Looking for mothers and fathers who are concerned about a home daycare provider....

[Tyana]

Looking for parents who want to share their experiences with daycare providers -

Tyana

tyana.grundig@cbc.ca

[fruitloop]

Why do you always report the bad and never the good? It's reporters like this that put us in a bad light Here's an idea...why not report on something positive for a change!

[Inspired by Reggio]

Why only the request for poor or bad experiences ~ does that not end up created a jaded and negative piece that does nothing to help families in the search for quality home childcare?

I have worked in the field for over 20 years in both private and not for profit licensed childcare models as well working in both regulated and unregulated home based models and it grinds my gears to see this constant focus on 'regulation' being the be all and end all of the solution for quality childcare.

The fact is there are 'poor experiences' in ANY service industry including all of the above ~ the model is not what equates the quality of care received but rather the motivation and passion of those offering the service to CHOOSE to follow or exceed the rules for best practice regardless of who is 'watching'.

I have seen poor quality care offered in 'regulated settings' where parents sit clueless to what is REALLY going on once they drive way because they blindly assume 'regulated = quality' and do not really 'observe' the program and I know many home childcare providers who work in a 'unregulated' setting who choose to SELF REGULATE above and beyond any 'government regulation' because they are passionate about their role in young children's lives and giving them the best start in life!

I am sure there are MORE people who have an awesome experience in childcare that goes above and beyond any 'minimum standards / regulations' that the governments put forth .... why not seek out them so they could share experiences about those childcare professionals in our communities who are doing GOOD in the world ... why does the media not want to do educational and informative stories on THESE families experiences and perhaps investigate and see what they did differently in their childcare search to find those 'gems' in the industry ... that is likely to help ensure that other families can have a positive experience too!

The Internet is full of horror stories on childcare as well as resources on what NOT to look for childcare settings and providers .... so how about focusing on empowering new parents on what they SHOULD be looking for in a quality early learning with positive experiences that empower them to make an educated choice!

The world is no different than raising children ~ if you want to truly change behavior you need to focus on what you WANT them to be doing verses what you do not want them doing .... if we want to illicit positive change in the world we need to stop making our focus be on the 'negative' of what is WRONG with the world and feeding that negative energy and shift our focus on what is RIGHT in the world and feeding that positive energy instead so that we encourage people to do GOOD instead!

[Momof4]

I don't know if she's coming back to read these posts at all, but we know we are a special breed. Those of us who are successful work so hard and such long days and are so dedicated to our business and the children and families in our care. This does make me very angry. Thankfully, my daycare families adore me and appreciate me and know that my days don't end when they pick up their children because I still have to clean my house and prepare for the next day. And I love it! Because I am a responsible self-employed business owner who follows the laws but better yet, I nurture and care and adore the children and can work with fantastic people when we choose each other to raise these wonderful little babies onto the road to becoming wonderful adults.

[Fun 88]

Unfortunately, the bad news sells

[Inspired by Reggio]

Unfortunately, the bad news sells

Only because we LET it

[Judy Trickett]

I, too, have to ask the same question as the other ladies.....why always the negative slant on home daycare? You know, there are scads of home daycare providers out there in the world and I have had the pleasure to "know" hundreds of them. And I can honestly say that 99% of them are good, honest, hard-working people who want only the best for themselves and the children in their care.

Every one dogs the "mommy wars" about daycare verses stay-at-home-moms and if that isn't bad enough, journalists come along and slant daycare in a negative picture and that just precipitates the angst most moms already feel when leaving their child in the care of a stranger so they can go to work and earn a living. WHY do that to someone? I don't understand why a woman would want to do that to another woman.

Why not report on the POSITIVES of home daycare? You know, those daycare providers doing a great job and how the kids in their care flourish and are helped to become good, honest people, just like their caretakers.

Tyana, if you REALLY wanted to report in the best interest of children everywhere, you would report the GOOD and POSITIVE aspects of home daycare. WHY? Because this gets government attention. We are currently in a true daycare crisis and the people picking up the slack for the conundrum the government has gotten us all in to is HOME DAYCARE PROVIDERS. Tell THAT story! There are currently not enough great, quality daycares out there to service all the children who need them. With positive news about home daycare the government would be more apt (through pressure from those who see your news reports) to see home daycare as valuable. And once that happens there might be hope to fix this mess they have created. Home daycare provider numbers could be increased to perhaps take on six children instead of the current five (in Ontario, at least), or allow more home daycare providers to become licensed (if that is what they desire) without having to be affiliated with an agency that takes a cut of their pay. Licensed home daycare means more options for families on subsidy etc.

Report on the good - make a DIFFERENCE. Do it for the children.

[treeholm]

There are so many excellent points in the posts above. Have any of you considered emailing the reporter directly with your thoughts? She has left her contact information, but we don't know if she is actually checking this site again.

[Judy Trickett]

There are so many excellent points in the posts above. Have any of you considered emailing the reporter directly with your thoughts? She has left her contact information, but we don't know if she is actually checking this site again.

My guess is that she will be back. There was another CBC journalist on here about three weeks ago PMing members with the same request. I personally had a PM asking me about "illegal daycare" and if I would like to speak on that point to a journalist. Now, I see it is all negative, negative, negative. I am VERY wary of working with any reporter who might twist and turn words to suit the agenda of their piece.

I can just see it now.....it will be a half hour report on how awful and unsafe home daycare is with a small, 30 second snippet that say, "of course, there are great home daycares out there and it is the parent's job to seek them out".

[Tyana]

I do hope we are trying for more than this! I'd like to hear from daycare providers as to their concerns - eg, around licensing difficulties, etc, as well as other issues from the people on the frontline.

My guess is that she will be back. There was another CBC journalist on here about three weeks ago PMing members with the same request. I personally had a PM asking me about "illegal daycare" and if I would like to speak on that point to a journalist. Now, I see it is all negative, negative, negative. I am VERY wary of working with any reporter who might twist and turn words to suit the agenda of their piece.

I can just see it now.....it will be a half hour report on how awful and unsafe home daycare is with a small, 30 second snippet that say, "of course, there are great home daycares out there and it is the parent's job to seek them out".