By Stephen Stirling
Mimi and Friends Day Care may have new ownership and a new name, but new owner Khanh Phan said the only changes being made to the decade-old business are changes for the better.
Mimi and Friends is now known as Funday Day Care Center and Phan said the same teachers will be offering the same great instruction, but with a twist: All students will be taught entirely in English in the morning and Mandarin in the afternoon, rather than in English only.
“It will give them a big advantage growing up,” Phan said. “I got the idea because I saw a young boy in Flushing speaking to his mom in Mandarin and then ordering food in English for her. I thought to myself: Everyone should have that opportunity.”
Phan said Funday Day Care will serve children from 2 to 5 years old and will teach students basic knowledge in both languages.
“They’ll learn things like the days of the week, the months, holidays, everything you would normally learn,” she said. “But in the afternoon, it will only be Chinese, no English speaking will be allowed.
Phan said taking over the small facility, across the street from Kissena Park at 47-49 162nd St., was a dream come true for her.
“I’ve always wanted to open a day care center,” she said. “I like it here because it’s not so big, so I can really look at everybody and know all the students.”
Phan said all of the teachers at Funday Day Care were previously employed by Mimi and Friends, which she feels is important to making returning parents comfortable with the new instruction.
“I had a former student here come and enroll her first child here just the other day,” Phan said. “There’s a reputation. A lot of the kids, when they get home they talk to their parents about the things they learned and their teachers. ‘Mommy I learned this today.’ We teach them rules, too, so when they go home they are well-behaved.”
Funday Day Care Center will host an open house for parents interested in enrolling their children Aug. 29 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, interested parents can call 718-460-8552.
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at sstirling@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
