In home daycare vs center based daycare at 2 ½

I am in a bit of pickle. We recently moved since I was laid off from my job at the end of December, we were thinking it will likely take me some time to find a job and it would save us some money and time if we moved closer to DH work. So here we are now moved into a city that I am not at all familiar with and don’t have any friends in the area and have not yet connected with the MOM group here. It looks like I may have found a job and need to find daycare for the boys. They previously have been in small in-home day cares, which I have always felt were more personal and caring. So my initial thought was they are at the age where they may do better in a center based daycare – more structure, more physical activity and more socialization. But now I am having reservations and thinking maybe in home daycare is okay too. I have located one of each that have openings for the boys and are within our budget. Part of my concern is the in home daycare is a referral about twice removed so that leaves me a bit uneasy. The center based daycare has some complaints listed with the state (nothing in the last 2 1/2 years), but I don’t see one that doesn’t have any either. They will only be going 2 maybe 3 days a week. Taking them back to their old daycare isn’t really an option since it too much of a drive. I know some of comes down to personality. I do think both of them are craving some more activity and challenge but fear W will have some issues adjusting to the large amount of kids and teachers. But I also see that this is a step toward preschool and so on.

:gah: So many factors to consider!

Wondering what others thoughts are for daycare options for kids of this age.

 

Personally, I love our center. I feel there is less opening for bad acts because there are so many people, it has a clear curriculum, and it has video cameras and a director to address issues with rather than directly to the caregiver. In home always made me nervous, but I think it's a very personal decision.

 

Visit the daycares. I have seen great both home and center based care---as well as poor examples of both.

They should have an open door policy-- -if not run.

Some home-care do a preschool-type setting around age 3 if they have enough kids.

Most daycare/centers do a formal preschool around 2.5 or 3.5 (depending on the center/daycare).


I teach 3 yr old preschool (kids are 3-4) and it is nice. They really are at an age that they start to learn to play together and learn from each other. I like a small setting (most areas for age 3 it is one adult to 8 kids) and they are really happy to learn. We have 12 kid and two teachers- it is great.

I would really go by what you are looking for with keeping this in mind:


1.a set routine to the day for kids
2. lots of free play time to explore
3. at age 3 starting some basic preschool things (not worksheets!! More learning to sit for circle time , work in a small group, learn some fingerplays, art activities, etc)
4.clean- but comfortable space (if it is too tidy, the kids may not be allowed to explore!!!)
5. age appropriate toys (no small parts for 3s, but not baby toys either)
6. caregiver talks to the kids and interacts with them
7. no T V (I am not anti-tv, but dont think it belongs in a childcare setting rather a home setting that parents can supervise)
8. healthy snacks
9.check that discipline strategies match yours
10. outside time (as appropriate)

 

My two were in a home daycare until they turned two and she retired. I then got a job at a center (not in childcare but it is available to me because of my position) and decided to enroll them primarily because of the cost benefits. They have thrived in the center environment - the curriculum is exciting to them and they have picked up so many social skills and already talk about their friends and teachers. Some of the benefits I have seen probably would have happened at the in-home daycare we were at (which we loved) just by virtue of their age - but I totally credit the new program for their immense vocabulary, knowing their letters, numbers, colors, etc. and am very happy that we made the switch.

 

I personally prefer the center based daycares. Home based always made me a little nervous since there's less oversight and the potential for problems if the caregiver gets sick. My girls have been at a preschool (which is really the same thing as daycare when you get right down to it) since they turned 3, and it's worked out fantastically. They love having all the other kids around, and the structure of the day has worked out well for them.

One other benefit of larger daycares - a social network for YOU. I was amazed at how many friends I've made from the parents at my girls school. So don't discount that if you're new to a city.

 

Okay, it's taken me a couple of hours to respond because I got sidetracked with all the 'complaints' I found about my Daycare, Kindercare. There are a TON of them online! I was going to prove a point that kindercare is an awesome daycare, but now I'm proving a different point...

MY Kindercare is awesome. They teach the kids everything they need to know (structured or not, to me it follows a lot of Montessori beliefs which is mainly unstructured) to get to Kindergarten. My son has been there since 12 weeks old and I Breastfed him every day for over a year. They never had an issue with me coming in, and likewise I never saw any issues when I went in, and I always made sure to check on all my children when I went in there.

