The childcare visit
So, I visited the home day care today. It is easily accessible from school and the freeway. The woman seems nice and there is a nice mix of ages of the kids. Of course, today was a holiday so not all the kids were there.
Things I liked:
- the baby was held most of the time I was there until they put him down for a nap.
- they have a schedule and include kids of all different ages in things like circle time and projects
- they celebrate birthdays and try and include a variety of holidays
Things I didn't like:
- when they put the baby down to nap (in another room but it is open..no walls so not a big deal), they turned on some music and in my opinion it was too loud...
- the kids ate snack while working on a project using glue...as far as I could tell no child ate glue, but it could have easily happened...
After leaving there, I thought I had better call some other places as well. So, I called the day care centre that was on the list given to me by the childcare resource service and which I passed on the way to this day care home. Their fee is way more than I want to pay, but I did go and take a tour. I also called one other centre that was even more expensive.
When I got home, I called the other day care homes on my list..three don't anticipate infant spots, one insists I pay for summers, and one was not home.
So, I switched to calling about places near my home as opposed to near my work. The day care centres are much more reasonably priced here. Just slightly more than the home day care I visited this morning (like 5 dollars a week more...). I tried two home day cares but received no answer and left messages.
What do I do? I thought I wanted near school in case there was a problem, but maybe near home isn't so bad...It seems to be cheaper than the city I work in (which is also why I can't afford to live in that city!). I can't decide if the home day care I visited today was acceptable for me or not...I was quite bothered by the eating while gluing...but maybe that was just because they were distracted with me there? I don't know...Any opinions?
Edited to add: I received a call back from someone I called this afternoon. Another home day care, near the school, and 200/month cheaper than the other home day care...LOL. Now why is this one so cheap? Who knows..but I will visit her tomorrow afternoon. Also, she only has 4 kids..I like that there are less kids.
Things I liked:
- the baby was held most of the time I was there until they put him down for a nap.
- they have a schedule and include kids of all different ages in things like circle time and projects
- they celebrate birthdays and try and include a variety of holidays
Things I didn't like:
- when they put the baby down to nap (in another room but it is open..no walls so not a big deal), they turned on some music and in my opinion it was too loud...
- the kids ate snack while working on a project using glue...as far as I could tell no child ate glue, but it could have easily happened...
After leaving there, I thought I had better call some other places as well. So, I called the day care centre that was on the list given to me by the childcare resource service and which I passed on the way to this day care home. Their fee is way more than I want to pay, but I did go and take a tour. I also called one other centre that was even more expensive.
When I got home, I called the other day care homes on my list..three don't anticipate infant spots, one insists I pay for summers, and one was not home.
So, I switched to calling about places near my home as opposed to near my work. The day care centres are much more reasonably priced here. Just slightly more than the home day care I visited this morning (like 5 dollars a week more...). I tried two home day cares but received no answer and left messages.
What do I do? I thought I wanted near school in case there was a problem, but maybe near home isn't so bad...It seems to be cheaper than the city I work in (which is also why I can't afford to live in that city!). I can't decide if the home day care I visited today was acceptable for me or not...I was quite bothered by the eating while gluing...but maybe that was just because they were distracted with me there? I don't know...Any opinions?
Edited to add: I received a call back from someone I called this afternoon. Another home day care, near the school, and 200/month cheaper than the other home day care...LOL. Now why is this one so cheap? Who knows..but I will visit her tomorrow afternoon. Also, she only has 4 kids..I like that there are less kids.
posted by Katrina | 1/16/2006 12:56:00 PM
4 Comments:
You may want to consider that when you're sick it's simply heavenly to take the baby to day care so you can get some rest, and it's easier to do that when you're nearer home.
If they call you, the baby is sick and you will have to leave work to get him/her, you'll just have to drive a little longer to get to a daycare near your house.
Ah just one more thing that I have to look forward to...childcare...there is one main reason I want to teach in New Haven and that is because there is a FANTASTIC preschool that I would LOVE my child to get into...actually 2 that I know of that I've already visited and LOVE LOVE LOVE. I'm sure they are way out of my price range but their programs are so fantastic!
I don't know. What bothers one person probably doesn't seem like a big deal to the next person. I would personally follow my instincts. If you're getting this feeling not to use this home daycare, for whatever reason, I would definitley look elsewhere.
I think the daycare has potential. I wouldn't worry about the loud music during naptime - I have found that infants who are used to sleeping with chaos and noise are wwwaaaayyyy better sleepers (at least in my house it works that way.) They do the same thing at naptime at C's daycare. Now eating snacks while working with glue....gotta wonder about that one. Hope the visit to the newest possibility goes well. ~Carolyn
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