The most important thing in a daycare is that the caregivers must be kind and nurturing. I've toured expensive accredited daycares where the teachers looked bored and angry and when asked about turnover the admin giving the tour gave us a line about turnover being high throughout the industry. DD attends a much less expensive center, and turnover even among assistants is very low. They are also incredibly sweet and kind with the kids. There are some things I don't love (not enough outdoor time, too many worksheets) but warm caregiving is so important.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some do not want to apply for NAYEC accreditation because it is a LOT of paperwork and not a lot of parents even care about it. I used to work in Nayec accredited school. Toddler class was in the basement, no natural light whatsoever, 15 toddlers, cots foot away from each at nap time, prepackaged muffins for breakfast, garbage food mostly for lunch, should I continue? It was not horrible and honestly better than many other places, bit do not give the the bs that nayec accreditation means wonderful

It’s always humorous when people try to downplay amazing successes for schools when they themselves could never attain it. NAEYC only gives accreditations tk & % of preschools in the country. If it were worthless, it would be a heck of a lot more. Their brand quality matters. You’re just sour grapes.

Dp. Give it a rest, lady. We get it.

Anonymous wrote:Some do not want to apply for NAYEC accreditation because it is a LOT of paperwork and not a lot of parents even care about it. I used to work in Nayec accredited school. Toddler class was in the basement, no natural light whatsoever, 15 toddlers, cots foot away from each at nap time, prepackaged muffins for breakfast, garbage food mostly for lunch, should I continue? It was not horrible and honestly better than many other places, bit do not give the the bs that nayec accreditation means wonderful

It’s always humorous when people try to downplay amazing successes for schools when they themselves could never attain it. NAEYC only gives accreditations tk & % of preschools in the country. If it were worthless, it would be a heck of a lot more. Their brand quality matters. You’re just sour grapes.

Some do not want to apply for NAYEC accreditation because it is a LOT of paperwork and not a lot of parents even care about it. I used to work in Nayec accredited school. Toddler class was in the basement, no natural light whatsoever, 15 toddlers, cots foot away from each at nap time, prepackaged muffins for breakfast, garbage food mostly for lunch, should I continue? It was not horrible and honestly better than many other places, bit do not give the the bs that nayec accreditation means wonderful

Anonymous wrote:Wonders in Bethesda is accredited and not for profit.

Not for profit means absolutely nothing. Trust me that not for profit is for profit. That’s why so many Kathleen’s set up foundations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The NYEAC accreditation poster is Goddard school because they are accredited (see sticky in the forum about them spamming the forum, or you can ask Jeff to check)

Sorry OP, no experience with those options. We were happy with Wonders (at the Bethesda metro).

Nope. My kids attended (note past tense) two different NYEAC accredited locations due to a move. Easy way to weed put the crappy places, but hey, you do you and put your kids wherever works for you.

The best way to weed out crappy places is to do the work and look up licensing inspection history. Then to find actual good places, do a tour and observe how the teachers interact with the kids. Ask about turnover. If they can't brag about how long their teachers stay, it's not a great place.

Anonymous wrote:The NYEAC accreditation poster is Goddard school because they are accredited (see sticky in the forum about them spamming the forum, or you can ask Jeff to check)

Sorry OP, no experience with those options. We were happy with Wonders (at the Bethesda metro).

Nope. My kids attended (note past tense) two different NYEAC accredited locations due to a move. Easy way to weed put the crappy places, but hey, you do you and put your kids wherever works for you.