BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

PHOTOSBY JEFF GRANIT staff Sidharth Mehta (c) runs with a flag after pulling it from the fence during an event in the Kiddie Olympics, held Aug. 22 at the new Kiddie Academy of Spotswood. SPOTSWOOD - The Kiddie Academy opened on Main Street earlier this year, offering residents a new option for an early learning center.

Margie Charleston, the academy's director, said the business offers day care and preschool programs for children as young as six weeks. It also will have a full-day kindergarten program in September, with transport to the Mill Lake School in Monroe Township.

Parents can sign their kids up for half-day or full-day programs, or what Charleston referred to as the "drop-in program," which allows parents the ability to drop a child off without needing to commit to a program.

She said many parents use the drop-in program as a way of getting acquainted with the center before committing time and money.

Also open to the public is the ABC, Team With Me program. Charleston said this is for kids ages 2 and 3, and meets once a week for 45 minutes. In that time, children take part in circle time story reading, participate in a craft, and finish with a snack. The program runs six weeks, beginning in September.

Braxton Jones, 3, jumps from the ramp to the hoop during the obstacle course event at the Kiddie Olympics. "It's a nice introduction for kids and their families to preschool," Charleston said.

Those interested in taking part should call the academy to get on the waiting list.

In addition to its curriculum, the academy offers enrollees biweekly themes such as a computer program, fitness on wheels and kindermusic.

"Those are specials in addition to the curriculum," she said. "In the summer, we also have field trips and a swim program for older kids."

The regular classes have a daily structure posted outside the classrooms, consisting of daily activities based on age group.

"We also have a toddler summer camp, and we do a lot of in house activities," she said.

Ava Charleston (l) and Frankie D'Aiello watch as a teacher demonstrates how the egg should be carried in one of the Kiddie Olympics events. Charleston, who is in charge of the 60 or so kids who enrolled at the academy, said she is not new to child care. Before working for Kiddie Academy she served as the director of a school in North Brunswick for seven years. The Kiddie Academy is owned by Harsh and Sonia Chadha, who own several other franchises in the area.

Nervous parents will be glad to know the academy uses Web cameras in classrooms, so parents can click on the Internet and view their kids.

"It's a nice security feature, and also fun for parents to see what their kids are doing," Charleston said.