Field Trips with Day Care

[Anonymous]

I toured a day care center close to home that I liked. Our only hesitation is that they take the children out on field trips-zoo, some parks, etc. Although that seems like a great thing to do and I know DC will love it, I'm paranoid that one of my children will get lost. The older one is very active, the younger one is calmer so I don't worry as much about that with her. Should this be a deal breaker? By the way, the playground is totally fenced in so no worries there for that.

[Anonymous]

OP Here, meant to post this in the preschool/day care forum.

[Anonymous]

They probably don't take the youngest kids out to field trips - ours doesn't. Don't pass up a potentially great daycare because of a slight possibility.

[Anonymous]

This is generally a red flag, especially if they are taking the younger children on field trips ofte. We left a daycare because their field trips were so bad. FTR, I think field trips for older children are great but 18 months-4 year olds do not need to be traveling all over the metro area.

In order for these trips to be safe, the daycare needs to be VERY organized which most simply are not. There should be parent volunteers and enough notice that parents who want to come or want to keep their kids home have that option. You should inquire how they get to the field trips, how often they go, and what type of assessment is done.

We went to a preschool that was very organized. They has a minimum required number of parent volunteers or extra teacher aides to ensure a better ratio of supervision. They took with them emergnecy contact information for parents, aid areas where they were going, and had a plan in place in case anyone was separated. They did frequent counts and were very organized. They also always had a point for the field trips and made sure it was fun.

The daycare we went to before this school was the complete opposite. They took 2 yr olds to a pumpkin patch over an hour away and passed by several perfectly fine pumpkin patches because the teachers wanted to try something new. They started going on field trips every few weeks with no planning, no point, and it was basically just a diversion for the teachers. They got lost. They didn't know what to do when one parent and two other kids were separated. Another parent had to go over and talk with zoo security. The dumb daycare teachers just assumed that the missing kids would be with the missing parent.

[Anonymous]

My daughter's daycare does field trips. It is the two oldest classrooms that have them (around 3.5 years old). It's been great! There is one teacher or parent per 2 kids (sometimes, so many parents go, that it is mostly 1 adult per 1 kid). We've taken a bus trip to the zoo, metro rides to the museums, and car rides to things further afield (about 1 trip a month). It's been great for the kids, and a fun thing to do as a parent as well.

[Anonymous]

I felt the same way. I had a job that allowed me to chaperone, so that's what I did. I would worry about sending a little child on a daycare trip without me.