Berkeley Parents Network: Changing Childcare

Berkeley Parents Network

Changing Childcare

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Childcare > Changing Childcare

Changing to a New Daycare

From: Peggy (Feb 1998)

I am moving in 18 days. I've found a new daycare for my 2-year-old, but have some concerns. I would appreciate the input any of you might have about this.

My child has been in a small daycare since he was 10 months old, the same place with three classes (infants, waddlers, and toddlers). Each class has had about 6 kids. The toddler class he's in now has one teacher and 6 kids total. The new daycare has one class for 18 two-to-three year olds with four teachers. This means a much busier classroom, with more kids, although the teach-child ratio is (slightly) better. I'm concerned whether the new large-class format will be too chaotic for my child, who is used to only 5 classmates (although he has been around more kids at the same time, when the waddlers class joins the toddlers for an hour or two).

Thanks for any suggestions or comments.

Changing from Home to Daycare Center

From: a mom (2/99)

Our 18-month-old son has been in an in-home care situation with a wonderful sitter and one other child since he was 7 months old. We are thinking of putting him in a preschool or playschool around his 2nd birthday, but don't know much about the pros and cons. Our reasons for wanting the change include wanting him to be with more (and different kinds of) kids and wanting to cut costs. Is it common for kids to start preschool at age 2? How well does it work versus starting at age 3? Are there many schools out there that take kids from 2-5? (We'd really like to avoid another childcare change before kindergarden if possible.) What are average costs for full-day preschool? What are other parents' experiences with easing the separation from a well-known and well-loved childcare provider at this young age? All advice and/or recommendations very welcome!

I have an almost-2-year-old who will I'm looking to put in a daycare center in the fall. My partner and I have visited and talked to quite a number of centers, and are uncertain about something. My son has been in a shared nanny situation, in our house, since he was 7 months, with the nanny there three days a week, and my partner and I each home with him one day a week. We've found this to work very well for him and us, and had thought to continue it once he goes to a daycare/preschool arrangement. Some of the centers we've talked to have been receptive to this, but many of them have voiced strong opposition and concerns. The argument against our idea (which is to have our son in the center M,Tu, Th) is that it will be more difficult to make the transition, to make friends, etc. if his time there is limited to three days a week. Our feeling is that he (and we) really relish our time together during the week, and that it might actually make the transition easier. I think we could go either way on this, but we're reluctant to give up that time during the week unless it's for a good reason, such as helping him be happier in daycare and preschool. In short, we don't know whether to trust our instincts or the experience of the folks running the centers. Any thoughts on others' experiences in this regard would be appreciated.
June 1999

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