Curriculum? A Few Home Daycare Questions

[Unregistered]

I am a parent looking at enrolling my 9-month-old daughter in a home daycare. She started out in a home daycare but due to concerns we moved her to a center. We love the center, but unfortunately it is now closing (there are no other centers in town). I'm not at all happy about having to move her again, but there isn't much we can do.

The new home daycare we're looking at seems very nice. She's got a great play area and there is also a nice outdoor play area. My concerns are these:
• No daily reports are sent home
• No curriculum; very little in the way of structured activities apart from coloring, games, etc.
• There is a TV in the playroom.

Basically I wanted to feel out some of you providers to see what you thought. I'm not overly upset about the lack of daily reports. The ones we've gotten up until now have given us pretty limited information anyway and tend to always be the same. The new provider prefers to give her reports on the child's day to us at pickup and welcomes questions at that time. As far as curriculum goes, when we first started looking at daycares I was all about needing a curriculum. Now my perspective has changed somewhat. However, I don't want my child to be left behind in any way because she's not getting this at daycare. We do plan to enroll her in preschool when she is older. Finally, there's the TV. We don't allow our daughter to watch TV at home and will follow the AAP guidelines of no TV before age 2 (and then very limited after that) and would like to make sure those guidelines are followed at daycare as well. How do we broach this subject with the new provider?

Any advice is welcome. Thank you in advance.

[youretooloud]

I've always thought the reports were stupid. LOL. Especially in a large group. What happens, is at the end of nap time, one teacher just throws in a bunch of info that may or may not have happened that day, then tosses it in the pile and moves on to the next one. The teachers are extremely busy, and don't have time to write a daily report, so they just stick whatever they have time on the sheet.

(other than incident reports, or medication I think those daily reports are a waste of a teacher's time)

I think what you should look at is, are the other kids happy? Do the other kids have fun? Are they friends? If you don't see a happy group, then it might not be the right place. If you have any gut feelings that it's not the right fit, keep looking. Ask your friends where their kids go. Ask complete strangers where their kids go. The exact, perfect place is out there. You just have to trust your instincts.

As I type this, I have five little girls playing hot chocolate store. They are having fun... I am not intervening. If they need something from me, they ask... but, otherwise, I'm staying out of it.

At nap time, we watch a movie every day.

My daughter is in college now, and she has some of the same friends she met when she was five months old. They've been friends for over 18 years. She's going to try a new church this week with a girl she's known since they were two years old.

If I teach nothing else in my daycare, as long as they know how to make friends, and take care of their own needs, I've done my job.

*however..I do a loosely based curriculum here, so I can't pretend we just play all day and the kids just flutter happily through the day. We do opened ended art projects, and the kids all learn to recognize letters and numbers, and other basics before school starts*

[daycare]

I am a parent looking at enrolling my 9-month-old daughter in a home daycare. She started out in a home daycare but due to concerns we moved her to a center. We love the center, but unfortunately it is now closing (there are no other centers in town). I'm not at all happy about having to move her again, but there isn't much we can do.

The new home daycare we're looking at seems very nice. She's got a great play area and there is also a nice outdoor play area. My concerns are these:
• No daily reports are sent home
• No curriculum; very little in the way of structured activities apart from coloring, games, etc.
• There is a TV in the playroom.

Basically I wanted to feel out some of you providers to see what you thought. I'm not overly upset about the lack of daily reports. The ones we've gotten up until now have given us pretty limited information anyway and tend to always be the same. The new provider prefers to give her reports on the child's day to us at pickup and welcomes questions at that time. As far as curriculum goes, when we first started looking at daycares I was all about needing a curriculum. Now my perspective has changed somewhat. However, I don't want my child to be left behind in any way because she's not getting this at daycare. We do plan to enroll her in preschool when she is older. Finally, there's the TV. We don't allow our daughter to watch TV at home and will follow the AAP guidelines of no TV before age 2 (and then very limited after that) and would like to make sure those guidelines are followed at daycare as well. How do we broach this subject with the new provider?

Any advice is welcome. Thank you in advance.

I think that wanting a curriculum for a 9 month old is a bit much.
This is what I tell my parents...

I feel that it is more important to teach a child during these ages from birth to 5 the more important things that they won't get taugh in school. (Your child will have 13 years to learn while in school.)

few examples,
how to make good decisions, choices,
Learn how to tell the difference between good and bad
how to be a good person
how to have self confidence and believe in yourself with all that you do
how to be a friend
how to treat your friends and be a good member of society
how to communicate and understand directions
how to be trusting
exploring their feelings and learning how to cope with thier emotions

children learn best through play during these ages..
I feel that as long as every child has the opportubity to be read to, sung to, listened to, talked to and loved throughout thier day they are in a great place.

As for the TV. I have a huge TV in my DC room and it is used for our music. We do get to watch educatiuonal videos from time to time, but never cartoons.
I would question what is being watched and for how long. I don't think that TV is completley bad, it's what you are watching that matters....

good luck hope this helps some..