Sure, we've had to talk to them a few times about a few different things, most recently calling our 4 year old 'rude'. But overall, the care that WE receive is good care. My center doesn't have a high turnover rate, etc..

But look up Kindercare complaints online and holy moley, you'd be scared to take your kids to the front door! My point is that people will complain. Bad news travels 10 times faster than good news. If you visit a Center and your comfortable with it, go with your gut. Forget what you read online. Talk to the parents, see how the kids are responding, etc...



Good luck, I know it's tough!

 

We go to a private, in home center. I love it (in fact, we made a big decision about not moving them out of the daycare recently when we were planning on moving closer to work.) I love that they give A&R lots of attention, there are 4-5 providers and about 10 big kids (2-4), and about 4 or 5 infants. They do preschool activities, follow one of the curriculums for private preschools, and my kids are learning like you wouldn't believe.

They've realized that Alice thrives on learning new things, and have taught her rudimentary addition and subtraction and are working on phonics with her. But they also realize that Royce doesn't show the same interest in learning "classroom" things, he's more interested in building, fixing, and playing with mechanical toys. So because of the size of the school, they're able to get away without using a "one size fits all" sort of approach. Plus if I'm going to be a few minutes late, all I have to do is call, they don't charge for over-time. I also get a sibling discount.

OTOH, they close for federal holidays and for a few religious ones as well. Which suuuucks since I have to find a sitter on Al-Eid and Good Friday or take the day off from work (multiple religions in the staff). I think larger centers are more likely to stay open except for the big holidays.

 

I was adamant I put my kids in a center daycare when they started at 9 weeks old because of the structure & the fact that there were more people around. That being said, I have heard a LOT of wonderful experiences with in home providers, too. If I could take it back, I *might* have changed my mind about a center vs in home when my boys were little. We had a LOT of bad experiences (resulting in switching daycares FIVE times before they were 2.5), but I'm sure we weren't also the norm.

That being said, at 2.5, I would definitely go a center route. I think it's important at that age to really focus on structure & education, along with socialization. However, like Bex stated, there are some in homes that offer those things...but most of the in homes in our area are much smaller. I now take my kids to a nationally accredited center & LOVE it, even though I'm paying a good chunk more than the other centers in town. My kids love going, too, & I'm confident they'll have an easy transition to Kindergarten when it's time (plus, they get to do 4K there in the fall!)

There are pros & cons to both decisions. I'd suggest you tour the centers you're thinking of, ask lots of questions, talk to other parents, & just see how it'd fit with your boys. You need to decide what will be best for YOUR family. When we switched to our current center, the boys were just over 2. It's MUCH bigger than where they had been, so we changed it up & got them all excited to go to 'school'. There were times where adjusting was hard (especially for my Conner), but now they do great. I honestly wonder what Conner would've been like had I kept him in a smaller center (their last center only had 18 kids total) since he had so many problems adapting & dealing with change. Now he's a go with the flow kinda kid . Maybe a center would be good for your little W.

Good luck with your decision. Child care is never anything I took lightly & it's caused a lot of stress for our family. I hope you find the perfect fit for your family soon !

 

I love our daycare center. I love that every room is age-appropriate and the teachers are trained for that age group. There's a lot of oversight both in terms of proper procedures and in terms of "goals" for the children and the teachers. They teach social skills, hygiene, safety, and all sorts of things besides academics.

I also love that if one of the teachers gets sick, it's not my problem. And the part about getting to know other parents has been awesome too. I wouldn't say I've made any bosom friends, but we have a great time (especially now that the kids are older and don't need us as much) hanging out together at birthday parties.

Our center is especially wonderful because they are closed ONLY on federal holidays, but that's not the norm. Most of the other centers I know of around here are closed on public school holidays -- two weeks at Christmas, a week at Easter, etc.

 

i've had great babysitters but I still like the daycares. I love that they can't just put on a T.V. (like I do) and they sit watching T.V. or games. I like that there is crafts and new toys to play with and some outside activities. Visit the daycare and see what you think. Talk to each of the teachers and choose one you like and ask for them to be their teacher. Yes lots of germs and often sickness with daycares but it builds their immune system. I like how the daycares are better at security. I know my previous neighbour would look after kids and they'd be outside in the driveway and you'd never see her around !!!

Heather