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May 2012 Moms
blueshamrock7
member
Daycare WDYT? Help! Need your opinions, lovely ladies :-)
blueshamrock7
member
What do you think about a daycare that has two infant rooms - one has a teacher to infant ration of 1:4 (which is the state standard for infants) and the other room has a teacher to infant ratio of 1:3. The 1:4 ration is $40 less than the 1:3 ratio. Do you feel like your baby will be in the "cheaper," room if you were only interested in the 1:4 ratio room? The standard at every single other center we are looking at is 1:4 and I would not consider putting her in the 1:3 room (I would just use another center).
The other scenario is - I got a recommendation for a daycare yesterday from a women who comes to my library to do a music program with the kids once a month. Since the program is always on my evening, I've gotten to know her pretty well. She recommended a place that I didn't even know existed, which is about 1 minute down the street from my house. She runs a Music Together program in town three days a week and so she deals with a ton of parents/children and she said she's heard several rave reviews for it. This morning, I mentioned it to my coworker who had also heard a rave review from a friend who's son has gone their since he was an infant. OK, great, so...
I checked out their website, it looked great. Then I noticed on Yahoo that it had two reviews. They were both from this past summer and both were AWFUL. The first one was from a mom who basically only sent her toddler or preschooler (wasn't an infant because he was talking, as she stated in the review he wasn't talking well) and she expressed several complaints, but she only sent him for a week and then took him out and they made her give two weeks notice so she was also mad about that, etc. The second review, though, was from a girl who said she was currently 23 and that she had worked for them for several years in high school and that the director (and she named her by first name) had lied several times about the student to teacher ratio (in other words, there were too many kids per teacher - didn't specify which room or rooms). She went on to say there was also an issue with a teacher accused of man-handling an infant and that the director asked this girl to lie and say that she was with the infant at the time of the incident so that the other teacher would not get in trouble.
Scared the crap out of me... and I instantly didn't even want to go check it out. But should I really be going by just two bad reviews from two people I don't even know - and maybe the 2nd girl is a disgruntled employee?? And why would she wait years after working in a place to look them up on Yahoo and give them a bad review?! I found out the pricing and that center actually is the same I mentioned above (with the two different infant rooms). The 1:4 infant room is the cheapest we've looked at so far. We are going to look at it on Monday and my coworker is asking her friend more specifically about the center and she said she'd mention the bad reviews. I am curious what you guys think and how you would react?
--Danielle :-)
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Daycare WDYT? Help! Need your opinions, lovely ladies :-)
I know this is already super long, but here are the reviews, in case you wanted specifics (though I did X out the Center name, director's name, etc). I just reread and realized she said the mother didn't want the woman accused of man-handling to watch her infant so the director asked this girl (supposedly) to lie and say she was watching the infant. OK so:
1. I will not recommed this to my friends atleast!!! My kid is in a home day care for 2 yrs. Then we decided to shift him to one of the milford day care centers. He doesn't know how to speak or frame a sentence in English (which we explained to the director before joining)
Here are the things that I found first week :
Staff looks OK; but looks like teenagers and I can hardly find anyone listen to my instrcutions that I am giving them; like warming up milk, or subsitute their snacks with my food, etc...
There are no dedicated teachers. 5 days that I went, I found 5 different teachers. Which is not good for a kid
During play time (I saw it from my car); since my kid is new to the environment and he doesn't know how to communicate with other kids; he was trying to play with other kids and kids doesn't want to share their stuff (which is obvious); I found teacher doesn't communicate with the kids to play together. They were just standing and chating with each other. And my kid is just standing alone all upset. Which I found it ridiculaous.
Staff doesn't keep good track of the snaks that kids eat (how much amount). Once day I picked my kid around afternoon time, they had a PM snack in his report. When I asked about his AM snack; one teacher said he had it and another said he didn't touch it
After 1 week noticing all this I decided to shift him to another day care. I gave 2 week notice to the director (just after 1 week); she is the owner and she could have just let my son go after 1 week but she insisted on 2 week notice and pay for next 2 weeks. After looking at staff I didn't expect much from the director. So I ended up keeping my kid for 3 weeks (total). In last week; my kid threw up during his lunch; and they just called us and asked to pick him up. I asked them if he has any fever; they said they haven't looked at fever yet, but they want us to pick him up. Before when he threw up in first week (before giving notice); they cleaned him and offered his food again and they said he is fine and there is no need to worry about.
After giving notice; they want us to pick him up while we are at our offices only because he just threw up once. What a s***. After going there; I asked teacher what happened; she said he is playing fine and doing well, he just threw once, they informed to the director; and teacher wasn't sure why they called us and asked to pick him up.
