Re: Daycare poll
- From: "Tai" <tainuiti@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 12:20:51 +1000
Ruth Baltopoulos wrote:
> "Cathy Kearns" wrote:
>
>> "Sue" <sburke9368@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:2ISdnX_4RdWbyJbeRVn-oA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> I don't have a clue what I would do, but I just wanted to say that
>>> I am surprised at how many are not comfortable with home day care
>>> situations. My mom had a daycare in her home and she was a
>>> wonderful provider for 20 years, who never was without work. She
>>> would be very disappointed to hear how many parents these days
>>> would not choose her type of setting. I personally would go with a
>>> home provider if I had ever worked out of the house.
>
>> I don't think it's parents "these days". My oldest is almost 16, my
>> youngest is 11, and I wouldn't consider home day care back then.
>> Finding home daycare takes more work and trust on the parents' part.
>> A daycare center (or at least the ones I put my girls into) you
>> could drop by anytime, and knew other parents who drop in at other
>> times. [...]
>
> As you can with any home setting. It is regulated in most states that
> drop-in and unannounced visits are acceptable, if not encouraged. I
> talk about this with all prospective clients, and they are free to pop
> over here whenever they like.
>
> Of course, everyone has their preferences. I just like to hear some
> meat behind the prejudice when someone declares they would never
> consider xyz without offering substantive reasons.
I note the OP was quite clear about not requiring reasons for people's
decisions and I took him at his word. I used the word "unlikely" rather than
"never" when talking about using family daycare (what we call having someone
look after our child in the carer's home) so I'm not sure if your question
is aimed at me but I'm quite happy to explain my preference for centre-based
childcare for my children.
Firstly, I wouldn't and didn't choose out-of-our-home care for any child
under 12 months of age. I didn't favour full-time, 5 days each week daycare
for my children when they were under two years of age, either. Or at any
age, really, but certainly not before 3 or 4.
That being true it means that my use for daycare was quite specific to our
family's situation. In the case of my youngest child, now 4, I put him in
daycare one day a week when he was13 months old more for my benefit than his
(although he loved it, it would have made a difference if he hadn't) so that
I had one free day each week to attend work-related meetings, schedule
appointments for myself and my older school age children and do things that
were difficult with a toddler in tow.
We increased that to two days each week when he turned 3 and then 3 days
when he turned four and began taking part in the pre-school program.
The child care centre my son attends is an excellent one. It's accredited by
the government, run by a director appointed by the elected parent committee,
fulfills all their licensing requirements to a high standard (they are
surprise-audited at times during the year and always pass) has wonderful
carers with a range of experience - several of whom at any one time are
studying for early childhood degrees, employs a full-time cook and a
qualified kindergarten (preschool) teacher, ensures all staff have current
first aid qualifications and has an overwhelmingly nurturing environment
where the age-based ratios of carers to children are strictly observed. The
children thrive there and I couldn't be happier with the almost four years
of association our family has with the staff there.
With centre-based care I know my child is in a purpose-built facility with
excellent equipment, has carers well versed in safety and early childhood
education who always have the support of the other carers to draw on in
emergencies, have scheduled breaks during the day and whose holiday and sick
leave are transparent for the children and parents. My child gets to
interact with other children his own age - something I can't provide for him
as easily as I was able to with his older siblings because my circle of
aquaintance is different these days. He has a more structured environment
there than at home with me and I see that as rounding out his experience of
interacting with other adults with a range of talents and interests and is a
valuable part of readying him for school at the beginning of next year.
I believe my child gets the best of both worlds by being at home with me and
enjoying a more relaxed and spontaneous lifestyle with lots of outings on
those days and by also having a few days a week in a more educationally
planned and child-focussed environment of such a high standard that would be
difficult to achieve by a single-carer looking after 5, say, preschoolers,
no matter how accomplished he or she is.
Of course other people will have different sets of preferences based on
their own family's situation, the specific needs of their children and what
kind of care is actually available to them, anyway. For example, if we'd
had grandparents or other family members available for regular
babysitting/childcare it's likely we would have waited until 3 year old
preschool before looking at centre-based childcare.
Tai
.
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