Is it really this hard to find preschools/daycare?

October 10, 2012 12:20 PM

How to go about actually finding a preschool/daycare.

So my son's daycare/preschool is not working out any more, and while I'm trying to work with the staff there, it is really time to start exploring our other options. He is 3 now (born June), and in a preschool program, though ideally I'd like a school that has care for younger kids so that he and his brother (6 month old) could go to the same place. The other issue is we do need full time care, so half day or 3 day a week programs wouldn't work.

Previously (when the trouble at his current school started), I tried just searching on the internet for daycares or preschools and trying to contact them, but I didn't feel like I got a full list of the schools/daycare places around. Is there a better place to look? A better site to visit? Is the information on accredited programs in a region around somewhere? If it helps, we live and work around Boston (but we can't afford in Boston tuition costs). I know this seems like a simple thing to do, but I dont' get a sense that the online presence for preschools/daycares is actually very good.

posted by katers890 to education (15 answers total)

Best way to go about it is to talk to other people that have kids in that age range. Ask where they take/took their kids. Thats what my wife and I did, and we got into one that was highly regarded, and much cheaper than some of the big name places.
posted by ducktape at 12:25 PM on October 10, 2012

Have you thought about a Nanny? If you're in Boston you might be able to get a college kid who will take classes at night and who will care for your kids at home during the day. If you're super lucky the Nanny (or Manny) may know a second language and teach it to your kids. If you can supply a room, you might save all kinds of money on this deal.

Care.com is a website that's like match.com, but for care givers.

Go through your employer to see if they offer a discount through a provider. Also be sure to get your deductions or contributions to child care through work.

Ask friends and family for references or places that worked for them.

Good Luck!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:28 PM on October 10, 2012

naeyc/ -- naeyc certification generally means a good place.
posted by k5.user at 12:32 PM on October 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I second asking people. That's also how we found our place - she shows up on Google when searching for daycares, but I never would have checked it out if she hadn't come so highly recommended. A lot of the smaller places are cheaper partly because they don't spend money on advertising, I think. Also, if you talk to someone who actually goes to another place you can maybe preemptively find out if you would run into similar problems at the new place.
posted by bibbit at 12:33 PM on October 10, 2012

MA Child Care (there is usually one of these childcare resources sites for each state).

If you have a "mama listserv" for your area/city/neighbourhood, they are an invaluable resource for this search.

Also, you can search Yelp pretty reliably for daycare info in most markets, but do take it with a grain of salt.
posted by batmonkey at 12:38 PM on October 10, 2012

Ahem!

Massachusetts Mom here!

You want to use the search feature on the state website.

And if you want a really truly fantabulous excellent amazing wonderful warm rich rewarding and absolutely fantastic family daycare in the Brighton area near Saint Elizabeth's hospital, I know just where to refer you. MeMail me and I will give you the information. And I am more than happy to act as a reference.

I'm in Salem now, and I was devastated to leave the family daycare we used in Brighton. Our new situation is just as good but in different ways.

Family daycares are also much cheaper than centers, so you may find you can afford those costs in Boston.
posted by zizzle at 12:41 PM on October 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh, nertz. I meant to put in something more like this: Early Education and After School Programs.
posted by batmonkey at 12:42 PM on October 10, 2012

Have you looked into Montessori? I'm a big fan of Montessori. Not all Montessori schools are the same (some are more traditional AMI type, some are less traditional AMS type, and some are not really Montessori to any degree but just call themselves that). but the ones that are good are truly excellent.
posted by Dansaman at 12:53 PM on October 10, 2012

Aren't there neighborhood mommy listserves you can ask?
posted by yarly at 1:22 PM on October 10, 2012

How far do you live/work from the Boston Chinatown? This sounds like a stereotype, but Chinese communities usually have all day childcare/preschool because most immigrants don't have much help. Try BCNC if you can manage to swing by to drop your children off. Of course, they will be with lots of Chinese children so you may end up with two Chinese speaking children at the end of their stay there.
posted by Yellow at 1:23 PM on October 10, 2012

I found a great caregiver on care.com -- much cheaper than a center, one-on-one care (my son was the only child she watched), very flexible all-day care. I put up an ad and got a gajillion responses (make sure to mention how much you can pay, a lot of my responses were nannies who wanted more than twice what I could afford), had my childcare situation squared away the next day.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:35 PM on October 10, 2012

For the daycares we've found, we searched the relevant state forum on city-data.com and also found some tips/lists on our town's "patch" on patch.com. I would be surprised if you couldn't find at least some recommendations on city-data.com, but if not, you can just post the question yourself.
posted by odin53 at 2:55 PM on October 10, 2012

I would just ask other parents, but my friends with kids live and work in the opposite direction as me, and the other parents I know are the parents at my kids current school, which obviously isn't going to be helpful.

I had searched the naeyc website but it wasn't helpful for my area. There are a couple Montessori schools here, but we looked at one of them and was not enthused, plus they won't have care for my youngest, which makes them suboptimal (though not ruled out).

While a nanny could work for my youngest, my oldest really needs the social aspect of preschool, he's fairly introverted and needs to work on his people skills before elementary school.

We live in Woburn, I work in Cambridge (where I can't afford daycare), husband works in Beverly, so we are mostly north of Boston.

I haven't found any mom listserves, if people have suggestions for those, I'd be more than happy to check those out.

Oh and employer does provide scholarships, but I don't qualify for a variety of reasons.
posted by katers890 at 5:54 PM on October 10, 2012

Some people do a nanny plus a two-day a week preschool or something like that (the nanny does pickup and dropoff). I can understand if that would be way too pricey, though.

In New York you can search the state website, like the MA website zizzle linked above (here). Then you just go down the list and call them all again and again. It's a huge pain in the ass but it's the most thorough way to do it if you're not finding more tailored lists elsewhere.

Good luck!
posted by the young rope-rider at 7:31 PM on October 10, 2012

JP Moms and Somerville Moms are both very active high quality listservs. If you join you'll probably want the "digest" or "view on the web" option; otherwise your e-mail box will be flooded with group messages.

JP Moms has a resource area that you could check for day care recommendations. You could also search the archives of both lists. And of course, you could post questions there. The groups are both very welcoming.

Good luck with your search!
posted by alms at 5:53 AM on October 11, 2012