Had a tour with Gaithersburg goddard need your opinion.

[Anonymous]

Today I had a tour with Gaithersburg Goddard. Mr.Jim Orley gave us the tour and explained everything what we have asked. It took more than 2 hours for the tour. We actually liked the School. But I have concern, when we were visiting the class rooms my Son (2 years 2 months) took truck and started playing then a boy came and dragged the truck from his hand and then my son started to cry and came to me, so I had to hold him up (until then none of the teachers did not notice). Then one of the teachers disciplined the boy. ........... This io One concern.

After a while they went into the playground and my son also joined them. Then he took some water toys and started to call the class teacher 'Mom' and asked water. She did not even noticed that she was just staring at something. My son asked her many times saying Mom water. Then I went to him and asked if he wants water to play with the toys then he said yes. So I have mixed feelings about this teacher. She may be thinking that my son is calling me for Water (because he said Mom) but what I have observed is kids of his age calling other women "MOM". Ok, if she is thinking my son was calling for me, if I were her I would have just looked at the kid eventhough I am no a teacher.

So how can I believe that my kid will get the attention he needs.

We like the school, so can we ask the director to put him in some other class with different teacher. I want to do that before I could talk to the class teacher.

[Anonymous]

Be prepared to an very overtop glowing recommendation of Goddard. There seems to be something fishy about the Goddard positive posts. It could be one passionate parent or someone from the school.

You should meet the other teacher and the teachers in the classes for 3s and 4s. One of the downsides you can run into is liking a teacher one year and then not liking the teacher for the next year. Its difficult to move at this point (the devil you know vs the devil you don't situation). This happened to us at another center. We liked one teacher but she left and the replacement was only OK. The 3s class was always seen by all the parents as the weak link and the 4s teacher was pretty good. We left and avoided the mediocre 3s class.

I was not overly impressed with Goddard. It seemed nicer than some other daycares in the area but I think it could have had some of the same issues we ran into previously. We switched to Montessori and have loved it. I had heard very strong recommendations from a number of parents in the area. I haven't heard about any poor teachers at our new school but I love not having to worry about changing teachers every year!

[Anonymous]

PP here typo it should be "to hear a very over the top" not "to an...", typing fast.

[Anonymous]

The truck thing - no issue - kids that age can't share well and this will happen over and over in that age group regardless.

The water thing - your son was clearly saying "mom" and the teacher probably did not want to interfere with what is essentially a stranger and their child. Also, on a daycare visit, I personally would not have wanted my 2 yr old doing water play so maybe she wasn't sure if you wanted your child to really do it. Lastly, when you are visiting you are responsible for your child and the teacher has no responsibility towards your child - only the children in the center in her care.

Goddard is a chain daycare much like Bright Horizons, Kindercare, etc. I am sure they have plenty of marketing hype but they are not going to do anything different than any other chain center. If you like the director, the facilities and the teachers than consider sending your child. If not, keep looking. Also, make sure to check with licensing about the center's most recent inspection. Better yet, you could ask the director while at the center to see their most recent inspection report. Any violations should be posted where parents can view them. If they say they have never had any violations, be very, very skeptical. Almost every center does - violations can be anything from an out of date medical record to not enough mulch on the playground.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The truck thing - no issue - kids that age can't share well and this will happen over and over in that age group regardless.

The water thing - your son was clearly saying "mom" and the teacher probably did not want to interfere with what is essentially a stranger and their child. Also, on a daycare visit, I personally would not have wanted my 2 yr old doing water play so maybe she wasn't sure if you wanted your child to really do it. Lastly, when you are visiting you are responsible for your child and the teacher has no responsibility towards your child - only the children in the center in her care.

Goddard is a chain daycare much like Bright Horizons, Kindercare, etc. I am sure they have plenty of marketing hype but they are not going to do anything different than any other chain center. If you like the director, the facilities and the teachers than consider sending your child. If not, keep looking. Also, make sure to check with licensing about the center's most recent inspection. Better yet, you could ask the director while at the center to see their most recent inspection report. Any violations should be posted where parents can view them. If they say they have never had any violations, be very, very skeptical. Almost every center does - violations can be anything from an out of date medical record to not enough mulch on the playground.

The original poster here. I know my son was saying mom, but what I was expecting is just to see at my son I am not asking her to repsond to him or give him water to play. They were the water toys and there is no water and it is obvious for the children to ask for water.Why would I want my child to play with water during visit. I know my child is my responsibility, thanks. May be I was not clear in my previous post. We were not expecting anything from the teacher just we want her to look at his face not staring some where else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be prepared to an very overtop glowing recommendation of Goddard. There seems to be something fishy about the Goddard positive posts. It could be one passionate parent or someone from the school.

You should meet the other teacher and the teachers in the classes for 3s and 4s. One of the downsides you can run into is liking a teacher one year and then not liking the teacher for the next year. Its difficult to move at this point (the devil you know vs the devil you don't situation). This happened to us at another center. We liked one teacher but she left and the replacement was only OK. The 3s class was always seen by all the parents as the weak link and the 4s teacher was pretty good. We left and avoided the mediocre 3s class.

I was not overly impressed with Goddard. It seemed nicer than some other daycares in the area but I think it could have had some of the same issues we ran into previously. We switched to Montessori and have loved it. I had heard very strong recommendations from a number of parents in the area. I haven't heard about any poor teachers at our new school but I love not having to worry about changing teachers every year!

