single mom moving to Columbia (Ellicott City, Laurel: daycares, house, preschools)

[mandyk]

Hello: I am a single mom planning to move to Columbia in the next few months. I have a few questions I was hoping for input on:
1- do you know of any social groups or websites for single parents in the area?
2- do you have any recommendations for terrific daycare options? my son is almost 3
3- I'm really interested in being close to trails, parks, playgrounds- do you have any advice about specific villages?
4- I will be working in Laurel (on 198 right near 295), what is the early morning commute (7am) from Columbia like?
Thanks so much for responses to any of these questions.
I appreciate your time!
-mandy

[mamaecho]

Hey!
You can join NorthMetroDcMommies.com it's free and I believe it covers Columbia. It's a social network/forum, etc for moms of all kinds

[SmokeyLisa]

I found a few daycares in the area that I liked but I think a lot depends on your expectations. For instances - hours some may open at 6 others 8:30, fulltime/ part time - (entire day or till noon or 3), services - karate, spanish, ballet, cost?, location, big chain/local/regional/montessori, religious, etc.? Are you looking for immediate care or care for next year? I found it impossible to find a small classroom environment in this area and a lot of the facilities have an open classroom environment - no real walls - which I would think would be distracting.

Good Luck

Big Box - I visited these and I liked. I must admit I did not like the other locations that I visited
- Kindercare - Sunny Spring location
- La Petite - Ellicott City locatoin
-Goddard - Hickory Ridge or Kings Contrivance - not sure which village it was in

Did not visit but spoke with someone who did visit the facility. I also had good experience with another KB facility in the past.
-Knowledge Beginnings - Fulton

Local/Regional - I visited and I liked (I did not visit their other locations)
-The Young School - pricey (King's Contrivance location- they have an open house Nov. 14?? not positive about the date).
-Love of Learning - really pricey
-Children's Manor - Ellicott City location
-Columbia Academy - Columbia - 108 location

Parks - You won't lack for parks - Centennial is great. There is one off of 100 that is pretty nice as well, at the moment.

[Johnbiggs]

About the commute: 29 gets pretty backed up during the rush hours, 32 isn't as bad, and I'm not too sure about 295.

[greentreezeal]

Children's Manor Montessori School is an excellent school with great timings. It's a very culturally and scholastically rich environment. I would highly recommend it for your child at the age of 3. It is in Ellicott City, MD. There are other schools...I looked at KinderCare in Columbia and I was not impressed with the facility (quite unappealing, and in dire need of cleaning). There are other wonderful preschools for children all around Ellicott City and Columbia; all the churches offer them too, and they are very affordable. You can find what you are looking for by just talking to people, and doing a search online for "preschools in ellicott city, md" or "preschools in columbia, md." I would highly suggest visiting them and talking to the teachers and making sure it is the right fit for your child. Don't just look at price, look at quality and safety, and cleanliness. I found CMMS to be very good in this respect. There are also others like "Nurturing Nest Montessori" that is also excellent.

Good luck to you

[SmokeyLisa]

greentreezeal,

There are a few Kindercare's in the area, which is why I only mentioned one of them. The one on Sunny Spring, IMO, is clean and the teacher of the 3's that I met was really nice and had been there for a long time. I'm assuming that you visited the Kindercare on Little Patuxent, which I agree needs updating. In general, I was not impressed regardless of the facilities aesthetics.

An advantage to some of the big daycares is that they offer swimming, which I thought was nice although I was concerned as well. I would have taken advantage of it. Most of them offer swimming through CA.

[nj08]

Mandy,

I am a single mom as well (living in Columbia) and I commute through 29S at 7:20am and let me tell you..It is fine.. I haven't ahd any problems.. It only get a little slow when you hit the sections where there are lights but other wise than that.. I love it.. Now in the afternoon it can get a little backed up. It alld epends on what time you're leaving work.. I leave at 4:30 and it's is fine.. If you leave at 5:00 you will hit a little traffic but nothing major..believe it or not 30min makes a BIG difference...