It just seems strange to be looking for a daycare for our baby when she hasn't even entered the world. But if we want options we need to look in advance.
I talked to 5 daycares today and 4 of them have openings for infants (3 of those for August, 1 for right now but could still in August if they don't fill). I met with one daycare provider today while kids were there to observe and tonight we went back to interview her further and so the daddy can be part of the interview process. We have another interview set up for Friday. I left messages at a bunch of other places. My friend Rebecca is the Executive Director of the Parent Provider Connection, so we'll probably do their referral service. Costs $60 and is good for 6 months (I think that is how long) and they do a computer matching thing based on your requirements.
I made up lists of interview questions for phone interviews and in-person interviews from a bunch of lists of questions I found online. And of course I organized them all and put them in a little binder with tabs.
We liked the one we visited with tonight, but we have nothing to compare it too. So, after talking with and visiting a few other places, we'll have a better idea. Now I have some references to check on from that daycare provider, as well as checking her license with the state to make sure everything is on the up & up.
We mainly want to find a daycare in our town, as it will be most convenient for both of us (since I work S and he works N.) Of the 5 I talked with, only 1 was in a different town (where I work.) So, there are already 3 possibilities in our community.
Guess that's it for now.
3 comments:
We have a home interview tonight with another prospective. We're not too sure about this one, but it will be good for us to continue to interview people and see just what is out there.
I started checking on the references from the first home interview. One of the references said she watches a lot of soaps during the day and doesn't teach much for lessons. Not sure that is something we want for our child after they are out of the infant stage.
Had a phone interview with another lady. I was pretty impressed with her on the phone. She's sending me a huge packet/contract to review before we schedule a home interview. She is only 2 blocks away (not that any in our town are that far away.) I think the only real thing that pops out as a question about her is she says she is a "Christian Day Care". Daddy isn't too sure about that. She told me what it means and said the contract spells it out. She's pretty educated. Costs more than the other 2, but she has a curriculum (was a teacher before) and does lessons daily and just got a grant to build a big play center in the backyard.
We want to find a place that we want our child to go to *potentially -- you never know, we could move* to from infancy until school-age.
Rebecca is going to get me a print out of licensed daycare in our town. We really have no desire to look out of our town.
Daddy inquired about the cost of daycare that is available at his place of employment. Yikes! Definitly not doing that. They are over twice as much that the 3 ladies I have talked to here (even the more expensive one.) I can't believe people can afford to pay that kind of money for daycare. I would seriously consider staying home if I had to pay that.
I had called another 3 family day cares in our community and they all do not have openings for infants.
Called 6 more (who knew there were so many day cares in my small town) and 5 do not have openings. The 6th one has to do math work on the ages of her current kids (since this is 6 months away) and also find out if one of her mom's is pregnant (if so, the first spot goes to her). So, it was a little disheartening to hear that so many are full.
Rebecca is supposed to give me that list this weekend, so we'll see if there are any others out there I have not called. And there is one place I left a message for that I haven't heard back from.
But so far 3 for sure possibilities, and 2 maybes.
It's so odd to be on the end interviewing the sitter and not being the sitter myself. Wow! It's crazy.
Post a Comment