago, she already had a list of ambitious goals. While working long hours as a restaurant manager, she wanted to ensure her son had exceptional daycare. After trying five different centers and finding none satisfactory, she realized she could create something better. Pregnant with her second child, she made a bold career switch.
First, she did her research. “I came up with a business plan for high-quality care,” she says. She then quit her job in the restaurant industry and became licensed as an in-home daycare provider.
Her business flourished. Today, The Gift of Kids Daycare and Preschool occupies a spacious, state-of-the-art facility on Golden Foothill Parkway in El Dorado Hills. The company employs 35 dedicated teachers—CPR and first-aid-trained professionals who have been educated in childcare and genuinely love children. It serves families with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, pre-kindergartners, and kindergarteners. Around 200 children regularly attend the center’s vibrant half-day and full-day programs.
Throughout the years, Tommasini’s passionate approach to early childhood education has endured. “Learning and love go hand in hand,” she emphasizes, reflecting The Gift of Kids’ core philosophy. “Love and respect!”
The center’s bright, cheerful environment includes classrooms designed to feel homey and warm. Age-appropriate displays and toys foster learning through play and movement for the youngest children, with a more structured curriculum in phonics, counting, reading, and writing as the kids approach kindergarten age. Yoga, music, and Spanish language are included in the center’s curriculum, and extras such as “soccer shots” and hip-hop dance are available. An acre of outdoor land provides ample space for play, gardening, and other exciting activities.
“We want children to continue a journey through life after preschool with knowledge, kindness, and respect,” says Tommasini, who keeps up with the latest studies on the best methods in childhood education. The center incorporates the FasTracKids and The Creative Curriculum programs into the mix and includes weekly focuses (letters, colors, animals, sight words, and Spanish words) and subjects such as self, the five senses, numbers, shapes, modes of transportation (trains and helicopters!), countries, and more.
For the children, learning is intertwined with fun, offering plenty of unstructured playtime and opportunities to make friends and socialize. For Tommasini and her staff, it’s serious business. To ensure the safety and security of the children, she says, she’s committed to following best practices in every area. “We are regulated by the state department of social services and take that very seriously,” she says. They hold professional development training sessions and role-play scenarios to keep teachers well-prepared.
Additionally, The Gift of Kids partners with Quality Counts, an El Dorado County program that provides resources to child educators for goal setting, documentation, and even stipends and scholarships for teachers. “It’s important that teachers are supported and have an opportunity to also learn and grow in the childcare field,” says Tommasini. This helps prevent excessive turnover.
The Gift of Kids maintains low child-to-teacher ratios. Not only does it take many hands—and minds—to keep up with kids, but bonding between teachers and children is crucial. The center has a “continuity of care” program, where some students and teachers move to the next level of learning together. For example, Tommasini’s daughter Brittney Kelly, who graduated with her degree in child development from Chico State in 2022, has been teaching 3-year-olds at The Gift of Kids and will teach Pre-K this coming fall.
Education comes into play not just for the children at The Gift of Kids, but for the teachers—and Tommasini herself, who graduated from Walden University with a degree in early elementary education at age 45. “My daughter and I went to college at the same time,” she says. “It’s never too late!”
Some of the center’s preschool teachers participate in an apprenticeship program (a partnership between The Gift of Kids, Delta College, and El Dorado County Office of Education) that enables them to earn early childhood education (ECE) credits for free. These students have on-site mentors at The Gift of Kids—where they’re engaged in hands-on training—and support staff at the office of education. It’s one of the many ways the center provides an enriching environment for children and teachers—all of whom are learning together.
Jennifer Tommasini’s journey from restaurant manager to childcare provider is a testament to the power of passion and perseverance. The Gift of Kids Daycare and Preschool stands as a shining example of how one person's vision can positively impact a community, fostering growth, love, and lifelong learning.
Learning is wrapped around fun, with plenty of unstructured playtime.
Bonding between teachers and children is crucial.