Hi!
Where do you prefer your daycare to be located? Near your home or near your work?
How far would be too far if it was a good childcare provider?
:)
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Hi!
Where do you prefer your daycare to be located? Near your home or near your work?
How far would be too far if it was a good childcare provider?
:)
As a daycare provider I have had parents come to me for both reasons. I had a teacher that worked in the area that wanted her child close by incase she was needed during the day. The downside was that she had to be in traffic with her child coming back and forth for 40 minutes. Other families choose someone near the child's home with the idea of them growing up in the neighbourhood - local parks, local friends, maybe even staying for school. The downside is if the child is sick the parent can't just pop over and get them. Makes for a longer daycare day for the child but also more time for them to play rather than stuffed in a hot car. You always have to run the risk of traffic slowdowns and such that makes that commute even longer and no fun for a child in a carseat that would rather be playing or eating.
It's never too far. These are your kids we are talking about. Quality care (and I mean real, QUALITY care) is hard to find. I don't have a single family in my care from my neighbourhood. Every family I have travels past literally a hundred providers to come to me. And they do that because they realize the importance of quality care for their child.Quote:
Originally Posted by admin
If quality daycare was available, I would always choose to place my child near my home. Having care near home makes more sense to me for several reasons:
1) Other people, like your spouse, can easily do pick-up and drop-off.
2) Your child will spend less time in the car which lessens the risk of your child being involed in a car accident (especially in poor weather).
3) If your child is sick it's true that you may get to them quicker if they are near your work, but then you're going home once you pick them up, so do you really want a vomiting child in the car for 30-45 minutes?
4) Having your child near your home makes it easier to drop off and pick-up on those days when you might not be going to work but still have your child in daycare. For example, I had a major dental surgery recently and needed the day off work but couldn't care for my son. In another instance I needed the day off work to help my grandmother in the hospital and didn't want my son spending time in a hosital with diseases and germs everywhere, so he went to daycare that day.
5) Unless you plan to move soon your work location may be more temporary. Or if you have another child and you are on mat leave you might want to keep your first child in daycare a couple days a week for socailization and learing purposes. This isn't something I plan to do but I know alot of people that do it.
6) Choosing care near your home helps to foster a sense of community and helps your child to meet neighbourhood children and have friends. My two best friends growing up were both from the same daycare home, we all started within three months of eachother and "met" when we were 6-12 months old. We went to the same schools, took lessons together and played on the same sports teams. I am still in touch with both of them.
If there were limited options near my home, work would be the next best location and then I would be willing to drive up to 15 minutes out of my way otherwise.
I used to commute 30-40 minutes to work when I was working outside the home. I did not want to take my child with me on the 400 series of highways through Toronto because I thought the risk would be too much especially in the winter months. I chose to find daycares that were close to my home but not in my subdivision.
Now that I do daycare I have 2 parents who live in my subdivision and 2 that do not.
I'd rather have a childcare near home, I don't have a car and commuting in the subway or buses with a baby is not fun. When I was pregnant nobody wanted to give me a sit and I've seen mothers with their little ones with a stroller during morning and evening rush hours and it's not comfortable at all or safe.
All my parents live near me, in the west end. All but one of my families are not within walking distance, and none of them have cars, so I am certain that part of the reason I was chosen was because my home is on the subway line. :)
When I worked outside the home and had my child in daycare -- I preferred to have the daycare closer to home. I didn't want the daycare right in the same neighbourhood but I did not want to go on the 401 with my little one every single day just in case it was bad weather or something did happen. I just felt better knowing that my child did not have to commute with me for safety sake.
Most of my daycares were a bit of a detour from my route to work or in the opposite direction of work but it was a 10 minute delay I felt was worth it just so I didn't take my child(ren) on the road with me.
It did mean longer days for my kids in daycare - closer to 10 hours because I was commuting 30-45 min a day but the risk factor was just not one I wanted to take.
As a provider - I only have 1 out of my current families who lives in my subdivision and within walking distance. Everyone else is driven here. Well....so is the child from within walking distance. The parents drive the child 99% of the time rather than walking. Not sure why