Mon 22 Jan 2007
Ok, How About Day Care?
Posted by Liza under Personal, The Real Live Boy
You folks are very helpful in the Big Scary Expensive Decisionmaking department! Wanna help us think through next year’s day care?
We could stay in our current location, or, a space opens up in another spot near the house in May, a few weeks earlier than we really need it. Here are the factors:
Current Location Pros:
- They love Noah
- He’d be in the same building, but likely to move to the toddler room in approximately June (maybe as late as August)
- One of the toddler room teachers babysat for Noah during a school break and also is an early morning caregiver, so he already knows her and is comfortable
- Less than 5 minute drive from our house (but just barely too long to walk unless Highly Motivated)
- Spanish semi-immersion. Current and toddler class have native Spanish speakers who talk to the children in Spanish, and it’s clear from the 3-6 year olds that they understand it easily.
- Toilet Training. Toddlers wear underwear, and we are told that although this is a giant laundry commitment for the first ~6 weeks, Noah would be using the bathroom like a big boy, possibly as soon as the end of the summer.
- Montessori education. This gets more meaningful around age 3 and beyond, but IMO, can be valuable in the toddler room. The lead teacher is not yet Montessori certified, but she is well underway, and gets good reviews from parents.
Current Location Cons:
- Extremely expensive. The most expensive we know about in our metro area.
- Closed all the freakin time. One week at Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving; 2 weeks at Christmas and New Years; close to one other random day per month.
- No “menu option” — we have to send meals, even in the toddler room.
- A lot of staff turnover since we started. None since November….
New Location Pros:
- 40% cheaper. FORTY.PERCENT.
- Even closer to our house. Five minutes walking — maybe 10 if a toddler is also walking.
- Meals and snacks are included, although we can provide substitutes when/if we choose.
New Location Cons:
- No particular educational philosophy
- No native Spanish speakers in the classroom
- The administrator seems to want to wait until March or April before giving us the full tour, although they say we have a spot
Other: Both have at least one other lesbian family, with children older than Noah. Current has no others Noah’s age; New, we don’t know. Neither is NAEYC accredited.
Should we switch? What should we be thinking about as we decide?
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:56 pm
As I have yet to go down this road, min is just a personal opinion based on all you’ve told me about his current school…
It seems to me that with as MANY issues as you’ve had with the current school, including frequent staff changes with out any warning, you are not getting your 40% more monies worth!
That aside, I don’t know why you mind that there is no native Spanish Speaker in the classroom. You don’t speak Spanish at home, and Noah could learn a 2nd language a little later, like we did.
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Que te hablas?!
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:03 am
The early exposure to language is critical if you want him to have a good chance at fluency, especially without an accent… but maybe you could do baby music tapes in Spanish, and Spanish Sesame Street?
I’m a little concerned that the new place doesn’t want you to see it now. Are they just busy, or hiding something they’re trying to clean up?
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:37 am
“The earlier, the better” is the general agreement as far as 2nd language learning goes. It’s very cool to see toddlers who can just barely communicate in English monosyllables listen and follow instructions in Spanish.
WRT the “come on the tour in March” thing, to be fair to new place, when Noah and I showed up to pick up a packet, it took them more than 5 min to answer the doorbell, and another almost 5 min for the administrator to come and talk with us. They might just be busy.
Also, they’re the only center in our community with no web site, so they might have less demand because mostly they’re found by foot/car traffic or word of mouth.
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:39 am
I would hold off making a decision on the new place until you have taken a tour. And on the tour make sure that parents are allowed to drop in unannounced. It is a huge red flag if that is not the case.
Make sure the place is clean and child friendly (they have toys where kids can reach, they have art or other projects made by the children up where the kids can look at them, they get down to the kdis level to talk and play). Not having any particular educational philosophy isn’t necessarily a bad thing, ask to look at the materials they use with the kids. Most places have lesson plans and such made up ahead of time. If they have none of that, you might worry.
If you need more info or stuff to read about choosing child care email me and I’ll find you some links - I don’t have time right this minute.
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:05 am
Oy.
I have to say, IMHO the “no tour til March” compounded with the wait for help doesn’t bode well for me. But I’m an instant, long-term gratification kind of girl.
I think that you’ll probably find the same or equal issues wherever you go. Although I do agree with Anna that you’re not getting your 40% more monies worth.
That being said, does the stability they provide and the early language immersion program outweigh the assumed convenience and bargain of the New Place?
And when do you have to make a commitment to either re-enroll Noah in the Current Place or to enroll in the New Place?
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:13 pm
The main plus for me is that they do love Noah and I’m relatively comfortable with the community there as a whole.
The main minuses for me are the cost compared to other places, but perhaps more importantly, the number of days they are closed. I’d love to keep Noah at his current location for at least another year, but the school’s calendar might be a deal-breaker for me. Thoughts anyone?
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Not-a-parent-caveat hopefully in place…
Current place: While I agree the spanish semi-immersion is a big plus, the lack of menu options, staff turnover and somewhat unreliable calendar all sound like ongoing annoyances you could live without.
New place: The postponed tour raised a flag for me too, but if they provide decent food and are both cheaper and closer, I would consider changing if you felt they got on well with Noah.
Good luck with the decision!
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:12 pm
We’re supposed to sign a new June-to-June contract by Feb 1 for the current place.
Booski? Is there any chance you can call the new place and see if they’ll let you come get a tour this week, before you go (further) South?
