Downtown Denver/Littleton Daycares? (school, live in, moving to)

[DIVIL]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here and I'm hoping some parents can help me.

I was asked to relocate to Denver, CO from Houston, TX by my employers, and we arrived this past weekend. The hardest part of the move was having to pull my 10 month old son from a Kids R Kids daycare in Houston that he absolutely adored. He was treated so well by the carers there, and every day he was able to play, interact, was fed cafeteria food, taken on buggy rides, etc. His face would light up when we pulled up outside the building, and on his final day he was given gifts and cards and thrown a party. Two of the carers were even crying at him leaving

Not knowing much about Denver, and being somewhat fearful of home-based daycares, we decided to trust the brand name of Bright Horizons and found a Montessori school based off 17th street.

The atmosphere couldn't be any different. Perhaps I was ignorant to Montessori methods, but when I went to pick him up last night, I was suprised by the days summary I received. My previous daycare would be telling me about all the silly things he did, how well he did with his food, or how long his naps were. With this new place, the first thing that they told me was "Well, he went to the work area three times during play time, but eventually he listened to us and stayed away." For an eleven month old, this doesn't exactly sound like a fun, fuzzy experience.

Also, my son is one of those babies who just laughs and waves at strangers and is such a sociable, people loving little guy. And one of the carers told me "We even got a couple of laughs out of him" as though that was the highlight of her day. I was really upset inside when she said this, because I had visions of my happy, playful little boy just being nipped at all day with "don't go there, don't touch that" etc.

I know that Montessori is about learning skills and life tools, but I'd like him to be a baby first, you know? I want to hear about how he played in a sand pit with friends, or how he ate an apple for the first time. At this stage, I don't want to be told how he is being taught how to hold a pen correctly. It's bad enough that all the other babies seem to be quiet, personality-less and passive (my girlfriend called it "Stepford"-like).

Anyway, to get to the point, can any parents on this forum recommend a safe, secure, happy, playful, fun daycare where my son can enjoy himself and be a normal baby? With so many cases of kids being abused, hurt, ignored, etc, I'm terrified of making a wrong decision.

Thanks so much for any help you can offer me.

[AreWeThereYet??]

Hi,

We too currently live in Houston and are planning on moving to Denver. We have our daughter in Kids R Kids as well. However, I found a couple of Primrose daycares in Littleton (by Highlands ranch) if you are near there. We used to have our daughter in Primrose and loved it there... almost as much as Kids R Kids. If you can put him in there, that would be a good solution. Good Luck.

[DIVIL]

Originally Posted by AreWeThereYet??

Hi,

We too currently live in Houston and are planning on moving to Denver. We have our daughter in Kids R Kids as well. However, I found a couple of Primrose daycares in Littleton (by Highlands ranch) if you are near there. We used to have our daughter in Primrose and loved it there... almost as much as Kids R Kids. If you can put him in there, that would be a good solution. Good Luck.

Thank you so much for your kind advice. And what a small world that you are about to make the same move and used the same daycare

I have a tour scheduled with the Littleton Primrose tomorrow morning, so thank you very much for the recommendation. I'm hoping for good things.

[AreWeThereYet??]

Let me know how you like the place. We may be putting ours there too in the future.