That is your choice and your right. I demand that they go to college or enlist. I feel if I require it, I should pay for it.
DSM Metro Daycare Costs
- Thread starter derpyherky
- Start date
That is your choice and your right. I demand that they go to college or enlist. I feel if I require it, I should pay for it.
Bonus: That "$100,000" on a tramp stamp would make the small-talk with the proctologist much more interesting.
College, hell I want my 18 month old to start contributing toward daycare. He does pretty well with putting dishes away, trash/recycling, and cleaning up his toys at night. It's the least he can do.
Put more emphasis on the + part of your pricing. We have a good family friend that is a director for a daycare center up here in the Twin Cities metro. A brand new family, with an infant, five days a week - $400/week.
There was a year I think I paid $25,000 in daycare costs. Really glad we get $5,500 deduction on our taxes.........
EDIT: I have two kids btw
Got 1 kid out of daycare this year with a 2 year old left. Rates at our center go down as your kid gets older. Currently $250, not sure what the next price level down will be when she turns 3 this year but will probably be around $240ish I would guess. I know once they are out of diapers there is a sharper discount usually.
This is just my opinion but I'd consider what kind of benefits your kid might get going to a center versus an in-home daycare and not use which costs less as your determining factor. Most centers have some kind of learning curriculum at all ages and some even offer full day preschool which ours does so it was a pretty seamless transition and saved us from having to possibly transport to and from another location for preschool. I'll tell you our oldest kid came out of there more than prepared for kindergarten and her kindergarten teacher has told us she came in already knowing some things at the start of the school year that they typically hope they can do by the end of the year so they were impressed how much she already knew. They'll get more social interaction in a center and while this part may be a negative it's probably good for building their immune system at an early age too as daycare centers are notorious germ factories.
Looking back I have no regrets with sending our kids to a center even if it means having to pay a little more for it. For how much they learn in a center with a structured format it's hard to put a $ value on that to me. If you are going to do in-home may want to ask a lot of questions about what they do during the day so you just aren't dropping them off for mostly play time and TV/movie watching but that they actually get some kind of learning experience out of it too as kids are sponges at that age when it comes to learning some things.
This is just my opinion but I'd consider what kind of benefits your kid might get going to a center versus an in-home daycare and not use which costs less as your determining factor. Most centers have some kind of learning curriculum at all ages and some even offer full day preschool which ours does so it was a pretty seamless transition and saved us from having to possibly transport to and from another location for preschool. I'll tell you our oldest kid came out of there more than prepared for kindergarten and her kindergarten teacher has told us she came in already knowing some things at the start of the school year that they typically hope they can do by the end of the year so they were impressed how much she already knew. They'll get more social interaction in a center and while this part may be a negative it's probably good for building their immune system at an early age too as daycare centers are notorious germ factories.
Looking back I have no regrets with sending our kids to a center even if it means having to pay a little more for it. For how much they learn in a center with a structured format it's hard to put a $ value on that to me. If you are going to do in-home may want to ask a lot of questions about what they do during the day so you just aren't dropping them off for mostly play time and TV/movie watching but that they actually get some kind of learning experience out of it too as kids are sponges at that age when it comes to learning some things.
Well just wait until they turn 3. That “pretty well” becomes “no, no, ignore, ignore, run and hide, maybe some hitting ,and screaming back talk”
Also for the in home vs center debate, my mom was an elementary educator for over 30 years. Her opinion was that the center kids are almost always better prepared for school. But if you have an in-home that is really good and you love the caregiver then I think it’s a win.
Another thing that is often overlooked when comparing in home vs center. Most in homes have PTO days and more holidays off. If they get 10-15 days off that is something to consider and be prepared for.
If you are going to use an in-home, make sure you have contingency plan in the event your provider is sick, their children or spouse are sick and they didn't want kids in the house, or they go on vacation. A good friend lost three weeks of vacation because their in-home daycare provider was sick, had sick kids/spouse or their daycare provider was on vacation at a time when they didn't want to take vacation.
The in-home holiday racket is something to behold. “Wait, you want ME to pay YOU to NOT watch my kid because it’s your birthday?”
The social aspect and immune system points are two that get over-looked a bunch. Friends of ours took their daughter to a home day care. They would make little comments about not having to take days off due to their daughter being sick like we did. Once they hit kindergarten, their kiddo was constantly coming home with something. It sucks to see kids sick, but they need to be subjected to some of it.
We really benefited from a center because it helped my daughter understand what was appropriate behavior when it comes to things like lining up for lunch, respecting other children's things and personal space, as well as being on a more class-room style of time schedule. My daughter also interacted with some special needs children. It did a lot of good for her to have that interaction as early as possible. It allowed a safe environment to ask questions and become more understanding of others. She also learned not to take some things for granted.
I don't want to paint with a broad brush. There are some fantastic educators running home day cares. There are also some horrible people in daycare centers (those stories piss me off).
We were limited by not having family around us to help out and not really knowing a good home day care provider near us. It was a ton of money, but I'm not sure I would have made a different decision looking back on things if I had other options.
Got a vasectomy the day before Seneca beat Nebraska. Best investment I ever made. Give it a thought.
Had the same thing with our oldest daughter having a kid in her class in the center with some physical disabilities and how she learned early that kid was no different than any others in the class. Fast forward to kindergarten this year and there is a boy in her class who is id deaf and they have a sign interpreter in her class for him. She sits at his table and it didn't even phase her since she's already been around another kid with a disability. Completely agree with what you said above, I think most centers do an awesome job of prepping kids for grade school with things you probably won't get from an in-home daycare and provide an environment you can't replicate in an in-home situation either.
It does suck having your kid pick up nearly every bug that comes through daycare but you'll likely get a benefit from it once they hit school as they'll have a stronger immune system from it.
We were at a center that was $240 a week for 1 child and were not happy with it. Looked at 3 centers. 2 were $340/week (one was entire month up front) and the one we settled on was $325. We are going to have another one going into daycare around July, so it is going to get pricey, but we are very happy with our center and the piece of mind is worth it. The daycare we are at now pushes learning in addition to childcare, which our previous center didn't do much of. We are in the West Des Moines/Waukee area.
Pretty similar boat to with me. The center does a good job communicating with us, transporting and picking up kids, I see them clean toys/the rooms/carpets all the time, has a unique and healthy looking meal plan, and I've seen them "light up" when a kid enters the room.
Let's face it, the centers get as much time as I do with my kids during the young years, you've got to be comfortable with them.
