My son left childcare for school and because we moved area at around that time, my daughter didn't follow her brother into the same long day care centre. Instead, she went to a small, independent childcare facility and has now been there for 2 years. Due to it's small size, the centre is run on the 'family group' model, where the children all do various activities together, but then at certain times of day are pulled out according age/ability groups and given specific instruction.
Advantages
• The long day care centre is independently owned and run and the proprietor had years of experience working for other childcare providers prior to setting up her own company and so is well aware of what she feels the children in her care need.
• This particular centre is small and personal. It is true that not all long day care centres are so modest, but it is also true that most of the centres run by big concerns have larger numbers of children and so bigger classrooms etc. The children all know one another and their caregivers really well. It isn't too much to say that there is an extended family feel about the place.
• Because the childcare centre is independent there are no unseen politics at play and the staff are hand picked based on ability and enthusiasm.
• The long day care centre isn't 'generic' and whilst the staff definitely follow a curriculum, there is no inflexible company education policy. This means that the specific interests and needs of the children are very much taken into account when the curriculum is put into practice.
Disadvantages
• Being independent and so not having the financial backing of a major child care group, the centre sometimes struggles with finding the money for extra, larger and usually more mostly resource items, like a new projector or outdoors play equipment. As a result, fund raising within the centre is more active than it might be at bigger childcare providers.
• Due to the small, intimate nature of the long day care centre, the children can get very attached to their caregiver and if that carer moves on (and staff turnover in child care jobs is a major problem in the industry), it can leave a big whole in their little lives for a while.
Personal Opinion
My daughter really thrives in the cozy, individual-affirming setting of her small, independent long day care centre. She loves the family group arrangement of her particular centre (not all independent child care centres follow this model as not all are small) an appreciates the time and effort that her caregivers put in to supporting her as a unique little person with her own like and dislikes. The staff are all happy to be there and no one that I am aware of has ever left to join a larger childcare chain – which must tell you something bout the nature of the childcare industry. My son may have found it too small and limiting if he had gone there right up until school time, but my daughter loves it and it has definitely been the right choice for her.
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