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Working Moms
RadicalDreamer143
member
Should I be concerned with daycare "promotion" strategy? LONG
RadicalDreamer143
member
in Working Moms
First let it be said that I love our DC - they're great people, very communicative, and I feel as comfortable as I can be having Liam there. That said, when Liam first started, children would be moved to the next room based on ability. There is an Infant room, then a Crawler room for when they get mobile, then a Woddler room for when they would start walking, Toddler room for once they are potty trained, etc.
The DC decided that as of this August, they would do things based on age as of September first of each year - meaning everyone would switch rooms just once a year. Early on, it seems that your child's birthday makes a HUGE impact on this - I'll try and explain.
The new room start ages will be:
Infant: 6 weeks
Crawler: 6 months
Woddler: 1 year
Toddler: 18 months
2 year old class: 2 year, and so forth for 3, 4, 5.
Children have to be those ages by September 1st. I'm a bit concerned because my son's birthday is March 19th, so I see him progressing as such:
Infant room now, he will be just shy of 6 months by 19 days at September 1st, so he will be in the infant room till September 2011. At that point he will be 19 days shy of 18 months, so he will be in he Woddler room till September 2012, at which point he will finally move into the 2 year old class, when he is practically 2 and a half. To put it more concisely:
Infant room for almost 18 months
Woddler room till he is almost 2 and a half.
Is this typical? Should I be concerned about his development? Right now the only two children close to him in age (he is the youngest, still) are going to make the cutoff to the Crawler room (which he will skip, along with the Toddler room), making him by FAR the oldest in the infant room. No one has brought an infant into the daycare younger than him yet, but from what I've hear, he will be the oldest by 2ish months based on people who have registered. Should I be concerned about this slowing his development, among other things? Should I push to have him moved up regardless? Can I get some thoughts on this?
The DC decided that as of this August, they would do things based on age as of September first of each year - meaning everyone would switch rooms just once a year. Early on, it seems that your child's birthday makes a HUGE impact on this - I'll try and explain.
The new room start ages will be:
Infant: 6 weeks
Crawler: 6 months
Woddler: 1 year
Toddler: 18 months
2 year old class: 2 year, and so forth for 3, 4, 5.
Children have to be those ages by September 1st. I'm a bit concerned because my son's birthday is March 19th, so I see him progressing as such:
Infant room now, he will be just shy of 6 months by 19 days at September 1st, so he will be in the infant room till September 2011. At that point he will be 19 days shy of 18 months, so he will be in he Woddler room till September 2012, at which point he will finally move into the 2 year old class, when he is practically 2 and a half. To put it more concisely:
Infant room for almost 18 months
Woddler room till he is almost 2 and a half.
Is this typical? Should I be concerned about his development? Right now the only two children close to him in age (he is the youngest, still) are going to make the cutoff to the Crawler room (which he will skip, along with the Toddler room), making him by FAR the oldest in the infant room. No one has brought an infant into the daycare younger than him yet, but from what I've hear, he will be the oldest by 2ish months based on people who have registered. Should I be concerned about this slowing his development, among other things? Should I push to have him moved up regardless? Can I get some thoughts on this?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Should I be concerned with daycare "promotion" strategy? LONG
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
Rather than pushing to have DS promoted early, I would ask them to consider promoting the < 2 year olds twice a year. It doesn't make sense to promote only once a year when the classes are broken down into 6 month age groups. Have they not realized that some of the kids will skip the 6 and 18 month classes and the others will skip the 12 month class? Or that in the summers, they may have an almost 18 month old in the class with 6 week olds? I think you should talk to them.
I had emailed the owner, and was told this:
"Yes, Liam will essentially skip the Toddler class. He will go from Infants to Woddlers and then onto the 2?s, 3?s, & 4?s. Some children May skip Woddlers, some may skip Toddlers depending on when their birthday falls. For example Child X will be in the Crawlers in August and then skip Woddlers, but he and Liam will then be together in the 2-4 year old classes. The children that Liam will be with will all be in a 6 month age gap. Liam will be one of the oldest in his class. Next year Liam will graduate to the Woddler class and the following year to the Pre K 2 class where he will rejoin the other children who were in the Toddler class. Class age range for the Infant-Toddler classes will be within a 6 month age gap of each other and the 2-4 year old classes they will be a full year span. In August the children in the Infant class will range from 2-5 months. They will all stay together through all their transitions every August.
