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Preschool and Activity Fair offers help to parents scrambling for child care

The Bakersfield Californian | Wednesday, Jul 23 2008 11:24 AM

Last Updated: Wednesday, Jul 23 2008 1:46 PM

The kids might be in denial, but the school year is creeping up.

And with school comes the need for day care that pleases parent and child.

RaisingBakersfield.com, a Californian-affiliated online community for local parents, is taking the drama out of the day care scramble with its free Preschool and Activity Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Riverview Park gymnasium.

Around 20 preschools, day cares and activity providers, from public to religion-based groups, will be on hand to share information about their programs, says Jason Sperber, content manager of RaisingBakersfield.com.

American Kids Sports Center and Pump It Up drop-in playtime will be among the companies at the fair. California Pizza Kitchen and John's Incredible Pizza will offer refreshments.

Sperber, father of a 3-year-old girl, knows from experience that it’s tough to know where to start with so many options out there.

“You can get overwhelmed and we just want to be able to help a little with that,” he says.

RaisingBakersfield.com, launched on Mother’s Day, offers up-to-date family-friendly events calendar and interactive features, such as blogs, discussion forums and photo sharing.