rwh@exodus.UUCP (Roy Haas) (10/17/84)
Since I received only a few responses about Kinder Care the text is posted in its entirety. Thanks to those who responded. I have omitted the names so no one will know who to flame about. Roy Haas ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Kinder Care is a chain, so each one may differ. Our experiences were very negative. We sent our son Matthew to a nearby Kinder Care when he was 18 mos. old. We only sent him for about 4 hours in the morning, mainly to get the experience playing with other children. There was one adult to every 10 children (they would send in a helper if there was more than 10). These children were aged 18 mos. to 2 1/2 yrs. Matt cried the first day, but we had expected that. After a week of this, he would scream when we pulled in the parking lot, and we would have to (almost) drag him inside. At the end of the 4th day, he had a big scratch on his face when we picked him up (one that he would surely have cried over). The teacher did not know how he had gotten it. At the end of the week, he came home and I discovered a big handful of his hair, pulled out of his head and shoved down the back of his shirt. We talked to the director of the center, and did not take him back. Matt now stays with a woman near our house, who has a 19 mo. old boy. He does great, so I'm convinced it wasn't just him. Kinder Care is very inexpensive as far as child care goes (the one here is $8 a day, or $2 an hour). The woman across the street from us also took her child out of the same Kinder Care, because her child was always sick. She would pick things up at day care and bring them home. She switched her to the local Story Time Center, and doesn't have this problem anymore. Like I said, one experience - but be very careful and watch the student to teacher ratio. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Concerning your inquiry about KinderCare in Marlboro: Our 2 1/2 year old son in the Marlboro KinderCare for two days a week and it is apparently working out OK. The fear that KinderCare is to kids what McD. or Ken. Fried C. is to food is, in principle, wrong-headed. A national franchise like McDon determines what the local buildings look like and what the food is. A national franchise like KinderCare determines only what the building looks like (and a few other administrative things). What matters in a daycare center is the people. All else is relatively irrelevant. Thus, one can not predict what a particular KinderCare will be like as one can not predict what any other center will be like (except perhaps for religious centers). On the other hand, one can predict with great accuracy what one find on the menu in any one particular McDon. (I overstate my case. Some of the "relatively irrelevant" things were important to us. The facilities at KinderCare are terrific. A wonderful, fenced-in play ground, all sorts of interesting toys, kid size furniture, well-lighted and well- ventilated playroom, clean and easily accessed bathrooms, etc.) The only way to pick a daycare center is to go there and talk to the staff. . . that is, the subset of the set of people who happened to show up at the job interviews. (Incidentally, KinderCare is opening up a few other places in the area soon: Freehold and Toms River are two I know about.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. I recently enrolled my 5 year old in a Kinder Care in Greensboro, NC to provide him with care after his Kindergarten class let out at 12:30. Their advertising indicated that they would pick up schoolagers and take care of them until the parents could pick them up after work. It wasn't until school started that they told me that they didn't have a bus available to pick up my son at the time his class let out. Also, I found that on occasion he would arrive "too late" to be served a hot lunch, or that they "ran out" of food. Needless to say, it didn't take long for me to find a new day care center that was able to provide hot lunches REGARDLESS! Based on my experience, I can not recommend Kinder Care. A concerned, caring and attentive staff is far more important than slick franchise advertising, but requires a bit more research on the part of the parent. Good luck! -- Roy Haas exodus!rwh