Should I say something? Daycare related (ideas, teaching, babies, parent)
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I dropped in about two hours early to pick my daughter up from daycare yesterday. It was probably like 3:00. When I got there I noticed every single child was in a high chair and only one child was walking around and one was in one of those jumperoos. When I walked in the child in the jumperoo and one of the children in the highchair started crying and reaching out for me to pick them up. It made me wonder how long have these kids been sitting and why do they have them all trapped in their high chair? None of the kids have food on the high chair.
It just didn't seem right. Granted this is my first child so maybe I was looking into it too much?
If it made you uncomfortable you should have said something. Perhaps it was snack time and the food hadn't been given out yet? There's only one way to find out.
I dropped in about two hours early to pick my daughter up from daycare yesterday. It was probably like 3:00. When I got there I noticed every single child was in a high chair and only one child was walking around and one was in one of those jumperoos. When I walked in the child in the jumperoo and one of the children in the highchair started crying and reaching out for me to pick them up. It made me wonder how long have these kids been sitting and why do they have them all trapped in their high chair? None of the kids have food on the high chair.
It just didn't seem right. Granted this is my first child so maybe I was looking into it too much?
^^Ask questions...It's never wrond to ask, just make sure you don't come off sounding like you are accusing anyone of mistreatment, because that could def rub someone the wrong way. OR
Continue to observe different things when you come in. It's always good to come in at different times when your child is in a new place. Drop off times and pick up times as often as possible. If you continue to see "odd" things that make you uncomfortable, you can bring it up to the director, or caregiver in the room....or you can remove your child from the place entirely.
What were the caregiver doing? Working with children in the past, to get everyone still we would take turns in the highchairs to hear a story, or learn to color, or sometimes we would put everyone up to clean a 'mess' or similar. Keeping an eye and being very observant is Always smart, esp when your child(ren) are involved!!
I worked in a small home daycare and while the one I was in was great we heard way too many stories. I would say something or even drop in again sometime soon around that time. Walk in quietly and observe. Was the main caregiver there or were they part time employees only? The thing is, when you have a daycare it is your Job to stimulate and entertain the kids. As a parent I sometimes let my kids to find things to play and entertain themselves (not strapped to anything of course) but if I am paying someone they darn well better be willing to sit on the puzzle mat floor and read to the babies or whatever.
We used the highchairs for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and finger painting/playdough so the kids got in and out of them a lot but there is no reason for them to be sitting with nothing unless they're waiting to get their hands washed or for caregiver to get something etc.
That sounds very odd to me, that a few of them immediatly started crying and extending their arms to you to pick them up. Sounds as if they were in the chairs for a long period of time and when you walked in you were like the saviour.
I would drop in again, in the next couple of days at the same time, and then again at different times. You can never be too careful when it comes to children.
What exactly were the teachers doing? If they were busy preparing snacks, or had their hands full with other kids, or something, I might not say anything. If they were just sitting around shooting the breeze, definitely ask. Probably the time to do it should have been when you saw it, but you can still nicely ask the teacher about the daily routine, and if she doesn't mention any part of it that requires all the kids to be in highchairs, then bring it up. If you don't like her answer, then you can go to the director. But that would make me uncomfortable too, and you are not wrong to ask questions of the people who are responsible for your baby.
I agree with lauramc27...you really should make a few unexpected drop-ins....it's your child...you can give strangers the benefit of the doubt if you want...but I sure wouldn't...I couldn't handle ANY doubt about the quality of care MY child was getting.
[quote=Eresh;24462595]3:00 seems like it would be prime snack time, so maybe they were getting ready to dispense snacks. Did you try asking the caregiver?[/quote]
I would also drop in at a few other times. There may be something wrong or absolutely nothing wrong at all.
Don't jump to conclusions and blame the staff until you ask about why the children were all in highchairs.
I'm former teacher and once I had a very negative review by my principal because, "I never see you teaching. Everytime I walk past or visit your classroom the students are watching TV". This was very puzzling to me as my students watched less educational programming than other classrooms.
I finally solved the mystery. This was a long time ago (before VCRs were common) and my students watched a weekly, educational science show that was broadcast every Tuesday at 11:30 AM. This principal hated to do school "walk-throughs" and hardly even left her office. Every Tuesday morning was the district wide administrator meeting and they would remind the principals to walk through their buildings and visit classrooms. She would return about 11:30 every Tuesday and make her weekly walk-through at the exact time that my students were watching their weekly show.
So what she observed was only a brief slice of what happened in my classroom and didn't reflect the other 30 plus hours in the week.
Many times it is better to get more information than to just jump to conclusions.
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I dropped in about two hours early to pick my daughter up from daycare yesterday. It was probably like 3:00. When I got there I noticed every single child was in a high chair and only one child was walking around and one was in one of those jumperoos. When I walked in the child in the jumperoo and one of the children in the highchair started crying and reaching out for me to pick them up. It made me wonder how long have these kids been sitting and why do they have them all trapped in their high chair? None of the kids have food on the high chair.
It just didn't seem right. Granted this is my first child so maybe I was looking into it too much?
As a professional in Child Care, I beg of you that anytime you see something that makes you wonder what is going on, please do yourself and the staff there a favor and ask right then and there!
If they were waiting on snack, which is most likely the situation, then they would have explained it to you and there would be no need to speculate about what was going on. Sadly, analyzing things without full knowledge of the circumstance tends to make people come up with all kinds of negative ideas. Most often these are incorrect and could have been avoided with a simple question on the spot.
If there were some other kind of situation, your asking about it would make them aware that it doesn't sit right with you to see them all in high chairs without an obvious good reason. You could have voiced your concern and have them address your concerns.
If they did not respond in a way you felt suitable then you should take it to the director and have them address the situation you encountered.
Now since it would be Monday at the earliest before you could ask about this, I would suggest you approach the director and tell them you have something you would like them to observe for a few days because when you picked up your child early this is what you saw and it caused you to wonder what was going on. Let them be the ones to ask the questions and get back to you.
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