Daycare Moms - Please Come In!
Feb 2, 2015 13:13:11 GMT -5
Post by michelin82 on Feb 2, 2015 13:13:11 GMT -5
This is going to be long, and I apologize. But I'm having some feels and need to hear from others to gain some perspective.
How are the rooms organized in your daycare? Is there a rigid age or skill cutoff before moving to the next room? And are you guaranteed to have a spot in the next room at the time your LO is ready to transition?
Our daycare is relatively small. There's one infant room, one toddler room, one preschool, and an indoor gym/playspace. The infant room is one of the biggest because of the cribs - and they have a large gate that kind of separates the little itty bitty squishes from the older infants who are more mobile. So the "infant" room has kids over a year old in it.
DS1 fully transitioned from the infant to the toddler room when he was 18 months. There was a wave of kids that went over there around that time, and he was the youngest. So all along he's been the youngest of that crew, and I'm continually being told that he's by far the smartest (that's not a brag - it has its place in my long story, I promise!). He's still there now, and my expectation is that, like all of his older friends, he'll move to the preschool when he turns 3 in March. I feel it's important for him to move because he's a bright kid. He needs the stimulation, and I want to foster his strengths by encouraging the learning and development that takes place in preschool. Plus all of his friends have moved down there!
DS2, who will be 20 months this week, is still in the infant room. I'm not pleased by this. He's at that "sponge" age where he's learning so much by observation. He's getting nothing out of being in the infant room with a bunch of kids way younger than him. I asked the director about this today, reminding her that DS1 moved when he was 18 months. Her response is that there's a bit of a bottleneck with the toddler kids - they don't have space for DS2 yet. They need to wait until others move to preschool. I'm waiting for an email she promised me with the "details."
All that being said, the max number of preschoolers for any day is 11. We have 12 enrolled. Some are part time, so there are never 12 there at once. This presents a problem for both of my boys. DS1 can't move to preschool, and therefore DS2 can't move to the toddler room. I'm being told - not by the director, but by others who are in the loop - that the director is planning to make an "older toddler" room to rectify the situation. The plan would be to split the toddler room into two sides (I can't see how this can happen, as the room is already small) - and the older toddlers would have their own area. DS1 would be included in that group since he's basically the first kid to NOT be able to move to the preschool. What pisses me off the most about all of this is that a new preschooler just started in the last week or two...and Drew will be 3 in just over a month. Realistically, if she needed to fill a spot, couldn't she have moved him down there early (remember - they constantly tell me how smart he is!), shift Brady over to toddler room, and bring in a new infant? That would even make them more money since infants are more expensive!
Am I crazy for thinking this is all ridiculous? My children have been enrolled there since they were 12 weeks old. Clearly they know their ages, and should plan accordingly, right?
WWYD? DH and I are seriously considering looking elsewhere (once we hear the definite plans from the director), but the idea hurts my heart. The teachers have been so good to our kids, and DS1 doesn't do great with transitions, and DS2 is starting to get separation anxiety - so it would be hard to drop him with new people for awhile!
Ugh, sorry this got so long.
tl;dr - daycare likely won't be moving my almost-3-year old to preschool when all of the other 3 year olds are there. And my Junebug is still in the infant room due to too many kids in the toddler room. I'm not pleased. Am I crazy?
How are the rooms organized in your daycare? Is there a rigid age or skill cutoff before moving to the next room? And are you guaranteed to have a spot in the next room at the time your LO is ready to transition?
Our daycare is relatively small. There's one infant room, one toddler room, one preschool, and an indoor gym/playspace. The infant room is one of the biggest because of the cribs - and they have a large gate that kind of separates the little itty bitty squishes from the older infants who are more mobile. So the "infant" room has kids over a year old in it.
DS1 fully transitioned from the infant to the toddler room when he was 18 months. There was a wave of kids that went over there around that time, and he was the youngest. So all along he's been the youngest of that crew, and I'm continually being told that he's by far the smartest (that's not a brag - it has its place in my long story, I promise!). He's still there now, and my expectation is that, like all of his older friends, he'll move to the preschool when he turns 3 in March. I feel it's important for him to move because he's a bright kid. He needs the stimulation, and I want to foster his strengths by encouraging the learning and development that takes place in preschool. Plus all of his friends have moved down there!
DS2, who will be 20 months this week, is still in the infant room. I'm not pleased by this. He's at that "sponge" age where he's learning so much by observation. He's getting nothing out of being in the infant room with a bunch of kids way younger than him. I asked the director about this today, reminding her that DS1 moved when he was 18 months. Her response is that there's a bit of a bottleneck with the toddler kids - they don't have space for DS2 yet. They need to wait until others move to preschool. I'm waiting for an email she promised me with the "details."
All that being said, the max number of preschoolers for any day is 11. We have 12 enrolled. Some are part time, so there are never 12 there at once. This presents a problem for both of my boys. DS1 can't move to preschool, and therefore DS2 can't move to the toddler room. I'm being told - not by the director, but by others who are in the loop - that the director is planning to make an "older toddler" room to rectify the situation. The plan would be to split the toddler room into two sides (I can't see how this can happen, as the room is already small) - and the older toddlers would have their own area. DS1 would be included in that group since he's basically the first kid to NOT be able to move to the preschool. What pisses me off the most about all of this is that a new preschooler just started in the last week or two...and Drew will be 3 in just over a month. Realistically, if she needed to fill a spot, couldn't she have moved him down there early (remember - they constantly tell me how smart he is!), shift Brady over to toddler room, and bring in a new infant? That would even make them more money since infants are more expensive!
Am I crazy for thinking this is all ridiculous? My children have been enrolled there since they were 12 weeks old. Clearly they know their ages, and should plan accordingly, right?
WWYD? DH and I are seriously considering looking elsewhere (once we hear the definite plans from the director), but the idea hurts my heart. The teachers have been so good to our kids, and DS1 doesn't do great with transitions, and DS2 is starting to get separation anxiety - so it would be hard to drop him with new people for awhile!
Ugh, sorry this got so long.
tl;dr - daycare likely won't be moving my almost-3-year old to preschool when all of the other 3 year olds are there. And my Junebug is still in the infant room due to too many kids in the toddler room. I'm not pleased. Am I crazy?
