Daycare ratios question and concern

MustLoveCats

Is there anybody else on here whose child care center follows the state mandated ratios/class sizes to the maximum? Meaning, the ratios/class sizes are NOT better than required?

I think my daycare center is pretty good (even though I am considering checking out others when DS turns 18 months simply because a lot more options become available) and it is located in an upper middle class area where, you would think, expectations are high. The center seems to be pretty popular and there was a long wait list. However, their ratios are not better than state mandated.

It did not bother me until a discussion on another local board. It seemed like a lot of people thought I was a bad mom or something for having my kid with such "bad" ratios.

What about your daycares?

AlisaS

What are the ratios?

suh5969

My state mandates 1:4 ratio.  They try to keep a 1:3 ratio.  There are 11 infants and 3 caregivers.  On any given day there is at least one baby out, so they are close to the better ratio.  I am totally satisfied.

shouldbeworkin

I think it depends on what your state ratios are.  Ours are pretty standard and I think they're adequate.  I haven't found any daycares to be below it, unless it is in home and they've chosen to be below the minimum for their own sanity (1:6 for in home).  DD's center is 1:4 for the infant room and it's been fine.  The toddler room is 1:4 or 1:6, I'm not sure.  But, they have 3 teachers in there so I'm not concerned.  Same with DS's room (he's 3).  There are 12-14 kids in the room and 3 teachers.  More than adequate coverage, IMO. 

MrsAmers

The state ratio for the infant room for us is 1:4.  A lot of times there were 4 caretakers in DD's room which maxed out at 12 kids just because the school would send the floaters down to the room if they didn't need them elsewhere.  But the assigned teachers to the room met the 1:4 ratio.

In the toddler room, the ratio is 1:5.  There are 12-14 kids on any given day and 3 teachers, so it is a little better than required, but it is only 1:4 when not everyone is there.

We didn't choose our daycare because it beat the state requirements.  We chose it because they take great care of DD and I wouldn't hesitate to send her there even if they were right at the state requirements. 

flyer23

I'm with ya. It seems to be hard to find daycare centers here in the Dallas area that stay below state mandated ratios, especially for infants and young toddlers, where the state-mandated ratios are already pretty low.

To answer Alisa's questions, the state mandates 1:4 for 0-11 months of age, 1:5 for 12-17 months of age, 1:9 for 18-23 months of age, and 1:11 for 2-year-olds. Most places I visited combined 1-year-olds into one "toddler room," and then stuck to the 1:5 ratio, but some did split them out and had an "older toddler" room with a higher ratio.

I don't necessarily think that high ratios are automatically "bad." We visited two preschools and a daycare center when choosing a place for DD, and the place we settled on actually has the largest class size out of any of them. (18 kids total, including part-timers, all over the age of 2, with 2 teachers.) It's a Montessori school, and Montessori doesn't place a huge emphasis on low student-teacher ratios. That implies that the only valuable interactions are student-teacher interactions, whereas Montessori emphasizes students teaching other students.

The one thing I would worry about/look for is why the ratios are higher. We visited one daycare center where the director told us flat-out, "Corporate likes to see us at 14-15 kids in this class, but I prefer to have no more than 12. It's a lot more manageable that way." (This was a two-year-old class, with two teachers.) In other words, she was prioritizing the classroom atmosphere over making more money -- which is how it should be. If you get the sense that your center's priorities are the other way around, then that's a different story.