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Thinking about Noah’s overall well being and the wellbeing of your family. What the heck do you do when your current center is closed all the freaking time?
It seems a bit strange to me that they won’t give you a tour now. And it also seems a red flag to me that they took so long to answer the bell and get a director out to see you. Maybe not the director bit, but a good center should have enough staff that such things don’t take so long. Maybe it was a one time thing — a rough day or whatever, but if it happens again I’d watch out (I worked in daycare for 10 years) other things I’d check:
Do they let parents drop in whenever? If no, then pass them by, if yes then find out when the transition times are (between meals, outside playtime, naps) because those are the times that are most crazy, and you want to see how they handle crazy. Are their menus posted in advance? are their schedules posted for each class? do they have lesson/activity plans to show you?
About the old place. I must admit, I’m not there, but from what you’ve said here it seems that the only thing they’ve got going for them is a love of Noah. That’s a big thing, true, but… I’m also concerned about the potty training thing. Does he have to be ready to potty train to move into the toddler room? That seems absurd to me. He may be ready, but he may not be. So, if he’s not, are they really going to hold him back from the more stimulating environment his toddler brain needs? Or is potty training going to become a big deal?
Finally, they’re that expensive but they don’t provide any meals, and they’re closed large portions of time? Since I worked in daycare I know that most centers don’t really care about paying fair wages and benefits like time off, and that’s why a lot of places would be cheaper than this place, but is it worth it in this instance? When it comes down to it, what other things could you be doing for Noah or the family with that 40%? And is there a third option?
We pay a private caregiver (licenced with the state) the same price we would pay a large center, she takes the standard holidays off, plus a week for a vacation (about what I get from my job) and we know all the money we’re giving her is going to her. She gives excellent care, individualized attention, she’s flexible with our schedule, she loves Julia, and she’s licensed.
This is long enough. Email me if you want me to ramble more…
January 23rd, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Hey there Liza- as you know we are Atlanta neighbours- and I used to live very close to your actual neighbourhood.
Email me and I’ll tell you about the fabulous place Baby G attended when we lived over there. Everyone was really great, it wasn’t that expensive, there were quite a few lesbian families, they potty trained- but with kids wearing pull-ups, they gave both breakfast and lunch- AND when I worked longer days I would send Baby G’s dinner and they would happily warm it up and feed him dinner too!
Hope ya’ll are doing well!!!!
January 23rd, 2007 at 4:53 pm
I THINK I know the New location of which you speak, and I know another woman in my profession who uses them. She admits to their being disorganized about administrative things but she says the child care is FINE. We kept trying to get a tour and they were disorganized about coordinating it. But I think it’s probably fine, esp. cause Jill can check in from time to time fairly easily, right?
Good luck. Did you try C. H.s (the city’s school run day care?)
January 23rd, 2007 at 5:59 pm
I meant to suggest just dropping by to check the new place out.
I know around here, the drop-in is a GIANT tell-tale for things to come. When they’re expecting you (say, for a scheduled tour), it’s like everyone is on their best behavior. But the drop-in, you can get a really good idea of what’s what–especially, as Trista mentions, during transition times.
I don’t use daycare myself, but both my m-i-l and s-i-l are in the biz. So… that’s my 30 cents, as it were.
I don’t envy your decision. But I know you and Jill will make the choice that is best for Noah and for your family. Good luck!
January 23rd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Sounds like you already made up your mind. 40% is huge! When we were looking at daycare/pre-school options for our kids, we came to a lot of the same conclusions. We switched and are happier for it. Switch!!!
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:11 pm
The New Place, Kat, is not on either of the streets between your old apartment and our place; it’s another street in towards downtown. And it looks like 2 small houses converted together. Right place? Or were you thinking of a place near the hospital? That place had a disconnected phone number.
Re the City — I had NO IDEA there was a city school run day care. Thank god we’re having this discussion now! There’s a parent info session on Saturday!!!
Oh, and the High School has just been accepted as an IB candidate school! Very exciting.
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Harry! Hey!
Yeah, I don’t want to renew. But I’m afraid I’ll regret it if I don’t.
The school facility looks really nice. It’s only 1.5 years old, the entire school is early childhood (0-3, plus pre-k) and they are working on getting NAEYC accredited. I have high hopes for the information session.
January 24th, 2007 at 9:00 am
I know we live in different places… BUT… We use a private inhome care facility licensed by the commonwealth (state). Masssachusetts has some pretty strict licensing regulations (I spoke to the licensing board in my area at length) and I checked her references. She ADORES Alex and he’s been there since he was 8 weeks old. He has Spanish immersion, meals provided and she is very flexible with hours and days. She has the standard days off that we have and thats pretty much it. There are 3-4 other children there with Alex and she has one assistant. I might add that she is also MORE affordable than any other place we looked at in our area, by alot. She doesnt have a fancy place, but she has love and care and toys and she pays alot of attention to Alex’s care and learning. We’re very happy with what we found.
I say switch. You are not getting what you are paying for at your current place.
January 24th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Just a boost for the Spanish. If he can get it at that age, he will retain it and pick it up later SO much better. Not to mention he will have a shot at a good accent. Age makes a huge difference for that. He stops being able to integrate new phonemes (units of sound) at around 3.
January 25th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
What matters MOST is that you are all comfortable with Noah’s care. That means spending time at the verious options and trusting your gut — are the children laughing? Are parents smiling when they drop off/pick up? Just spend an hour watching how the staff talk to, touch and deal with the children. That has generally worked for us. Good luck!