Mother's Day Out recs - one day a week

somethingchangd

I think my son needs a little more socialization and independence than he's currently getting and I think a once weekly MDO would be perfect for him.  But funds are limited (since I obviously can't work 1 day/week to cover it).  Any suggestions?  I know most all MDOs are church affiliated, but I would prefer one that is more secular (or at least not over-the-top religious).  Help!

jen5-03

Not sure you're going to find a secular church... but I get what you mean. We're not religious either. But to me it's fine for the under 5 set as long as what they are teaching are the basic bible stories because they do have good lessons in them and they are referenced a lot in our society so they are good things to know.

Also consider how much religion is he really going to get in a day? Probably not much at all. At my kid's MDO/daycare, they do the "God is great, God is good..." grace before eating, and then at 3 they start going to chapel once a week. What has DD learned in chapel? Every time I ask her she tells me: "No shoes on the pews! No messing with the books, no messing with the pencils, no messing with the cards!" So yeah, she's not really picking up a whole lot. Although she does like to sing a loud annoying song about giving Jesus high fives...

The one we go to is at an Episcopal church. I personally would avoid a Baptist church because I find their views tend to clash with mine more than other denominations. I'd say at least half the families, if not more, are not members of the church and have a wide variety of backgrounds.

What area of town are you looking at?

Suzi-G-

I think you're on the near westside, correct? Almost all the MDO programs (and a helluva lot of the daycare) available not-in-the-suburbs in Houston is church affiliated.  We are also not religious (my husband is agnostic) but we have Cooper at a Methodist school and LOVE it.  They are not overly religious, he does go to chapel sometimes but like Jen, I don't mind it.  They sing songs and read bible stories and that's about it, I think a general working knowledge of Christianity (whether you are a believer or not) is a good thing in our culture. 

I would look at Methodist, Presbyterian and Episcopal churches, we looked at one Baptist daycare and we felt like as Cooper got older he would be made to feel bad (odd/left out?) because we aren't church members.  

I think your bigger issue will be finding somewhere with a slot for just one day a week.  I think most places had T/Th or M/W/F slots, though I could be wrong since I was really only looking at full time care.  I think the Yellow School at Memorial Dr. Presbyterian has one day slots, but that's the only one I can think of off the top of my head. 

ETA:  I think the one day a week MDO option is called "Children's Day Inn" not the Yellow School, that's their preschool option.

alisa1228

not sure what side of town you're in, but bethel offers 1 day/wk.

we are not religious, but have been happy there.

ETA link: https://bethelofhouston.com/mothers-day-out

rayskit10

I just have to add that my son goes to a secular school and comes home with more religion than my friends' daughter who is at Catholic school! You just never know. LOL