[Unregistered]

As a home dc provider I totally hear you. Your concerns are valid. When a parent comes to look at my home for possible enrollment they often ask me how much tv do the kids get. (because my dc is in the middle of my home, the tv is always in plain view) my responce is that they get an hour a day. Infants do not need tv nor are they really able to focus or understand it. I think tv should be limitied in a dc setting, it really contributes to inactivity and laziness with kids. If she is a good dc provider she will have a truthful answer for you. You have every right to express your concerns.
As for cirriculum, I wouldnt worry to much. Your baby will develope just fine on her own. That provider should be doing things to foster that growth and development. There is a lot of emphasis placed daycares having cirriculum (almost to much IMO). I am asked a lot if I have a program or not or if we have a structured schedule. These are valid questions and you should not hesitate to ask.
I think daily notes can be helpful but I always touch base with the parents each day as well. I agreee they can get to looking the same after a while.
I would encourage you to have a talkwith this provider and clear the air with her, after all she will be a big part of your babies life and you dont want a lot of baggage hanging around!
I hope I have been of some help. Good luck with every thing I would love to know howit all turns out.

[Unregistered]

I should have stated that more clearly. In no way do I think a 9-month-old needs a curriculum. I'm talking about when she gets older (preschool age). We want this to be a long-term situation. I do believe she will learn the most by playing at this age. Our former DCP was all about doing little exercises and such with our daughter, yet kept the babies confined for much of the day. We loved the center because she had a huge room to roam freely in and seemed to develop much better physically there than she did at the old place. This new daycare has a huge playroom and it's one of the things we really like - she'll have plenty of space to roam and play!

We do have a friend who used this daycare for her daughters. She speaks very highly of this provider about everything from the food to potty training. She doesn't ever remember seeing the kids just sitting around and watching TV. They were more likely to be playing Uno or coloring or things like that when she picked them up.

[daycare]

I should have stated that more clearly. In no way do I think a 9-month-old needs a curriculum. I'm talking about when she gets older (preschool age). We want this to be a long-term situation. I do believe she will learn the most by playing at this age. Our former DCP was all about doing little exercises and such with our daughter, yet kept the babies confined for much of the day. We loved the center because she had a huge room to roam freely in and seemed to develop much better physically there than she did at the old place. This new daycare has a huge playroom and it's one of the things we really like - she'll have plenty of space to roam and play!

We do have a friend who used this daycare for her daughters. She speaks very highly of this provider about everything from the food to potty training. She doesn't ever remember seeing the kids just sitting around and watching TV. They were more likely to be playing Uno or coloring or things like that when she picked them up.

I see what you are saying... it sounds like this place might work out for a period of time, but then you want your child to have a place to learn as well. I understand what you are saying and its good of you to look at her care for the long haul. Change is hard on children, I think harder on the parents.

From the sounds of it, the friend that you have gave good remarks about the provider. I think that I would contact the provider and let her know your concerns... The most important thing you need to have with any adult in your childs life is open communication. You will have nothing without it!!

You are the voice for your child and you know what's best for your child too!

After talking with the provider if you are ok with her answers then give it a shot!!

[JenNJ]

Daily reports are overrated. I think that her verbally telling you and welcoming questions is a far better option. It gives you insight to her schedule and keeps the lines of communication open with the provider.

Curriculum. I would want basic learning ABCs, numbers, art time, music played, etc. If you plan on preschool, she will do her pre-K learning there. For a child before preschool age, I would want top notch CARE.

TV time is subjective and varies from daycare to daycare. Here, my dc kids watch about 5-15 minutes while I make lunch. I may pop it on for 15 minutes at the end of the day to calm them down so pick up time is not complete chaos. Occasionally we will watch a movie. Today we are under a heat advisory. I called a PJ & Movie day. The kids are not forced to sit down and watch the movie. I put on a G rated movie in the playroom and the kids play and watch. I don't have one child who sits in front of the TV for the entire length of the movie. Never have. My parents are comfortable with that and knew it up front from day 1.

The key to all your concerns is COMMUNICATION. Don't ask us, ask her!

[Unregistered]

You're right, we do need to ask her these things, and we will. I do want the lines of communication to be open. We put off expressing our concerns at our first daycare and that did not turn out very well for us.

Mostly I just wanted to see if anything raised any red flags for any of you. We will be asking about ABCs, colors, numbers, etc. and also whether the TV is just used for short periods of time and special occasions, or whether it is on in the background all day (which we definitely would not want).

Thanks again for your insight. It's greatly appreciated.

