Day Care Options in Huntsville/Madison (Providence: how much, home, preschool)

[GretelB]

Soon to be first time mom -- and trying to figure out my daycare/babysitting options after maternity leave. I work full time in Research Park, but live in Hampton Cove... so am looking something that is kind of "on the way" going in to work, or either near work or home. Any moms or dads out there have any suggestions of places to visit? This is a little overwhelming.

[Charles]

Hampton Cove Academy is right next door to Hampton Cove Elementary/Middle School. It's religous though if that matters. My five year old is there but I see a bunch of babies there there too.

There are several in Research Park that look secular. There is one on Technology between Sparkman and Wynn and also on Bradford between Wynn and Research.

[rnc76]

Miss Marcia's in the Medical District is nice, she has been there a long time. They have very flexible plans as well. I'm not sure about the youngest age that they will take though.

[friday13]

Originally Posted by GretelB

Soon to be first time mom -- and trying to figure out my daycare/babysitting options after maternity leave. I work full time in Research Park, but live in Hampton Cove... so am looking something that is kind of "on the way" going in to work, or either near work or home. Any moms or dads out there have any suggestions of places to visit? This is a little overwhelming.

I suggest you visit the following in CRP -have a checklist of most important things you look for in childcare:
Some of these facilities are geared more towards older kids, and have only one small infant class, 6-10 babies, some have 15-20) :

Covenant Classical School and Daycare (6wks to K)
220 Exchange Place
256-837-KIDS (5437)

Providence Academy (Montessori) (6wks-k) -is nicely tucked in the back-lots of trees and green spaces
1930 Slaughter Rd
(256) 830-9555


Child Care Network (Sherwood Park) - that gas station right next the school building was a turnoff for me.
6210 Robinhood Ln.
(256) 837-5859

Primrose of Research Park (the most $$$, $205 2 yrs ago)
5014 Bradford Dr
(256) 830-0110


Note. La Petite Academy (Technology Dr,) didn't vibe well with me when I visited (a few months later I hear in the news about a teacher knocking 1-yr old's teeth out -claimed it was an accident, fell (or chew?) on the crib side rail-the kid needed extensive surgery)

As a reminder, it is really hard to evaluate an infant program, with an older child you can see the "results" in child's development.

I learned to let go or loosen up my standards and go with the best I could find out there (of course I wanted my child to live in a germ-free bubble when she started daycare, I soon was horrified that they were crawling on the same floors the teachers walked in street shoes, or parents would step on in the morning to drop their kids off). Just Montessori made everybody leave their shoes at the door when entering the infant room (i guess in their mind the socks or bare feet were more sanitary than the soles?!).

It's been 2 years since then, and we survived.

Good luck in your search.


PS. We chose to have the kid close to work so in case of an emergency pickup phone call to get there timely, or inclement weather, or a traffic jam on the way home. In your case is quite a drive from CRP to HC. You'd have the child with you in the back seat if traffic was bottlenecked/backed up on your way home. And remember that most of these facilities work 7A-6P.
Some centers allow moms to come in and nurse, play during the day (I spent my lunchtime at Primrose, other moms from Toyota were there too-I guess they were first time moms too?, ...and dads), some don't (have a CCTV where you can watch the child). I'm talking about visiting the infant/young 1yr old toddler, not participating in the 4 yr old classroom

[GretelB]

Thank you everyone for all of these suggestions! I am bad enough about where I will board my DOG due to cleanliness issues... so I know there are certain things about a day care center that I'm going to have to get over. I have no idea how much day care typically runs down here -- so that is something I'm going to need to think about as well.

[BKOTH97]

Originally Posted by friday13

I learned to let go or loosen up my standards and go with the best I could find out there (of course I wanted my child to live in a germ-free bubble when she started daycare, I soon was horrified that they were crawling on the same floors the teachers walked in street shoes, or parents would step on in the morning to drop their kids off). Just Montessori made everybody leave their shoes at the door when entering the infant room (i guess in their mind the socks or bare feet were more sanitary than the soles?!).

We use Premier PreSchool in CRP. It is on Bradford Drive. They also make you remove shoes before entering the infant room.

We have had 2 kids go through there and our 3rd will be starting soon. Infant costs are a little over $200 a week. We have never had a single safety or cleanliness issue to speak of in the almost 7 years we have had kids there.

[friday13]

Originally Posted by GretelB

. I have no idea how much day care typically runs down here --

The daycare centers (businesses not home-run 3-4 children) may run for $150-$210 a week (infant) - food, milk is brought from home (and warmed up in microwave in some places-another pet peeve of mine, especially when you provide breast milk, alternatives include bottle warmer, crockpot/double boil), diapers, wet wipes. Some places require unopened jars of food (try to do that when you puree a big batch a veggies and freeze at home), or X number of prepared bottles for the day.

[DvlsAdvc8]

I generally prefer daycares closer to home, as I'm more likely to change jobs than I am to move.

That said, I'm out in the Big Cove/Hampton Cove area and Hampton Cove Academy isn't licensed with the state so we went with Primrose in Research Park. (Alabama Department of Human Resources (http://www.dhr.state.al.us/Index.asp - broken link) - select "Services" from top menu then "Child Care Services" and search Madison County.

My was halfway tempted to look at starting a daycare (or franchise) in the Hampton Cove area. We miss the web cams that our daycare in VA had... among other things. Its just nice to be able to take a peek at what your kid is doing from time to time.

The turnover rate among the teachers is horrendous, which is why we generally prefer the expensive daycares which tend to have less turnover - or at least was the case in VA, but hasn't been the case for us at Primrose.

[DvlsAdvc8]

Originally Posted by BKOTH97

We use Premier PreSchool in CRP. It is on Bradford Drive. They also make you remove shoes before entering the infant room.

We have had 2 kids go through there and our 3rd will be starting soon. Infant costs are a little over $200 a week. We have never had a single safety or cleanliness issue to speak of in the almost 7 years we have had kids there.

Premier has an infant room? I thought they don't take kids till 4 years old?

[friday13]

Originally Posted by DvlsAdvc8

The turnover rate among the teachers is horrendous, which is why we generally prefer the expensive daycares which tend to have less turnover - or at least was the case in VA, but hasn't been the case for us at Primrose.

True that about Primrose, been there, and gone when a slot at a less expensive center became available. That's not to say that where we are now we had better luck with teachers staying longer. nope. But the personnel turnaround hasn't been on top of my priorities. I mean, children 6wk-2yr move up every 6 months and their classmates, too, at different times, but it would've been nice to have some stability in that respect.

Originally Posted by DvlsAdvc8

Premier has an infant room? I thought they don't take kids till 4 years old?

Same-o here, had no idea, at least 2 years ago they weren't advertising the infant services, I would've paid them a visit, they're just across from Primrose.