The New Daycare

I’m in love.  Literally.  In.Love.

But I catch my breath when I say that, though.  I’ve said it before and got burned.  Bad.  J’s old daycare was initially the best place EVA for her. 

What?  Did you think I was talking about a new boyfriend or something?  Nah.  I’m too lazy to not be happy with The Husband. 

It start with a pass-code and finger scan to get past the front lobby to the hallway leading to all the rooms.

In the hallway, classical calm music is always playing.

Floor to ceiling glass windows allow the passerby to view activities in each room.  What’s pretty awesome, though, is not the windows, but the behavior of the children inside.  They are calm, happy, and interacting with the people around them.  Even at 5:00 pm.  The Hour of Power as we sometimes call it in our household.  The hour kids get the crankiest is still just as calm in each and every single classroom in the school.

There are not 1, but 2 video cameras in every room, so it’s easy to find your kiddo.  Oh, and those videos are available for viewing online after logging on with a secure username and password.  And there’s an iPhone app for the videos. Can I tell y'all just how wonderful it feels to be able to see my daughter throughout the day?  I'm able to feel like I'm more a part of her day and know what she did.  And her grandparents?!  Oh my gosh her grandparents are CRAZY about being able to have access to the videos.  They're just about addicted to watching her all day long!

That would be my daughter surrounded by books and makeshift purse like objects.

 There’s an indoor gym. 

There’s a dedicated music room with a full time music teacher on staff.  Music class is every single day.  It is incredibly age appropriate but does an excellent job of introducing music theory at an early age.

The computer lab is just on the other side of the library which splits as the Spanish room.

Those rooms have videos, too.

Lunch is served family style.  The reasoning behind this is that it allows children to try different items, but to get as much of an item they like as they need.  It teaches serving skills, and waiting your turn skills, and other table manners.

That’s just a list of the bells and whistles.  But the proof is in the pudding, so to speak.  The teachers and the kids.  My kid, more specifically.

The director and assistant director are infinitely kind and patient.  This attitude trickles down.

The teachers never seem frantic, never seem stressed, and always seem calm, happy, and ready to meet their day and my kid.  They seem prepared, professional, and informed.  It might be because they all have a degree in child education or psychology.  It’s a guess.

On J’s very first day there the children in her classroom were immediately interested and didn’t hesitate to take her hand to guide her to play with them.  One precious little girl, A, was especially thrilled to have J there, and would report every exciting thing J and her did back to her teacher.

“J likes the ellow baw, teecha!”

“Yes, A.  J likes holding that yellow ball.”

“J held ma hand.  I asked.”

“Yes, A.  She did.  You’re being a good friend, A.”

They gave each other hugs within the first 10 minutes.  It was so calming to see. 

Picking her up in the afternoon is interesting.  She runs to us, but she’s not trying to drag us out of the room.  She’s actually dragging us around the room to show us what she’s done that day.

After just 3 days at the new school we saw the J we hadn’t realized we were missing.  She transitioned from a super clingy, whiny, throwing constant fits, to the happy, curious, loving toddler she once was.

Because I have the video to watch, I’ve seen how the teachers react when they need to correct a child.  It’s gentle and calm without bringing too much attention to the situation, and then redirecting.

I watched as a child climbed onto one of the tables in the room.  One of the teachers (there are 2) didn’t stop what she was doing but did continue picking up toys and then walked by, gentle rearranged the child so her feet were on the ground, and then continued on with picking up toys.  The child stood there for a moment considering and then walked away.

Now, it certainly wasn’t the only time that child or other children did that.  The teachers probably had to remove children about a dozen times that day, but they never got frustrated or cross with them.  They never got short, shouting at them or shaking their fingers at them. 

I’m in love with this place and I know in my heart it is the best and safest place for my daughter.

Now, if she would only remember each morning as I drop her off how much she enjoyed the day before and fall just as in love with the place as me.  Life would be much more peaceful in our family!