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

[Janet]

Tyana,

What purpose is your article going to serve? Do you have an agenda behind writing an article about bad child care experiences with home child care providers? I'm just trying to understand why you'd be interested in writing an article that has already been written so many times in the past.

Yes, there are some really terrible providers out there. Yes, there are plenty of parents who have had awful experiences with home child care providers. I'm not going to argue that point with you because I know that bad providers are a reality. That's nothing new. Why would you choose to cover the same ground that so many other writers have already covered when you could do something remarkable instead?

Why not write an article about good providers and positive daycare environments? I think that could really change the way that parents feel about going to work and having their children in daycare. I'm sure that there are parents of children in home daycare environments out there who would be more than happy to share their experiences for an article. It would be a refreshing change to see a positive portrayal of home daycare providers, really. There are just so many negative stories that are reported but I don't think that I have ever seen anything positive be reported. The image of the home daycare provider gets distorted and as a result, sometimes we all get lumped into the same category. Again, I'm not saying that there aren't bad providers out there, I just think that it's important to make sure that it's known that there are remarkable providers, too.

I'd like to challenge you to take a different path with your article! I think that you could do something memorable if you're willing to not take the beaten path. Everyone writes about the negative aspects and all that accomplishes is putting fear into the hearts of parents. What if you could do something to replace some of that fear with a sense of security for families? If you're willing to do something bold like that, I'd be willing to give you an interview and ask the parents of the children that I care for and the parents of children that have aged out of daycare here if they would be willing to give you an interview. We aren't all the same and I think that it's time that the generalizations about home care providers are challenged.

[Play and Learn]

One of the things we ARE looking at is daycare providers who actually WOULD like to become licensed ....and find that the hopes they have to jump through are too restrictive. We've heard that perfectly great daycares have had their licenses taken away from them for not having "yard space" - despite the fact that the daycare was directly across from a park that the children visited every day.

IF you're doing your research correctly, then you would know that the DNA (Day Nurseries Act - in Ontario) has rules and regulations in place for licensed daycares. They are there for a reason, and have been for awhile, and licensed daycares should KNOW this prior to opening. If they don't then tough luck for them.