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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
daycare center recs please (buzzeroo and jacksjersey)
what day care center does your LO go to?
any daycare center (or large in homes) recs are greatly appreciated!
Re: daycare center recs please (buzzeroo and jacksjersey)
In all honesty, and this might sound wishy washy, I really believe in moms just trusting their own instincts for their own child. Every one has things that are their pet peeves or things that they care about.
I toured several daycares around our home in Clive when we moved here a few months ago. Many of them came to me with high recommendations but when I toured I was put off. I also toured a few that others had poorly reviewed but I liked.
You are just going to have to put together a list of centers and call for an appointment to walk through. They only take about 15 minutes to walk through and many of them I judged within the first 2 minutes of being in the door (whether it was the center I didn't like or the director/teachers).
Our solution is only temporary because DS was accepted to the Children's House Montessori for early preschool which runs like a regular school - so he can't start until August. So we are utilizing the three half days of daycare as a warm up for him to 'school'.
Many people told me how bad Kindercare was including online reviews. I went to three of them near our area and the first two were HORRIBLE IMO. HORRIBLE. They were small, cramped, stinky, and the kids didn't look happy at all (directors were ... odd). HOWEVER - I then toured the one on University by Panera. LOVED IT. The director and staff were all nice, looked nice and seemed happy. The kids had better classrooms and seemed to enjoy themselves. I spent the first two days with him - so I got to know the teachers and the routine (so I could help DS adjust).
Long winded response to say ... just start dialing (many will not have immediate availability) and make appointments.
This is the list that was given to us by my husband's employer to help us get started after we relocated (some of them are in DM near his work)
Boulevard Children?s Center
900 Polk Boulevard, Des Moines, IA 50312 (close to downtown)515-255-1145http://blvdchildrenscenter.com Montessori Children?s House1505 42nd St, West Des Moines, IA 50266515-225-1073http://themontessorichildrenshouse.net Generation Next6901 Merle Hay Road, Johnston, IA 50131515-252-6109http://www.generationnextia.com Koalaty Time2500 128th St, Urbandale, IA 50323515-278-5220http://www.koalatytime.com/home.html Imagination & Education Station2955 86th Street, Urbandale, IA 50322515-727-0544http://www.pureimaginationkids.com/index.htm Uncle Sam?s Child Care Center (a Bright Horizon?s Center ? also, close to downtown)1408 East Court Ave, Des Moines, IA 50316515-262-3032http://centers.brighthorizons.com/unclesams KinderCare Centers3 locations in the WDM areahttp://www.kindercare.com/our-centers/resultsI want to add that had Bright Horizons had availability - he would have went there no question. Bright Horizons was the daycare facility at my husband's work and DS went there for a month before we moved from NJ to IA. It was AMAZING! Great learning environment.
Good luck!!
Thank you for the list! I completely agree with you about just trusting your instincts. That is how I generally make decisions anyway... We LOVE our daycare lady so I'm really struggling with when to move him. We had originally thought at age 2 but i'm a little afraid that the longer i wait the harder it will be for him. I want to find somewhere that he can go to until he goes to Cowles (assuming he gets in) which will be at age 3.5.
We would love for him to go to CMH but we doubt we can afford it. We are tossing the idea around of having him to go CMH 3 days a week and then stay with friends/family 2 days a week.
So many choices & decisions to make!
I hear great things about Cowles. We are in Clive now (as we needed temp. housing until our NJ house sold - which it did). We have just secured a lot for building in the Greenwood Elem. school district in DM (unless something goes wrong with during our 60 day walkaway period for the build).
We really want diversity for our son and for him to not BE the diversity for other kids. So the W.DM subs are not for us long term. However, the CMH has a good diversity level for the area it is in - which is why we are making the half days work there (you are right - it is pricey). If something doesn't work out with the building in Greenwood Elem. district (since it is both well rated and has a good level of diversity) then we will go back to the Cowles idea.
It's always a balancing act as a parent - we each do what we feel is the best route to helping our children grow into well rounded people. No one right solution.
Good luck!!
My boys go to Little Endeavors in Ankeny. I totally agree with jacksjerseygirl about casting a wide net and trusting your instincts. We looked at 8-10 daycare centers and we knew LE was the best fit for us right away.
Good luck!
I have been super happy with the Apple Tree Childrens Center in Clive (probably out of your way) SIL goes to the one on Grand in WDM and she loves the teachers there to.
Last time I checked with boulevard daycare and the waiting list was over 2 years.
I also toured edication and imagination station when I was first looking and I was not impressed. It just felt icky.
Just my 2 cents...
It is pricey, but SO worth every penny. I would encourage you to at least give it a tour. After I visited, our search ended immediately and we found a way to make it work!
Ditto! We also love Apple Tree!
And then I did tour education and imagination station and liked it, am planning on putting my daughter there when they have availability probably. I agree with others, just tour and see what feels right.
Which methodist church daycare are you referring to?