Update: switching day cares.

In my last post I mentioned that the day care that we're beginning our visits to, isn't the same day care that I had previously talked about.

In April, Kevin and I found a day care that we liked. It was in our price range (although at the top of what we could afford), small, cozy, and very friendly. They would support us in our cloth diapering and raising Adelaide vegetarian. They made me feel comfortable. We turned in our application and made plans to begin visits as we got closer to our start date.



(Just for fun, here are some pictures from last week)
Then, around June or so, I was driving to the post office and passed a different day care, one that I hadn't found on previous internet searches. I called the number on the sign, said I was at the post office, and could I take a tour when I was done buying stamps. She said sure, and I was there in five minutes. This new day care is bigger than the previous one, but since they are a non-profit, they have cut their fees by 20% to accomodate the economy. Which brought the cost down to $12/week cheaper than day care #1. That's almost $50 a month we'd be saving over the other day care. They also will support our cloth diapering and vegetarian decisions, among other things.



She has gotten so big! Remember this?
And, this day care seems like it follows a curriculum more so, whereas the previous one seemed more babysitterly. Each child has their own goals for the week and month. In the infant room where Adelaide will be starting, the goals are developmental based, and the teachers help them out with their specific skills. Tummy time, crawling, walking, etc. And when she moves up to the next room(s), the teachers will start things like colors, shapes, numbers, manners, etc. It's actually kind of exciting to know that my daughter will be in a classroom setting, learning and interacting with lots of different kinds of people and children.




Mrs. Renee is a sweet older lady who has made me feel nothing but super comfortable about our choice to switch to this day care. Obviously Adelaide will only be in her room for a few months before she moves to the 1-year room, but I've met the other teachers as well and there are no red flags, thankfully. I feel like I could pop in at any time to say hello, see what's going on, and there'd be no worries. This center, in fact, encourages parents to volunteer 10 hours a year, which to me says that they are invested in fostering a parent/child/teacher relationship. As a teacher myself, that says a lot.




So, there you have it. Ideally, I'd be staying home and giving Adelaide all the experience she needs, whether through teaching her at home or going to playdates, museums, parks, etc. And I will definitely still do that even though I will transition to being a working mother. Education starts at home, and should continue there despite where the child spends his or her day. And even though I can't be the stay-at-home mom I always envisioned myself to be, I do feel good about the day care we have chosen. Doing these weekly visits will only make me feel that much better about our choice. I will definitely keep you filled in as we progress towards our start date, letting you know how we're adjusting and what we're doing to make this a smooth transition (for all involved). Stay tuned!



Isn't this awesome? She's so much fun!