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Welcome to
Family Daycare in Sammamish & Issaquah, WA
Our caregivers also speak Mandarin with the children every day.
Play. Learn. Grow.
Because we're a family childcare home, your child isn't moved from room to room as they grow. They stay in the same familiar space, with the same caregivers, while the activities and expectations grow with them. Younger children learn by watching the older ones; older children build confidence and empathy by helping the younger ones. It's closer to how a family works than how a school works — and for children in their first years, that's exactly what they need.
Ages & Stages
Infants
Warm, responsive, unhurried
Infant care is about trust. We follow your baby's own rhythm for feeding, napping and play, and we keep you closely in the loop with daily updates on sleep, bottles, diapers and the little milestones you don't want to miss.
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Individual feeding and nap schedules — we follow your baby's lead
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Lots of floor time, tummy time and being held, talked to and sung to
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Safe, clean spaces for rolling, sitting, crawling and pulling up
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Daily notes so you know how the day really went
Toddlers
Busy hands, big feelings
This is the heart of our program. Toddlers are learning to walk, talk, share and manage very large emotions in very small bodies — all at once. We give them room to move, safe things to climb and pour and stack, and patient adults who help them put words to what they're feeling.
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Sensory play: water, sand, dough, paint, textures
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Early words, songs, finger plays and picture books every day
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First steps toward routine — handwashing, cleanup, sitting together for meals
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Gentle support with sharing, turn-taking and big feelings
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Outdoor time every day the weather allows
Preschool
Curious, capable, independent
Two- and three-year-olds want to do it themselves — and we let them. The day has more structure now: a morning circle, a project, outdoor play, story time. Children begin noticing letters, counting what's in front of them, and building real friendships.
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Colors, shapes, counting and letter recognition woven into play
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Art, music and building projects that children choose themselves
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Growing independence: shoes, jackets, cleanup, self-serve snacks
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Learning to ask, wait, share and use words to solve problems
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Potty learning supported at your child's pace, in partnership with you
Pre-K
Ready for what's next
Our oldest children take on real responsibility: helping at snack time, leading a song, showing a younger friend how something works. Alongside early reading, writing and math, we're building the skills that actually determine how kindergarten goes — focus, following multi-step directions, and confidence speaking up in a group.
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Letter sounds, name writing and early reading readiness
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Numbers, patterns, sorting and simple problem solving
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Longer attention span through projects and group activities
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Leadership and helper roles within our mixed-age group
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Kindergarten readiness conversations with you before the transition
Our Approach
Small Steps Childcare is a licensed family childcare home in Sammamish. We're small on purpose. With only a few children in our care, we can follow each child's own pace — their naps, their appetite, their interests, their hard mornings — instead of running everyone on the same schedule.
Most of our children are between one and three years old, the age when the world is brand new and enormous. So our days are built around play: water and sand and paint, blocks to knock down, books to hear again and again, and time outside whenever the weather lets us. Along the way children pick up words, numbers, colors and the much harder skills — waiting, sharing, trying again after something falls over.
Because we're a home and not a center, children stay in one familiar space with the same caring adults as they grow. Younger ones learn by watching. Older ones grow confident by helping. That's how families work, and for children this age, it's exactly what they need.
Play, Learn and Grow.
What Parents Think
I was nervous about leaving my one-year-old anywhere. By the second week she was reaching for Weilin before I'd even put her down. That told me everything.
Parent of a toddler
What I noticed first was how tired and happy she was at pickup — actually played out, not just held. And they always tell me something specific about her day, not just 'she was good.'
Parent of a two-year-old
It's a small home with a few kids, and that's exactly why we chose it. Weilin knows my son — his moods, what he'll eat, when something's off. You don't get that in a big center
Parent of a preschooler
