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Thursday, January 11, 2007 - (see all news for this day)
child care - 10:21 AM
(filed under 'smiley')
yesterday, my sister (& her two girls) came out with smiley & i to look at some child care centres which are possible places for smiley to attend a couple of days a week. as well as having been through it twice with her two girls, monica was a child care centre director before she had her kids, so she knows what she's looking at & knows the right questions to ask.
we looked at four places nearby. the furthest one was about a ten to fifteen minute drive away, but the other three were within five minutes or so.
we started at the one furthest away. it was excellent. it's a c&k child care centre. monica told me that i should look for one of those because they have a well deserved reputation of being the best. apparently, c&k (i think it stands for creche & kindergarten), a not-for-profit organisation, have been around for one hundred years now! they seemed pretty good. they didn't have a very big range of play equipment in the yard, but what they did have was very good quality & the yard was large. the staff were lovely & have all been there a long time. they're also all trained to a fairly good level & regularly attend extra training.
the second place was well fitted out with lots of very cool equipment, much of it quite new, it seemed, but they'd just had a change of ownership & the comment from the "at the moment" director about how there'd been a high staff turnover recently but that she's been there for two yeras because tends to "stick it out no matter what" wasn't exactly comforting. the place smelled & the staff didn't seem overly welcoming or even happy.
the third place we walked out again straight away because we saw that they'd been recently taken over by abc learning centres, but just hadn't changed the signage yet. i've not heard anything good about abc learning centres from either staff or mothers, so sending smiley there wasn't an option. they're a publically run company (i think that's the right terminology. they have shareholders) & from what i've heard, they're more interested in keeping their shareholders happy than they are the children or the staff. not interested.
the fourth place was one literally just down the road from where we live. a walk away, we don't even have to cross a single road to get there. it seemed quite nice, & even though the director said that they're managed by abc learning centres, it's only the payroll & some other mangement thing they do, not the actual running of the place. she said that the only thing that's changed is where she sends her paperwork. we arrived around about when it was nap time & the staff seemed very sweet & caring, sitting there with the children & stroking the hair of some as they went to sleep. the yard wasn't huge, but it was a decent size & had some good quality equipment.
so there are two places which i'm considering: the first one & the last one we saw. i'm going to make a list of pros & cons of each. i was going to do this anyway, so why not here, hey? if you're not interested, you don't have to use the 'read more' link.
far place, pros |
far place, cons |
near place, pros |
near place, cons |
even though there are more bad things about the far place than the near place, the good things on the far place hold a bit more weight than the good things on the place that's near & the bad things on the near place hold more weight than the bad things on the far place .. if that makes sense.
hmm. have to think more about it. there's no huge rush to decide, because each one has enough places to fit him in, but i do want to make a decision fairly soon. he needs the extra stimulation of other kids & adults.
input from any of you is more than welcome.
did riley express a preference for either of them?
i wouldn't necessarily worry about a noisy road being a con, because you're talking about a bunch of kids all playing - they'll make plenty of noise themselves.
what is the staff-to-child ratio in each place?
what are the age group separations?
do either of them have AC?
do they close on school holidays?
why is providing meals important to you? what difference in cost does that make? sticking a sandwich and some fruit in a lunch box for riley is a very simple matter, whereas it may take staff time away from the children if they are getting lunch ready for them all.
also.. i think it's a really good idea for you to do this.. both for yourself and for riley. it is amazing the difference it makes to the child having that interaction with lots of others who are not related. and i think that learning that you can't always be the one providing everything that your child will need is a hard lesson to learn as a parent and placing that trust into someone else (not a friend or family) is a hard step. i think it's potentially harder for you even because you're on your own making the day to day decisions for smiley. good job
do be careful (i know i didn't have to say that). i have read so many terrible things about day cares. even the last building i opened used to be a day care. we had to gut it and rebuild the inside. it was so filthy. you mentioned that the closest was owned by abc and you didn't trust them. even though the staff said that they only do the payroll, they will induce their corporate will over time. if they are publicly owned (shareholders) then money is their driving force. stick with the furthest (not that far), seems to be your best bet.
are you enrolling smiley solely for the interaction aspect?
i work, so caleb's already in family daycare and gets plenty of time with other kids. however, i've recently been looking for a preschool that suits our needs for a few days a week. the difference in some of the educational programs is astounding!
good on you for doing this, though. it will be harder for you than it will be for smiley, but you'll both reap the rewards.
i was wondering about the reason for bringing smiley to daycare. and now i found the reason for your inquiries when i wrote on my site about my youngest going to a home-care person.
when taking both children to professional daycare, we felt good as they really take good care. only when there was no possibilities when trying to shift a day, we took jil-lian to a home-care taker. it's only three mornings per week, so not too much.
i feel that professional daycare is much better for improving socializing. financially, home-care is cheaper, only marginally. and home-care is only for taking care of her during the three mornings.
the decision for taking them for socializing should be easy. do it. they learn discipline and teaming up. it's in a way you'd never be able to do at home, or even with kids from family/friends.
for taking care, it's either way.
and for choosing a center, i think the local manager and the team is most important. as you wrote, the last center is run by abc, but the team seems dedicated and very nice. it may not be easy to find that out when just visiting, but try to.
since smiley now is at daycare center, i know he'll have fun and it's something you two can talk about. i've always liked talking to lin-si about her day.
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i used to work in childcare centres too as well as being a nanny - i am so glad you aren't going near an abc centre - they are dreadful & i only worked there for half a day before i had to leave cause the standards were shocking - go with the centre that you feel most comfortable leaving smiley at - i drive eliana 20mins to a centre i used to work at as i didnt trust any ones near by - good luck