[ELH05]

Would love some others views on attending 2 daycare centres.
I enrolled my son in his current daycare (2 days a week) and he has been going since March, he is really happy there, loves the staff and all round it's a lovely place.
BUT....
Today I was with a friend and she showed me a scrapbook that her daycare provider does up for each of their kids (personalised for each child) wow, I was so impressed, shows so many pictures of what her child has been doing, says what progress is being made and what her child's strengths are. My friends Daycare centre has been on excursions, has a happy feet program etc etc.
So I just feel that although I know my son enjoys his time at daycare, I feel that he could be missing out on better facilities.
So I am thinking next year of splitting his time between his current place and finding another one for him, more aimed at early learning & outcomes especially with him being 2.5years old and has one more year before Kindy.

So do you think going to 2 centres would be ok ?

[erindiv]

I would imagine he would find it very confusing. If you want him to go to a 'better' one (which, I'll add, could potentially have a loooong waiting list) then why not transfer him completely?

[CallMeProtart]

I doubt one day a week of 'learning' is going to offset the disruption to him. I don't think one day a week at any care is really enough for a child to feel at home there.

Why not just move him to the new one completely, if you like them better? What's the benefit of the old one?

BTW my daycare does those books and photos and stuff - and tbh sometimes I'd rather they just had more spare time to spend with the kids. Not saying that I'm unhappy with the care, but I can tell they care and know my kids well by talking to the carers, not by those books. And how well are they going to get to know your child at just one day a week? I'd rather they could just relax and stop taking photos and writing commentaries, and just spend that time with the kids. In the end, that other stuff is all admin work for them and occupies their time in activities other than child-interaction.

[ELH05]

I would imagine he would find it very confusing. If you want him to go to a 'better' one (which, I'll add, could potentially have a loooong waiting list) then why not transfer him completely?

I was hoping not disrupt him too much because he would still see the kids & staff he has built bonds with at the current daycare. But in saying that I thought that after a few months I would monitor it and see if we could cut one completely out.

[ELH05]

BTW my daycare does those books and photos and stuff - and tbh sometimes I'd rather they just had more spare time to spend with the kids. Not saying that I'm unhappy with the care, but I can tell they care and know my kids well by talking to the carers, not by those books. And how well are they going to get to know your child at just one day a week? I'd rather they could just relax and stop taking photos and writing commentaries, and just spend that time with the kids. In the end, that other stuff is all admin work for them and occupies their time in activities other than child-interaction.

Oh now that is some food for thought , I didnt really think of it that way .....

[beansidhe]

We make scrap books for families and while they are filled with all the required paperwork (observations, learning assessments), they also contain art, photos of experiences etc. They are nice for families so they can see what their children have been doing throughout the year. BUT, they can be a real pain!
Most child educators would prefer minimal paper work and to spend more time with your children which is why most of these books get taken home and done in our own time. There simply isnt enough timein the day.
That said, they really are not the be all and end all of a good quality child care centre. If your son is happy where he is, if he has strong bonds with his educators, if he is experiencing a wide range of acitivities to promote his learning then why bother moving him to another centre just becuase they do fancy and pretty scrapbooks?
Scrapbooks are not an indication of good quality childcare. They could mean any number of things such as your freind has artistic educators looking after her son, they have more time on their hands, they get more time for programming at work, or they do not have their own families and can spend enormous amounts of time on these books.

Do I think the books we do are nice? yes
Do I do them in my own time even though I have my own familiy to look after? Yes
Would I do them at work to the detriment of meaningful time with the childrenin my car? No

SO if it came down to it and I had to choose between scrapbooks and your children, your children are going to win everytime. And if anything, that means that is high quality care and nuturing.

[madmother]

We did.

The daycare my son started at was not up to standard in many ways. We switched him and his brother to 2 days at another. The reason we continued with 2 days at the old daycare was due to friendships both boys had made.

They coped really well.

[Sail to the Moon]

If your son is really happy in his current day care and you have no issues, then no I don't think you should change him to a new centre because of their portfolios.

[bluecardigans]

A bit of a different scenario, but we had our DS in LDC two days per week. The year before he started school he also did 2 days per week at a special needs preschool. He has severe ASD and coped quite well switching between the two.

[lynnemine]

DD's were in 2 daycare's (LDC) this year. 2 days a week at the normal one that is theirs, and 1 day a week at the one on campus - I had a class finishing at 7pm, and my sister lived near my on campus one and collected them each week for me and we all stayed the night at hers.

DD's took a while to settle into the 1 day a week - but:
1. they were only there 1 day a week
2. the centres were very different in every respect really - size, style, food, staff, activities etc.

They did eventually settle in - at the end of semester. I'm now off-campus for this one, so pulled them out.