Day Care in our Place

Do you entrust your kids on child care? Are you a parent who works away from home 8-hours a day, or a parent who works from home, or a stay at home parent?

I'm a full time mom with 3 kids. Our house was located just near a child development center (CDC) or a day care. I sent my first born to day care when he was 3 years old and the second one at 2 years old. When my eldest was 4 years old-time at final year in day care and his little sister was more than a year old, we see my eldest to the center. That when my daughter was 2, she would leave me everytime she hears children playing at the center and go alone without my knowledge. Thus, I have to enroll her.

Yes, we pay when sending our kids to the day care. It was actually a participation fee of a parent, a counter part for the teacher's wage. It was being paid one time for the whole 10 months a child is attending day care. Since my daughter attended daycare, the participation fee went up to php500 or $10 a year.

Actually in our place, there's no need to send a child at a very early age to a CDC because most mothers are full-time moms who provide the basic need, like care of their kids. Even on this pandemic, children are free to play outside our homes. It was a semi-normal situation. We are covid-free except for the LSIs before but we are already back to white list. And kids, from toddlers really love to play with others so they go play with neighbors.

CDC, except for private sectors was a program of Department of Social Works and Development (DSWD), thus they have funded feeding program from the government which aims to eliminate malnourished kids in the country and/or helps a child learn to eat healthy since most kids doesn't like veggies. This way, they will learn to when they see others eating it.

Opening of the CDC started this October so we have frequent meetings regarding the national implementation of observing safety protocols for day care. Since the first meeting, the daycare worker/teacher have told about the regulations which are to be followed. These includes the overview:

1. no more than 5 parents will be facilitated in a day. It means no face-to-face meet ups of children

2.parents will act as the teacher and the day care worker will only act as the facilitator

3.feedings will be cooked and distributed by designated parents.

Since we are safe in our small community, no possibility of outsiders to just enter that we agreed that kids, instead of parents will meet at the center rather than other designated place for meet-ups. Like other places are doing, they don't meet at the center but they have arranged for a particular place to meet. But we also agreed that they should meet at the center itself but to abide with the regulation, a maximum of 5 children a day is only allowed to attend. Therefore, we arranged a schedule for the 20 enrolled kids. 5 different kids from Monday to Thursday having Friday for passing modules.

Regarding the feeding, we started this week but the 5 kids each day was not followed since the start of it. Kids go along their moms who are assigned to cook for that day. So we again conducted a meeting yesterday to reshuffle their schedule, the kids schedule to attend their class will also be their parents schedule to cook. Its the other parents responsibility to go get their kids meal. To avoid crowding the center, it was said that those who are coming from the same sitio should assign one to get the other kids ration and would give to them respectively.

But the problem was, someone reported the CDC and the worker. The worker told us that no kids will attend since she doesn't want to be reported again. It is not possible not to let kids in especially that they already have started going to the center. It would make them disappointed all the more. We talked about signing a waiver, that it was the parents sole responsibility should anything befall (especially covid-19) his/her child (knock on wood). Or if the worker is to be reported again, then the parents should be the one to answer on her behalf.

Why do we like our kids attending a face-to-face set-up? Simple, kids just love to play with others at the center. As usual, kids just wont stay inside the house no matter how you tell them to. So it is better that they meet at the center even once a week for their own development aside from interacting and socializing with others. Rather than playing most of the time outdoors.

Sending a child to day care facility helps a child to better communicate by improving their language development, social skills, motor skills development, do simple math and reading thus preparing them for grade school. It influence a child develop a better relationship of child to parents, siblings, peers and teacher; it also influence behavioral adjustment of a child.

In town, there was this center where government employees can bring their kids if no one to look for them when they're at work. It was a private one, though. Babies have one caregiver to one. While the older ones can be handled in 5.

z_graeden