Daycare

Hello friends,

today marks the beginning of Junias third week in daycare. It is called "Green Rhino" and is a private daycare where ECE teachers and parents are leading together. There is only one big group of 17 children total (including Junia) from ages two to five and three of the children have special needs. One teacher is working with Montessori, which I am a big fan of. The parents have different tasks, for example washing the small towels or cleaning every few months. There is an Italian cook whose cooking is just... well you know, Italians and food is always a good combination! She also cooks mostly with organic ingredients, which is amazing. The teachers are doing a great job, it could not be better, really. They are down to earth and very open with us parents. Because we are actively involved in decision making and cleaning the place nicely, our daycare feels very homy.

The facilities were used as daycare since the 1920s. There is a small kitchen, two small toilet rooms, a lobby, two bigger rooms with each corner focusing on different activities (eg crafting, reading, cuddling into pillows, letting out energy) and a huge backyard with a nice playground, far away from any big roads. There are enough good quality toys there but not too many. It starts at 7.30 (we drop her off around 9.30) with breakfast, then at 9.45 they have their morning circle and free playing time afterwards. Lunch is at 11.45 and then nap time for the smaller ones until 3 pm. Then they are having a snack and parents have to pick up their children until 4.30 pm. On Mondays and Thursdays they usually play or craft. On Tuesdays everyone is allowed to bring one plaything from home. On Wednesdays the group enjoys musical education or a story telling by one of the grandparents. On Fridays they usually go somewhere or have gymnastics.

Our prayers were really heard here because Junia enjoys it a lot! The reasons for this are good ECE teachers, a good child-adult ratio and that I also feel welcome and comfortable being there. Latter influences her inner self to feel secure and calm, even though we are not there. After all, settling into daycare is not just a new experience for children but for parents as well! And we are getting used to it quite well and with our own pace. It really delights me to see her jumping around so happily there like a little frog and giving me her biggest, most adorable smile when I come to pick her up as well.

Today she was there by herself for the third time in a row for about 2,5 hours. On Wednesday we will start adding nap time to it so that in the end she will stay there for about 4 to 5 hours total. This will be enough time being away from us for the first year of daycare. When she gets older we may add a couple more hours to it. A few months ago I thought I would want to find a 30 hour job once Junia gets used to daycare. However, after giving it more thought and reading a very concerning article* we now think that this is the best solution for everyone. It does mean less money but all a young child really needs is being close to their comfort zone, dad and mom, from which explorations into the big world can start from. In about four years she will be going to school. Times with friends and sleepovers and more time in school and pursuing hobbies will increase so we need to celebrate that we have plenty of time with her now. Because we cannot turn back the clock.




*The article was talking about several researches being done on toddlers who were in daycare all day. They measured the stress hormones (Cortisol) in their bodies and found out that the children under two were on a stress level of a manager. They were showing the same signs as children who were abused because the chronic stress was the same in both cases. Even though they seemed to feel comfortable on the outside, they were actually very tense and crying on the inside. They also found out that this did not depend on the quality of the daycare. Then they were looking at the same children when they were 15  and found out they had several problems, including socializing, crime, chronic illness, depression, anxiety and drugs compared to peers who were not in daycare all day long too early.
The recommendations are: 1. No group care for children under the age of two. 2. Between two and three daycare possible for 20 hours per week maximum. 3. From age 3 it is okay to have the child in daycare for a longer period of time. 4. Orienting on high quality standards, on current scientific research and current studies within daycares.

http://www.univie.ac.at/wiki-projekt/texte/frankfurter_allgemeine_april_12.pdf (German, research was american though)