Advice- Daycare Issues

emmy236

Ok ladies I want to know if I'm overreacting or not. R's daycare is a very posh (ie expensive) place. The classrooms are small and the babies, toddlers and 2 year olds are separated into classrooms by 6 month age groups. So young toddlers is 12-18 and older toddlers is 18-24. Well R is till in young toddlers and we've been told for a month that he's loving up any day. Well I finally tracked down the directed and she told me there wasn't space for another 2 months yet other toddlers who are R's or younger now going. My issue is that this is a school where the loudest mouth parents seems to get their way. I had always said that I wouldn't be that mom but today I wrote an email telling the director how unhappy we are that R won't move up until he's 21 months old and we want something to be done. Right now he's the oldest and the other kids are basically babies and some aren't even walking yet. Am I making too big of a deal out of this?

TundraGirl

I don't think writing an email is overreacting at all. If the kids are supposed to be grouped by age and your son isn't with his age group, you have every right to let them know you're not happy.

DiFazette

I would do the same. It's important to me that O is in class with the same age or older for development. I don't think following up is extreme. I would voice your concerns... it's your job as a mommy to advocate for your LO.

emmy236

Thanks Ladies. R is over in that room for parts of the day and he's bigger than the almost 2 year olds. His teachers in the young toddlers say he shouldn't belong there. I know the kids who went who are R's age have really aggressive parents. I'm just beyond frustrated because we pay what seems like an ungodly amount for this school because they said they assured us kids would be in the right rooms, get personalized attention etc. I wrote the email a few hours ago and no response yet. I'd understand if it was a few weeks but 3 months?

Angela183

I don't think you overreacted at all either. I would have done the same. Keep us posted.

blush64

I agree with others who say he should have been moved and it was right to write an email to find out what is going on. I would have emailed and asked to make an appointment. I would not want to be a trouble making mother either but I would want to know exactly what is going on and I would want them to know I am not letting it go. I guess I do not want to be a loud mouth parent but sometimes I will if necessary. 

I do not agree that size has anything to do with moving up. A smaller kid who is past the younger kids developmentally does not belong there any more than a larger child would even if the smaller kid is closer in size. 

emmy236

Well the official response was that all 7 kids has birthdays from April to May and since R is 5/28 he was the last so he was left back. They took no consideration for skill level. After speaking to his teachers, they acknowledged he should not be in the lower room but basically had "hoped I wouldn't be upset". I was livid. Like picture Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation when he gets the jelly of the month club bonus. Finally the director acknowlegded that the room isn't completely full either. He can be there MWF (apparently they weren't going to tell me in case a child whose parents wanted PT could fill that spot). Again my blood boiled because now I really feel their profit was over my child's best interest. So @beaubecca the reason was that we are younger, nice people and they hoped we wouldn't notice and they wanted to maximize their profit. I obviously can't know for sure if all 7 kids had birthdays a few days before R's or not. Either way I'm furious.

surpriseaddition

My concern would be that this will be an ongoing problem. When this bubble of kids hit 24 months, I'm sure they'll tell you he needs to wait to move into the next room too (since he entered the older toddler room late... the kids who were in there longer deserve to be moved first). I would press them on that issue too and get assurance that he'll be moved to the 2's exactly when he turns 2. GL!

emmy236

@surpriseaddition‌ I've asked that question twice today work no response!!! Ugh if the teachers weren't so amazing Id leave. I've looked at he other day cares near our house and none is as nice as this. A Goddard school just opened next to R's school and are the same price per week but they don't provide lunch.

smg2302

That is so frustrating! I'm sorry you are going through this. I still don't understand how they have room MWF but not TR. Do they offer 2 day a week part time? Do yo know you love the teachers in the next level up? Administration issues are a big pet peeve of mine, almost enough to move my LO.

MamaMD

I do not think you overreacted and I'd be annoyed too. They should not be deciding who's in what classroom depending on parent preference and who pushes the hardest. If there's set rules about when the kids move up, that's the only thing that should matter. If there's really no space then I'd understand but I'd expect that to be rectified in a short amount of time. This is their job/profession, they should be able to manage class sizes/teacher ratios appropriately. I would not be OK with my kid staying in the younger class an extra 3 months. And if I found out that there really was space but they just were hoping I wouldn't notice/care, OMG that would make me insane!

emmy236

Thanks Ladies. I'm dreading going in tomorrow and seeing that woman.

hbrockman01

emmy236 said:

@surpriseaddition‌ I've asked that question twice today work no response!!! Ugh if the teachers weren't so amazing Id leave. I've looked at he other day cares near our house and none is as nice as this. A Goddard school just opened next to R's school and are the same price per week but they don't provide lunch.

 

 

DD goes to Goddard and while yes they don't provide lunch (extra expense) the care and well being they provide is second to none... IMHO... hope things get better!!

flyliceandcoffee

S goes to a Goddard school and we love it. Yes, they don't provide lunch, but they do provide morning and afternoon snacks and I kind of like that I can control what she gets for lunch.

Almost any "school" type daycare program is more than likely going to have the same issues though. S just moved up to the 18-24 month classroom even though her birthday is at the beginning of the month. She didn't move out of the infant room until the end of July even though one of her classmates who was born at the end of May moved up a couple months earlier. At her school, the decision to move a child up is based on room in the next class up, the time of the year, and the teachers in her current room. So for example, the boy who moved up from the infant room ahead of S in May was moved because he was more aggressive and felt that he would do better with older kids. When S moved in July, and this time in Jan, that's the time of year where they start the new "semester" so a lot of kids move between rooms at that point. Only 3 spots were open in her new classroom so this time they moved kids based on age.

While I understand the desire for our children to be moved from one class to another right when they hit their age range, I do think there is a lot more to it that gets factored in. Not saying that that's what happening at your daycare, but because our kids are born pretty close to the middle of the year, it can get tricky to move them to another classroom when it's not the "normal" time of the year to do so.

emmy236

I get what you're saying but they put zero consideration on R's development. I had hoped to talk to the director this morning but she actively hid from me. Around lunch time I got an email from the owner (directors MIL). She apologized that she did not realize her DIL had not given us the 3 month timeline despite us asking repeatedly and again for not initially giving us the option to transition him. Being in project management and fraud detection I immediately called out their practice of hiding the opening in the hopes of getting another PT kid in there to maximize their profit. Her response was basically a giant backtrack and hoping I don't report them to corporate. They are a Primrose franchise. We will meet with them because I want to talk to them in person. Hiding and only going through email is just so unprofessional IMO. In a service industry, if you upset a client you have to deal with the problem, not hide.


I called the Goddard school today and wasn't at all impressed with them. I'm trying to be open minded because they just opened this location but their assistant director did not sell the place at all.

surpriseaddition

@emmy236 YGPM

emmy236

@surpriseaddition‌
Replied.

@bakersck‌
We absolutely loved Primrose right up until now. We still adore the teachers. I think because it's also a new school and kids came in lumps they haven't seen these issues before. Also since the director of this location is the DIL of the owner, she may half ass somethings a regular employer wouldn't. The owner has made a very good effort to meet with us and we go on Friday.