Last but not least; while kid are having nap time; staff speaks so loud that they literally waking up the kids. And if one of the kids doesn't want to have a nap and try to talk to teacher, they asked the kid to not to talk load as other kids are sleeping. By the way; the kid was talking in a very low voice compared to the staff voices. Poor kid, he might be confused why is doesn't get to talk and others do. I was literally in the room watching all this happening in front of me.
I joined my kid in XXXXX, because every one said its good (probably good in XXXX). But definetly its not good enough to my kid. Since there weren't many reviews when I made my decision; hopefully my review helps someone to make right decision.
Bottom line; Its not the worst day care, but its not better either. As a mom; I want my kid to be in friendly environment; not day care environment. I wish staff and director would have paided little more attention to the new kids and make them comfortable until they get used to the new environment.
2. XXXXXX is a really scarey place to work or send your kid. I am 23 now i worked there when i was in highschool. multiple time they asked me to lie about child to teacher ratio. They also had me lie about a woman who was accused of man-handeling an infant. The mother asked that her child not be in the care of that woman so XXXX (The boss and owner) asked me to lie to the mother and say it was me watching the baby not the other woman. I then quit because they refused to give me time off for my dieing grandparents (yes both were dieing) They actually said that it wasnt their "emergency" to deal with. Really scarey people please send your child anywhere else!
Bad reviews are scary so I totally understand!
First thing I would do is contact your state's licensing board to see if anyone had lodged any formal complaints or if there were any investigations. If that appears to be ok, then I would contact the center and set up a tour. I would be honest with the director about the online reviews and see how they react. You can tell a lot about a person by their reaction.
As for the infant ratio, I'm not sure which one I would go for. I would tour both rooms and ask specific questions as to how they handle having 1 more infant. Honestly, I think it's super weird to have two infants room, one being cheaper. It kind of rubs me the wrong way.
Me, too. It rubbed me the wrong way and mixed with the reviews, I got nervous. We are still going on Monday. I will contact the licensing board tomorrow. Good idea. Thanks.
From working at daycares and sending my kids to daycare I know all about reviews. People are more going to post reviews when they are pissed off about something (I am totaly guilty of this). The best thing to do is ask the center about them when you have your tour. No center is perfect. Most of the time there is a "head" teacher and the others float room to room as needed per ratios. And a 2 week notice is standard too.
I worked as an infant teacher and at a 1:4 ratio it was pretty easy to handle. So if you are worried that in that class your little girl won't have as much attention I will say probably not.
The thing about reviews is that there is a selection bias going on -- people are only going to post a review if they feel VERY strongly about something (I am "meh" on some restaurants, for example, but I wouldn't post a Yelp review for them because it isn't worth my energy). I find that people who complain about things online are often upset about things that are maybe not rational. When we moved in to our apartment complex, it had HORRIBLE reviews from some people, and we have had a truly fantastic experience. A lot of times when I see overly negative reviews, I kind of wonder if it has more to do with the reviewer than the place they're reviewing.
That being said, the state licensing board is your friend. They will have the documentation about any issues that the center has had. I would start with that as your resource.
Yeah, I just looked them up online on the license look-up site for the state. It's weird because it doesn't show any complaints, but it shows a "quality control issue," where the case has been closed... but it was before these reviews and I don't even quite understand if that was something that was brought on by a state inspector or what. For kicks, I looked up the others we are considering and the one that has been in town for like 40 years that has a great reputation (which is a little out of my way) had a "quality control issue," too, and also no complaints. The biggest center that is nationwise had several complaints and a few of the quality control issue things and the one that is directly across the street from my job also had two complaints. UGH!!! Gotta call them tomorrow.. It's so confusing.
I worked in a daycare in the infant room for 5 years while getting my teaching degree. I have been in tons of centers to do observations and so on. As far as ratio I agree with the previous post. That will be in any center and it sounds like a lot of babies but if you are in a good center it is easily handled. Also if you were by yourself and two babies need fed we would always call our director and they would send extra hands, even if it was her or the owner! As far as the quality control issues, it could be something so simple. The center I was at is NAYCE accredited and step up to quality with 3 stars, only hires lead teachers with degrees and we have been wrote up. There is sooooo much (which there should be) that they look at during those checks. IE if you need to take two binders outdoors with you due to ratio and you and/ or your co teacher forget one you get wore up. Mind you the children are all safe and accounted for, so sometimes it has nothing to do with your child's care. My advice is go to the centers, you will walk in and be able to tell if it's a fit for you and your family. Ask questions, even if you know the answers or may not be planning on doing those things, just to see the teachers reaction and how they respond. I hope this is helpful, my preggo brain is all over the place and trying to respond as mommy to be and on past expierance as a daycare worker! Plus it's getting "late" for me! Good luck with your search, you will find your fit! If I can answer any other "insider" questions don't hesitate!