Printable View
In my 11 years as a home daycare provider I always tell the parents at the interview to drop by 'sometime next week' and hang out with us for a bit. In all of those years only 1 parent has taken me up on it. She signed the contract that day. Come and see what we do, then decide and always follow your gut.
My 4 children attended daycare centres and in the 80' & 90's the home daycare profession was still 'babystters' and we had good and bad experiences with them. So now, I get mad when anybody calls me a 'babysitter' because my daycare is nothing like the situations my children had to endure. I run a program with healthy, safe routines, nutritious food and lots of learning activities and active play. I have heard horror stories about daycare centres too, but thankfully my experiences were great.
Dear all,
Would like to post my experience with my day care provider, small world early learning centre in oak ridges, richmond hill.
The place was pretty unhygienic with my daughter constantly sick right from the first day. We also found the caretakers badly trained and not really responsive to my childs needs. The children were not taught anything in the day care and I could see the children rolling on the carpet, whiling away their time getting bored since they were not actively engaged in any activities. Very disappointed with their services. I have also come across others who had similar experiences with this day care and who got their children out of this day care.
I have not had time to read this thread in its entirety as it is an older thread and well rather long so I just skimmed it ;)
While venting is important for sure cause without it we might explode ~ IMO there is constructive venting where the intent is to share common problems and to find positive solutions to a problem moving forward growing with stronger knowledge and deconstructive venting where the intent is to spread gossip about others, promote bad feelings about others without any intent to 'seek resolution' and well THAT is not healthy for anyone and creates a negative atmosphere :(
There are definitely awesome and horrible experiences in ALL business settings ... as well as the 'perceptions' of those using the service based on expectations and bias and so forth can create a negative experience where no others have seen or experienced it ~ I have restaurants I LOVE that my peers HATE because we share different expectations and values around dining and well the same goes for childcare as well ~ just because someone was not happy with a providers service does not mean they are a BAD provider it just means that they were not a match for service!
IMO regardless of the 'setting' the best REGULATORS of childcare industry are CLIENTS who are in those programs day in and day and can LIVE the quality of care being provided or not .... when choosing a childcare centre or provider IMO the BEST place to start is ensure you put MORE research into it than you do your new car purchase cause IME 95% of clients seeking childcare do NOT do their due diligence in choosing care ... they do not make that 'informed' decision that could avoid conflict and a poor experience in the first place and in hindsight if they HAD they would not have chosen as they did!
Plus if you have had a REALLY bad experience with a daycare provider or daycare centre where you felt there was risk to your child and you had to pull as a result ... so something BEYOND just not being a match for childbearing philosophies or not being happy with the contract you agreed to and signed.... there are CONSTRUCTIVE recourse's for clients to resolve these issues and hopefully help prevent issues in the future for others ~ if you feel strongly enough about the care provided or not provided having put your child at risk of harm than USE them ;)
For those in Ontario you can start here ~
Bottom line is that WE are the only advocates children have ~ we need to do our due diligence to protect them and not expect the 'government' to always be doing it through regulations we 'assume' people are following!Quote:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/concerns.html
What to do if you have concerns about your child's care
Child care should be an enriching and satisfying experience for your child. You should always feel confident that your child is in a healthy, safe and happy environment.
Talk to the staff or your caregiver
If you have concerns about your child's care your first step should always be able to talk to the staff or your caregiver. Here are some tips:
Schedule a time with your caregiver to talk about your concerns. That way, both you and the staff or caregiver will be ready to talk.
Be prepared. Make notes ahead of time about your concerns.
Be clear about what's being said. If you need clarification or have concerns about your caregiver's response, ask him or her to explain it further.
If necessary, arrange a follow-up meeting.
Talk to the Ministry of Education
If you continue to have concerns, contact your local regional office of the Ministry of Education.
Informal caregivers are not monitored by the Ministry of Education. However, regional staff will investigate complaints from the public about a person who may be providing care to more than five unrelated children without a licence.
Children in Need of Protection
If you have a reasonable suspicion that a child is or may be in need of protection, you must report it to a Children's Aid Society in your area. A child in need of protection is a child who is or appears to be suffering from abuse or neglect.
[QUOTE=Inspired by Reggio;19137]I have not had time to read this thread in its entirety as it is an older thread and well rather long so I just skimmed it ;)
While venting is important for sure cause without it we might explode ~ IMO there is constructive venting where the intent is to share common problems and to find positive solutions to a problem moving forward growing with stronger knowledge and deconstructive venting where the intent is to spread gossip about others, promote bad feelings about others without any intent to 'seek resolution' and well THAT is not healthy for anyone and creates a negative atmosphere :(
There are definitely awesome and horrible experiences in ALL business settings ... as well as the 'perceptions' of those using the service based on expectations and bias and so forth can create a negative experience where no others have seen or experienced it ~ I have restaurants I LOVE that my peers HATE because we share different expectations and values around dining and well the same goes for childcare as well ~ just because someone was not happy with a providers service does not mean they are a BAD provider it just means that they were not a match for service!
IMO regardless of the 'setting' the best REGULATORS of childcare industry are CLIENTS who are in those programs day in and day and can LIVE the quality of care being provided or not .... when choosing a childcare centre or provider IMO the BEST place to start is ensure you put MORE research into it than you do your new car purchase cause IME 95% of clients seeking childcare do NOT do their due diligence in choosing care ... they do not make that 'informed' decision that could avoid conflict and a poor experience in the first place and in hindsight if they HAD they would not have chosen as they did!
Reggio nailed it here. There are some parents in my area that hate my dayhome because they feel it is to structured, and that I am too rule driven..... and then others that love it because they know what to expect from me.
You MUST DO YOU RESEARCH AS A PARENT. That's it that's all.
Hi, I am a journalist at CBC. Looking to learn more about peoples experiences with home daycares. If you are interested in sharing your story please get in touch with me annie.burns-pieper@cbc.ca.
Thanks,
Annie Burns-Pieper
Yes I agree with Niveah to mention the names of terrible babysitters and daycares so that no one else go through same bad experience.
This is what the purpose of organizations like Better Business beaureu are for so that complaints can be mediated and resolved and if not resolved than a rating posted for it - there are two sides to every story and if clients want to start publicly blackballing businesses with their one side than be prepared for businesses to start to do more "do not provide service to xyz client" based on their experience with the client ... the world would be such a better place if people would just COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER!Quote:
Originally Posted by saqi
ETA had this poster mixed up with another
Sorry had the recent poster mixed up with someone else ~ but stand by my opinion to use the BBB verses bashing online
I just wanted to add that in training they tell you a lot of kids will cry when being dropped off. It is normal and looking at it from the kids side they want to spend more time with mom and dad then us. Kids now a day get so little time with parents. I have kids some times 10 -12 hrs a day and mom or dad come to get them, spend and hour or so and it is off to bed. I am a mom of two and they know me, but when dad heads off to work crying is had by both. I know it isn’t because they don't like me but they see dad only a few hrs a day and weekends. The best thing is mom and dad but don’t give up on finding someone great for your babies.