Every class will then get to stay with the same children they will go with to public school. We feel that this is best for the children for many reasons. First, children will be with the same teachers and classmates for an entire year allowing them to fully adapt to that class without always having new faces or new rooms throughout the year. We also feel that transitioning once a year will be a lot easier on the children, because it allows them to form bonds with teachers for longer periods of time and truly adjust to the schedule in their classroom. Transitioning yearly will also give the teachers the ability to truly expand on a lesson and really dive into the curriculum more deeply. We have also realized that it is much easier for the teachers to alter the curriculum for an entire class than it is for one child to transition into a new class midway through the year. We feel that having the same class for a year will be very beneficial to the teachers as well as allowing the children to thrive in their educational and loving environments.
We realize that this means that several children will have a birthday shortly after the new school year begins or midway through the year. This is how it will always be for those children that just miss the ?kindergarten cutoff?. We will alter our schedules in classrooms and adjust the curriculum accordingly. We will always challenge your child developmentally, cognitively, and socially. The teachers will begin doing parent/teacher conferences and children?s evaluations twice a year. We will always work with every child on his/her own level.
We have also realized that it is much easier for the teachers to alter the curriculum for an entire class than it is for one child to transition into a new class midway through the year.
We will alter our schedules in classrooms and adjust the curriculum accordingly. ..... We will always work with every child on his/her own level.
I kind of feel like there is a certain contradiction in the first statement above and the next two. She talks about altering a curriculum for the entire class, but yet states that they will adjust their curriculum for each child accordingly.
In a classroom where they have infants and then 18 month olds...??? That just seems really diverse and I do wonder how much individualized attention each kid will really get vs if your 16 month old was in the next class instead.
Heck, plus, I think SOME change in a childs life isn't a bad thing....
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
I think it sounds like your daycare provider doesn't want to be bothered with the whole situation; they are making it easier on THEMselves instead of doing what is right and best for the children. Of course they only want to promote once a year--it's easy. But that doesn't mean it isn't hard on the parents for the exact reasons that you list.
Our daycare promotes strictly by age and room availability, and I can appreciate that. DS ended up staying in the infant room until he was 14 months, but was promoted as soon as there was room in a young toddler room, even though it was the middle of January. It showed me that they are actually interested in my child, and not their own schedules.
Yes, it would bother me. Schedule a sit-down with the director and voice your concerns.
DD -- 5YO
DS -- 3YO
Her email to you about separating from and rejoining the Toddler class sort of contradicts the class continuity reasoning.
I would not be cool with this plan, not as an under 3 really. Exposure to the older kids has really been beneficial for DD.
Mine moves up by availability in the next room, demand for the current room and skills. And they try to transition them in groups so that the kids still have familiar faces. So at 13/14 months, DD and 2 other 13/14 month olds moved up.
I would schedule a meeting. It's possible that they'll make an exception for you iif you make a case for it.
"Class age range for the Infant-Toddler classes will be within a 6 month age gap of each other and the 2-4 year old classes they will be a full year span. "
Also - that statement is untrue if your DS will be in the Infant room until 18 months. Sorry, I don't know wny I am hung up on this, but this policy bothers me for some reason.
And to add.... their reasoning of keeping the kids together, as they'll move all the way up to school w/ the same group, is pointless too. A 6 month old is really going to remember who they are in class with, or even an 18 month old?
It just doesn't jive.
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
This seems like a good approach. I did speak with the director after asking for clarification from the owner (the emails I posted), and she tried to reassure me that the would have different sections in the infant room to accommodate the different ages, but honestly, this idea you mentioned makes a lot more sense to me. The only benefit I could see is that they would be maintaining the "better" ratios for longer with him - technically there would be more teachers per child in the younger classrooms - but I'm more worried about how Liam won't be around ANY older kids to learn from, basically.