Cradles To Crayons Child Care

We sent our son to Cradles for 1.5 years, though we decided to pull him after a year when THEY LOST HIM (within the center, but since drop off is not monitored, they didn’t seem to know he was in the building… hello, red flag.)
We let him stay until the end of the «school year» to make for an easy transition. In those 6 months, my opinion of the place went downhill tremendously. We chose Cradles for its convenience and the price — but like other things in life, you get what you pay for. The best way to express our opinion is to cut and paste a portion of the email that we sent to the owners and director after we left. Most of the items within the email had already been discussed, but were never fixed.
— Our concerns began when _​was «lost» in the center. We suggested a method for drop off that would alleviate the fear of this ever happening again, and while we did not expect our suggestion to be immediately put into practice, we expected some preventative measure to be enacted. However, we continued to find the drop off procedure ineffective, or potentially even unsafe. When my husband dropped _​off around 8:30, he was often left in the front room, with his regular teachers not in his room or anywhere to be found — even though Teacher A was supposed to be there at 8:00. Sign-​in was not enforced.
— Having children work on worksheet after worksheet with zero guidance is not conducive to a 3 year old’s learning. The lack of stimulating activities is likely due to Cradles being a daycare before a preschool, but also due to the fact that most of the teachers are not, in fact, teachers. They are glorified babysitters who may have an interest in possibly becoming a teacher someday.
— Some of the preschool teachers do not seem to follow the protocol for talking to children. While we had not heard a lot of yelling at children since our meeting — other than the horrifying incident when Teacher B yelled at a three year old for having an bathroom accident — often as we walk down the hall, most of the teachers seem completely disengaged from and disinterested in the children. The teachers sit in chairs and chat while watching from afar. A few weeks ago, I saw one teacher coloring while her entire class was in the opposite corner of the room fighting over a toy. Then I walked into _’s classroom and heard alert after alert on a teacher’s cell phone. From a parent’s point of view, the priorities of the teachers seem to be curing boredom instead of facilitating learning.
— On a regular basis, _​told us that another student — specifically one in particular — hit, spit at, or pushed him and other children. When we asked the teachers’ responses were, he said nothing. A teacher was made aware, but did nothing. These incidents were brought up to a teacher, whose response was «well, he’s 2.» Well then a two year old shouldn’t be in a room with 3.5 year olds. Children hit, and _​is definitely no exception to the rule, but a child should not repeatedly complain that one child is harassing him (and others). The handbook outlines exactly what the teachers should do; ignoring the problem is not listed. We were never notified by a teacher that _​had been hurt, which may be because no mark was left, or because it was not a case that required an incident report, but by the sound of it, this child could use a shadow — or maybe a consistent teacher. In case anyone is wondering who this one child is, he is also the one that ate another child’s feces a few weeks ago. I cannot even imagine how that situation occurred.
— Within the last few months, _​came home with a dirty bottom four times. When we asked who wiped him, twice he said no one, that there was no one in the bathroom to help him. One time he did it himself. He is three — not only should someone have helped or coached him to wipe himself (and subsequently helped after he thinks he is finished), but seeing as the bathrooms are not in the actual classroom, someone should have been in the bathroom supervising.
— The handbook — which is supposed to be a book of rules for both staff and parents to follow — is definitely not adhered to and is often unclear. It gives an outline for discipline which is seemingly ignored. It says that «When weather permits, every every child must have at least 25 min of outside play or exercise.» Since spring began, there were many gorgeous days when the students did not go outside. They did not take a walk or play in the playground. These are 2 of the many guidelines that were not adhered to.
Day care = businesses = money. I get it. But Cradles should really call it something else. There was no CARE involved. This review is quite one-​sided, as it only highlights the negatives about the center, but truth be told, I can’t think of a single positive.
EDITED TO ADD: there is zero exaggeration here. Other people (who coincidentally all reviewed within a few days of each other) are pleased with the service they receive. I was not.