[Unregistered]

Sorry to hear your only center in town is closing. Personally, I think it's much easier for a baby to adjust to a new daycare than older kids. I personally would pass on the daycare you're describing for several reasons. In our state, those daily sheets are a licensing requirement - it tracks feeding amounts and diapering to parents and nap times - this helps parents track if something goes wrong with feeding or gastro and to report to their doctors during regular checkups but the main point is to report child's progress to parents. It would be too difficult for a teacher to remember this information at the end of the child's day at pick up, even if there were only 1 or 2 babies. Teachers are supposed to be putting that information at each diaper change and after each meal - not waiting until nap time. In the centers in our area, teachers complete this info immediately - I've witnessed it. The no curriculum thing is a hard one, because I'm a big believer that children should have a curriculum regardless of age. It helps them with transition, variety, skill sets - tummy time, crawling, block building, shape sorting - may sound trivial, but they're important milestones that your doctor wants to see your child achieving on time when asked at your appointments. While coloring and games are important, actual teaching and circle time are important as well. TVs aren't allowed in our state as part of the curriculum. I'd be very leary of a daycare that had one in the playroom where the daycare kids were all day - odds are they're using them as babysitters more regularly than you'd like. I know a local daycare where they have a movie and popcorn every Friday. Another one plays Sesame Street every morning as part of her curriculum (not allowed with licensed providers). Every friend I have that used a home based daycare moved to a center for preschool - not because the home daycare didn't provide "preschool" curriculum - it's because every one of their kids were behind where they should have been during their kindergarten prescreening and all of them were recommended to headstart. The parents all opted out and chose center based preschool instead and every one of their kids got caught up within 6 months of being there. I don't hire a babysitter - I hired center daycare to provider care and to teach and and measure my child's learning so they are ready for kindergarten, both academically and socially. There are home providers that run smaller center types out of their own homes with seperate areas, etc - you just have to find them. I would get recommendations from your neighbors and co-workers. If you have to drive out of town for work, maybe you could try finding a center close to your work or on your way to work, but outside of your town. Many people I know do this and are happy with the arrangement - they're able to take their kids to appts and go out to lunch with them and attend daycare events more easily. Good luck with your search. Just remember that you already found red flags with this provider - best to move on to someone else.

[cheerfuldom]

I love all the previous posts but just wanted to add, don't forget that you can work with your daughter yourself as well when she gets to preschool age. Its not hard to research what is expected of kinder or preschool kids and you can supplement at home very easily with workbooks and other educational tools. I think you will find though that MANY preschool and kinder teachers list of "things to know" almost exclusively include social skills, handling emotions, basic care of self like knowing how to put a jacket on. Most teachers would rather have a child that is emotionally ready to learn than a child that knows all the ABCs yet cannot follow basic instructions and still throw tantrums and doesn't play well with others. Do you see what I mean? Like another poster said, there are many years for her to learn the book stuff and in addition, there's no reason that you can't find fun ways at home to work on things. You don't have to be a teacher to have access to books and websites that offer ideas on how to learn colors and shapes and whatnot.

[Unregistered]

I must admit that when I first started doping home dc I did daily notes but as time went on I stopped b/c the parents stopped reading them/taking them home,One even said that they just stay in her car or get tossed, or she just looked at it here and left them. I fthey need something I send a note home but thats not very often. One tip is to find out what ages that provider takes, for example I only take until 3 y/o. That will tell you a lot! SOunds like that provider has a great play room.

[Unregistered]

Excellent point about working with her myself. We already read to her a ton so I think we are on the right track there. She will crawl across the floor for a stack of books before anything else (well, except maybe the dog, haha). I pump exclusively and every morning we sit on the floor and read for 20+ minutes while I pump. She loves it! That's kind of off-topic, but I guess I was just thinking about how I was at home with my mom and never lacked for that part of it - numbers, ABCs, colors, etc. (my mom read to me constantly, too, and I learned to read at a very young age) - but I did lack social skills when I went to kindergarten. I think as parents now we're trained to think that our children need to be taught from a very young age rather than learning on their own a lot of the time. It's ingrained in us that we'd better get them started young with the book learning if they're going to stand a chance. But the more I think about it, the less that is starting to make sense to me. Sorry for rambling. It's really helping me to get all these thoughts out!

[Unregistered]

We always, ALWAYS look at her daily reports. I like to track her eating and sleeping schedules, amount eaten, and diaper changes at home, along with my pumping record, so every night I transfer the information off the sheet we are given at daycare to our home report. I will look into what is required here in my state regarding daily reports.

I really am heartbroken that our center is closing. I felt really great about dropping her off there and she was excited every morning to see the teacher and other kids. This is a very small town so there are only 8 licensed providers. I work here in town and my husband does drive out of town but to an even smaller town than this one and I don't really know many people there. I'd rather keep her here in town where I am close by.

[youretooloud]

We always, ALWAYS look at her daily reports. I like to track her eating and sleeping schedules, amount eaten, and diaper changes at home, along with my pumping record, so every night I transfer the information off the sheet we are given at daycare to our home report. I will look into what is required here in my state regarding daily reports.

I really am heartbroken that our center is closing. I felt really great about dropping her off there and she was excited every morning to see the teacher and other kids. This is a very small town so there are only 8 licensed providers. I work here in town and my husband does drive out of town but to an even smaller town than this one and I don't really know many people there. I'd rather keep her here in town where I am close by.

There are daily reports you can print off for free that just have checkmarks. Things like "last BM", or "How many ounces she ate". I bet if you printed them off, she'd be happy to fill them out. It's hard to get in the habit of doing it, but she probably wouldn't mind at all.

Otherwise, just give the verbal communication a shot and see how it goes.

[Unregistered]

Okay, so when asked about structured activities she said she doesn't do any, she just lets the kids play. She also said she doesn't let the kids watch TV often but when she does it's Nickelodeon or Disney.