Daycare recommendations in Kensington, MD

[Anonymous]

DH and I are moving to Kensington Heights area near Wheaton. We are expecting our second child due in January. We would like to get on waitlists for daycares in our new neighborhood. Any recs for daycares in the Kensington area?

[Anonymous]

Circle Time, Karasik, and in homes.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the neighborhood!

We haven't used any of the daycares in the area, but from talking to others it seems like the most highly regarded centers nearby are MCCA Kensington-Forest Glen and Karasik. I know people who have sent their kids to Circle Time and the Kids House Bilingual Daycare and they said they were happy but they also had some criticisms, which I don't remember well enough to share here (and they might be issues that have since been resolved), so I would just recommend asking for parent references.

Some helpful resources for finding daycares in MoCo:
- Monday Morning Moms - if you are interested in in-homes they find and vet them for you
- https://www.checkccmd.org/ do a search by zip codes to find local daycares and see their licensing inspection history
- https://locate.marylandfamilynetwork.org/Family/login this tool allows you to see licensed child care providers on a map (you have to enter in your email address to use it, but no password is needed). It also has info on each provider like which age groups they serve, and for some it even lists price information

[Anonymous]

I would be looking for infant care only as my daughter will be old enough to start kindergarten. Looks like the MCAA one is not for infants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be looking for infant care only as my daughter will be old enough to start kindergarten. Looks like the MCAA one is not for infants.

Correct- but if you have any interest at all for later, get on the waiting list NOW- it's free. There is one room for 18-24 months although I think that tends to get filled by kids with sibling preference. Most kids start in the 2s rooms. It's a pretty good center although some changes with the pandemic (e.g., they still serve snacks but no lunch).

We know a few families who have gone to Circle Time and seemed happy overall. There are a number of in home daycares in this area too but I don't have any specific recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Karasik is lovely but we only got in at age 2.5. I don’t know how their infant wait lists are right now. Buenos Amigos is a popular Spanish immersion in-home near Forest Glen.