Little Minds Universe take a trip to the village

Little Minds Universe has been an enriching and secure haven for children aged 30 months to twelve years old since its establishment in 2014. Offering an engaging summer camp program that attracts children from various regions, including as far as Queens and neighboring towns, Little Minds Universe focuses on nurturing problem-solving and critical thinking skills through a mix of staff-led and child-directed activities in their daily schedule.

At the heart of Little Minds Universe is a mission to cultivate a family-like atmosphere among students, parents, and staff while delivering top-notch childcare services. Jermaine Rucker, the founder, owner, and director of Little Minds Universe, has a deep personal connection to the program’s mission.

“Little Minds is a high-quality early childhood education program geared towards primarily providing care for low-income families,” Rucker said. “Our mission is just to foster a family-like environment among students, parents, and staff, while still giving them that high-quality childcare service that provides lifelong memories.”

Rucker’s inspiration for the program was his late mother, an ardent education advocate.

“She wanted to make sure that we graduated with our degree use that and that we took that same knowledge and poured it back into the community,” Rucker said. “So as a young African American male, I found it important to come back and serve the communities by which I was raised.”

The recent Community Helpers Week at Little Minds Universe exemplified the program’s emphasis on community involvement. Throughout the week, campers had the opportunity to explore various community resources, including field trips to the municipality building, where they met the mayor and learned about the mayor’s office, and a visit to the police department, where they gained insights into law enforcement and interacted with firefighters to learn about fire safety. This hands-on experience was enthusiastically embraced by the children as they enjoyed learning about the world around them.

To learn more about the intellectually stimulating environment program, those interested can visit their website at littlemindsu.com.