Wednesday, 17 September 2008
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Daycare School: How Do You Choose?
by Mama Whale
I have decided to enroll Baby Whale in daycare so that she can have a head start in learning. I also want her to interact and get along with others. I recently visited a couple of places in the city and I'm pretty impressed with one of the daycares centers - what they do and provide. The school provides a lot of fun and learning activities, such as learning Chinese, piano, ballet, and more. I'm pretty psyched and want Baby Whale to go to school, rather than be cooped up at home. I checked several things and made sure it's a licensed daycare center and that they have a fire drill safety. I also made sure that the facility is clean and that they sanitize their toys when they're done being played with. I hope it will go well and that she will have a good start in going to a daycare center.
I have just finished filling out all the paperwork and submitted my forms and put down my registration deposit. Baby Whale will be starting school the first day of October. A part of me feels sad about not seeing her all day, but I have decided to work part-time until I find something else. I want to be able to help and save up for a home. This is one of my goals to be committed in working towards getting a home that we all can benefit from in the long run. I signed her up from 8:30 am till 6:00 pm - hopefully she can adjust to this kind of schedule. Of course there will be nap time in between and the teacher will try to get her to sleep. My heart aches of leaving her, but metaphorically she's a baby bird that has to eventually learn to fly.Did you send your young children to daycare? When looking for a day care center, what factors should be considered before enrolling your kids in the school?
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Comments (13)
none of my children have gone to daycare or preschool.
Good luck with your little one's first day
I work 2 days a week at a Mother's Day Out program at a church so my 3 year old and 1 year old go with me (to their own classes). They enjoy it and I enjoy being around other children and adults. I also like that I know all their teachers since I work with them. I know how the program is run so I know what they are doing each day.
my 2 year old is also from 8:30-6pm. the daycare that we send her to is pretty good. she learns a lot from there than at home
I don't have kids, but I went to preschool at age 3. The only thing I remember is that I loved doing crafts and paining because we didn't do that at home.
I went to daycare when I was a little older in the summer and I pretty much hated it.... But I was 2nd grade or so then.
hey. i just read this and wanted to say that me and my sister went to a great preschool ( we both went to the same one ) and i remember learning things early and when i finally hit elementary i was at ease because i was ahead in most subjects already ( reading, writing our names, the alphabet, etc..) and now me and my sister have straight a's.
just wanted to put some input=]
i think it's great that you are choosing day care. depending on how old your daughter is, she will benefit hugely from it. i work in a day care center, and i actually don't recommend day care for children under 1 year for a variety of reasons. we, of course, take infants, however, i personally don't see the benefit. my son stays w/ my MIL while i'm work, he's only 4 months old. most day cares will provide a preschool like environment, it just happens to be all day. here are some things to look for: how long have the lead teacher and the asst teacher been there? the longer the better. what is the day structure like? how long are the children expected to do a certain activity? younger children have shorter attention spans. is there at least 2x a day when the children go outside or somewhere for large muscle movement? also, each state has rules and regs for liscened day cares, you can look them up at your state DSHS website, and you should. are there enough toys for all the children? is there a variety of toys? you might want to check to see if there are any children w/ allergies in the center. you might not be allowed to bring certain foods for snack, etc. if the center provides meals, do they meet USDA regs for nutrition?
i hope i'm not making you nervous, any quality liscened center will meet all these requirements and more. good luck to you in your new adventure!!
I have my 19 month old daughter in "preschool". It provides time for me to have me time and to get stuff done around the house. Not to mention it helps them socialize with other children that way it's not such a shell shock when they finally do enter kindergarten and are constantly surrounded by crying, whining children their own age.
I was traumatized by daycare, my son has weekly playdates for socializing but he won't ever see daycare...he'll start preschool next year though. (you better believe I will scrutinize every detail of that school too) I hate the thought of strangers essentially raising our kids as much as 8 hrs of the day. Kids are so easily influenced and they pick up such awful habits from other kids. I'm just paranoid maybe but I'll NEVER forget how awful it felt to be in daycare. I actually have a certain type of panic when I smell this perfume my daycare teacher wore. It's so weird...I know
We're keeping her home until preschool (older 3). And we'll probably start off with 3 days a week only. It will be a hard transition when we have to make it. This is what works for us. Having been a former pre-K teacher, I have a long list of factors, but an important one to me is teacher-child ratios. I feel like all the others fall into place when a caregiver doesn't have too many children to look after. If the ratios are high, the teacher will probably be too exhausted or overwhelmed to really watch over the kids carefully or clean the place up. But with that said, I hope Baby Whale has a great time. I hope that while I was a teacher that the kids had fun and learned something from the time I was with them.
http://weblog.momaroo.com/mamajoyjoy/673118643/child-care-ratios.html
I grew up in the daycare system and I am now an engineer. So it must not be that bad. My oldest has been in daycare since he was 12 weeks and my youngest will just be turning 12 weeks and just starting daycare.
I would make sure that older kids will be served hot meals and I would ask about alternate learning activities besides what is taught in the classroom. Our daycare has side classes for different subjects, Reading, Math, Music, Physical Education.
K - going to be the 'bad guy' here I guess. I just don't understand how such a young child benefits from daycare or 'school' at such a young age. Up until like age 5 or 6, the best way for them to learn is simply through play. Playing with colored block shapes, looking through books, being allowed to scribble with crayons, exposure to all sorts of things...all things a parent can do just fine at home. And they are generally able to get much more attention from you at home than they will at a large daycare center. There is no reason to push kids into structured learning at such a young age.
I totally understand that there are situations where both parents work and you don't really have any other choice. And I also understand putting a child in daycare for an hour or two a few days a week if you have things (say working out) that you 'need' to get done (or just need the time for sanity purposes). But I don't get putting your child into daycare to 'get a jump start to schooling'. Sorry, but that just seems completely backwards to me.
Yes, socialization is good for kids. Find a playgroup you can go to once (or more) a week. Take them to the 'babygym'. These things still include the parent (what the child really needs). The first 'schooling' my kids got was 4 y.o. pre-school and they are both now doing work above their grade level. (My 3rd grader reads at the level of an average 6th - 7th grade level.)
One other question...how is 8:30am - 6 pm part time? That is 9 hours in daycare, they sleep for maybe 11-12 hours at night (at least mine do)...that leaves them with only 3-4 hours of parent interaction in a day!
Sorry, off my soapbox now.
@mamamonkey - woah Monkey I understand where you are coming through. I have thought of this and I love spending the days with her while I was a SAHM but at time like this I would really want to work again cause I'm still young and I still need to be in the work field.
The hours of day care is not part time, but what I meant is that I'll be working part time and there are days that I could take Baby Whale in early or late to school. Don't worry it just temporary till we figure out the schedule.
@mamawhale - See, doing it because you want to go to work again is totally different than your first sentence which says
"I have decided to enroll Baby Whale in daycare so that she can have a head start in learning"I was more addressing that part b/c I totally disagree that putting a child in daycare gives them a jumpstart acedemically. If you are working, you are working and you need somebody to watch your kids. I wish you the best luck in your work :) Hope I didn't offend you, I was just meaning to state my opinion not judge you.