What Montessori do you send your children and to what classes

[Anonymous]

OP, it's hard to say since we weren't there. But I can say that in most of the centers, including the one I chose (a Kindercare nearby), the teachers there just ate my little guy up and absolutely paid attention to him. I almost that that was a "show" at certain places. And maybe it was. But his teachers remain affectionate and attentive like that in our current center.

[Anonymous]

You will only learn so much in a tour. It sounds like you got a really long tour and an opportunity to see a lot which is good. If you haven't toured other facilities, you should. I know when we first toured facilities we didn't know what to expect. After we saw 4-5, those comparisons made a BIG difference in our expectations. So, if you haven't toured a number of places, recommend you do so.

I will mimic what another responder said. When you are on a tour, your child is your responsibility. The teachers won't assume control of your child or necessarily the circumstances associated with your child's visit. So none of what you indicate would be a concern to me. I would be more concerned about who well run the classroom was? Were there engaging activities for the children? Were they happy? Were they having fun?

One more thing, if you are interested in the school, ask them for a reference. Ask if you can speak with an in-house family. Nothing like talking to someone who is there.

[Anonymous]

PP the orignal poster already said that she did not expect the teacher to take the responsibility. Stop writing the sh**. Why are you guys come in first hand to give other moms advice which did not asked for. Try to read the posts first.

She said she is concerned because the teacher was staring wome where else when the child asked something. May be her point is the teacher is not being attentive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will only learn so much in a tour. It sounds like you got a really long tour and an opportunity to see a lot which is good. If you haven't toured other facilities, you should. I know when we first toured facilities we didn't know what to expect. After we saw 4-5, those comparisons made a BIG difference in our expectations. So, if you haven't toured a number of places, recommend you do so.

I will mimic what another responder said. When you are on a tour, your child is your responsibility. The teachers won't assume control of your child or necessarily the circumstances associated with your child's visit. So none of what you indicate would be a concern to me. I would be more concerned about who well run the classroom was? Were there engaging activities for the children? Were they happy? Were they having fun?

One more thing, if you are interested in the school, ask them for a reference. Ask if you can speak with an in-house family. Nothing like talking to someone who is there.

Looks like this is written by the School staff or the director himself/herself period

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will only learn so much in a tour. It sounds like you got a really long tour and an opportunity to see a lot which is good. If you haven't toured other facilities, you should. I know when we first toured facilities we didn't know what to expect. After we saw 4-5, those comparisons made a BIG difference in our expectations. So, if you haven't toured a number of places, recommend you do so.

I will mimic what another responder said. When you are on a tour, your child is your responsibility. The teachers won't assume control of your child or necessarily the circumstances associated with your child's visit. So none of what you indicate would be a concern to me. I would be more concerned about who well run the classroom was? Were there engaging activities for the children? Were they happy? Were they having fun?

One more thing, if you are interested in the school, ask them for a reference. Ask if you can speak with an in-house family. Nothing like talking to someone who is there.

I am the thread starter. no, we have toured other facilities as well and we know what we want.

If you want to mimic another poster's response you should have read what was my response to that post.So why do you repeat the same answer reminding me that my child is my responsiblity. Mind you I did not come here for the parenting advice. From your post it looks like that you did not care about the disicipline, the attention the children of my child's age get, that's why you and the other posted started saying that my kid is my responsibility.

[Anonymous]

i was a preschool teacher at a NAEYC preschool and I always acknowledged visiting families. All teachers should be welcoming. I don't like what happened to you but hopefullly the other teachers were nicer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i was a preschool teacher at a NAEYC preschool and I always acknowledged visiting families. All teachers should be welcoming. I don't like what happened to you but hopefullly the other teachers were nicer

Thank you very much. Atleast one person is with me who understand my problem.

[Anonymous]

I've toured a lot of daycares/schools for my toddler son recently. I didn't take my son with me though.

My son is a stay at home child. It is hard letting go. The fact of the matter is that no school/daycare is going to be able to give him the individual attention that you or I may want. My son doesn't know how to share yet. I'm sure he will get a lot of toys taken from him by other children and he will snatch a few himself.

I visited Goddard and thought the facilities were clean and new. Their curriculum seemed structured. It is on the top of my list for schools.

[Anonymous]

I wasn't trying to offer parenting advice....that certainly wasn't the intent of my response. I'm really sorry if it came off that way. I was a preschool teacher for 7 years and taught 2 and 3 year olds. I worked in a Montessori school in New Jersey until I had children and then stayed home with them. No, I'm not a teacher in the school or a director of the school.

I just wanted to try and give you the perspective I had as a teacher. While I agree that greeting a touring child is important and I always did, as a teacher, my responsibility was to the students that were in my care. Two year olds take constant attention and while I always acknowledged a touring family, if I was in the middle of teaching, it was hard to stop the lesson to provide a great deal of one on one attention to a touring family.

If you felt the teachers were not providing adequate attention to the students in their care, I would tell you that is a really bad sign. My point is that I think that you are better off judging the teachers based on their interactions with their students.

Bottom line, no one on this site is going to be able to really give you good advice since none of us were there. Go with your gut. If you are not comfortable with this school, having someone who wasn't on the tour or enrolled in the school tell you that it is/isn't a good choice isn't really going to help.