Barbara Shipley’s Home Day Care

Barbara’s home daycare is the epitome of home daycares. We interviewed with Barbara and had an instant connect. Our son felt very comfortable in her home.
Her home is open and inviting. It’s extremely clean and well organized. The toys some of which are classics are well kept and stimulating.
She has the perfect balance of nurturing and structure for toddlers.
On our son’s first day he didn’t have any anxiety or emotional breakdowns because we were leaving. I believe its because he could sense her good nature. Picking him up was tough because he didn’t want to leave. During our son’s first few days she kept me informed with texts throughout the day about his progress.
We highly recommend this daycare.

My son goes to Barbara’s daycare and we are extremely happy that we made that decision. Barbara is very caring and she makes sure she understand each and every kids needs, their favorites etc. She is Stanford graduate with decades of daycare experience. Barbara will go out of her way to make sure that my son’s need are communicated properly. We sent our son at the age of 11 months to her daycare but choose her when he was 3 months old. She made sure to meet our baby in these 8 months so that he is comfortable with her and have the best experience at daycare. She gave us a lot of advice on how to train him for the transition. Guess what, Our baby didn’t cry on his first day at daycare! She makes sure that she explains you the need of your baby. Her explanation includes explaining things on phone for hours to writing text messages that may go a page long. She is one of those people who really love their job and they are just not in profession for making money. If someone is reading this recommendation and lives/​works closer to her daycare atleast think about meeting her. I’m sure that itself will be very useful. If you are lucky enough that her daycare has an opening then just don’t let the opportunity passby. I bet that her daycare is one of the best in whole bayarea. I can say with a lot of conviction because I’ve visited quite a few daycares and met a lot of providers before selecting Barbara.

Barbara Shipley, the owner of this daycare is very caring and nurturing. She is a kind, dedicated caregiver, has lots of patience and makes the kids comfortable always. Our toddler started here at 11 months age and has progressed well. The site is clean, safe and smartly operated. We were very comfortable leaving our child with Barbara.
Barbara became an extended family member to us; She taught my daughter so many things every day — confidence, being independent, responsible, loving, caring and sharing. My daughter misses Barbara and we see a spark in her eyes whenever we have a conversation about Barbara. There isn’t a single negative I can think of, it is everything our family was looking for in a daycare.

The best person I’ve ever known.
Barbara has taken care of 3 of my children 2 of them about 12 years ago I had the best experience with her she’s loving caring my experience with her was so great that hear I am again with my youngest daughter who is 2 years old she is beyond amazing to the full extend words can’t express how I feel about the women she’s done amazing things for my children and family The best care anyone can have for our little angels Barbara not only takes care of the children she teaches them love respect she’s great with potty training my kids all loved going to Barbara in fact it was hard to get them to leave I would recommend Barbara to anyone seeking the best caring loving and learning environment
She is also very clean makes sure the kids wash hands often. I can go on and on about how amazing she is. Thank you Barbara for loving my kids and for all the tips you’ve giving me.

It’s good to know that Barbara Shipley’s daycare works great for several people. For me it was just horrible, and we were very unhappy! I hope it works out for you like it did with others. For me, NO THANKS!
Childcare
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I enrolled my 13 months old in Barbara’s home daycare in Mountain View last year in 2013 after I had read all the great reviews on Unilocal.I took my kid out after about 1.5 months, and that’s just because I had to give Barbara 1 month notice. For the last 1 month I almost literally gave her the money for no service, and hardly took my kid to her, may be once or twice a week, for 2 or 3 hours each time. I was looking for jobs at that time, and I had even hired babysitters hourly to take care of my son for the few hours that I interviewed, even though I was paying Barbara. So, you can imagine how unhappy we were!
Whenever my kid realized that I was taking him to Barbara, he screamed and cried. I know it’s normal for kids to cry when they are trying to adjust to a new place; what matters is how he is treated by the caregiver during the transition period. Everyday, he threw up at Barbara’s place. He throws up when he gets upset to an extreme. That means Barbara did not pay him the attention and love that an infant needs initially to adjust to a completely new environment. She even did not have a helper, and took care of 6 kids just by herself. Every time she would say she had 5 other kids to look after, and she could not give all her time to my kid. I understand that she had 5 other kids, but my one was the newest and the youngest one, and he was one of her kids too! She cannot expect a 13 months to be happy right away at a completely unknown environment!
Barbara used to complain about my kid almost everyday — he does not sleep, he throws up, he cries, he pulls her, he wants her attention, etc! Come on! She was the adult and the caregiver. She was running a daycare, and would get different kinds of kids. I believe the caregiver is supposed to make the environment welcoming for new kids and gain their trust instead of expecting them to adjust immediately!
This is NOT our first daycare center experience. So, I know what to expect from a good daycare center. Our kid used to go to the best daycare center in town since he was 3 months old, before we moved to California. He was very happy there. It’s not that he never cried or threw up in his daycare center, but it was occasional, not a regular event. Also, the teachers never complained; they always had positive attitude, and passed on every information in a positive way to us. And yes, they told us whether he was happy or unhappy, doing great or not doing great — all in positive manner. They never blamed the child. And what we get from a caregiver running a daycare center for such a long time? Complaints and unfriendly environment for an infant!
Security Deposit
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Where should I start? Barbara’s last day of service with us was Nov 15, 2013. She was supposed to return the security deposit of 700 $ within 2 weeks of the end date, during thanksgiving break. She postponed it to December.
The first check was of 400 $ on Dec 26, 2013. Next, she was supposed to give me a check first or second week of Jan 2014 (I don’t remember the exact date). When I showed up, she said that she couldn’t give it to me and told me to come later. I remember waiting outside of her house as if I was a beggar! She wrote me a check, and asked me to deposit later, which I deposited on 01/​16/​2014. She gave me the final check of 200 $ on 01/​30/​2014, which again she wanted to postpone, and finally I spoke up and said I can’t deal with her any more. It was my money, and I wanted to end of any kind of relationship with her.
I almost had to beg her to return my money. Each time it was time to write me a check, she had some kind of problems, and would postpone it. Everybody has problems, and it was my money, and my kid was not at her facility any more! I always asked her to give me whatever she could, even if it was 50 $; it did not have to be the full 700 $ at once.
Thanks to Barbara Shipley! She changed my perspective about people. I even gave her an extra 200 $ as a loan during our first week with her as she needed money for her personal reasons. I ran her errands as she requested and I had time (I did not mind, I was trying to be part of a family), and in return she blames my infant for not adjusting to her facility!

We started off my daughter with a bigger daycare, but quickly realized that littler more personalized care is better for her. Based on my friend’s recommendation we enrolled her with Barbara and that happened to be the best decision for my daughter and for us. She not only helps children grow but also helps adults grow to become better parents. There are a lot of other things that are great about her daycare, from maintaining a very hygienic and germ free environment for the kids to personalizing her teaching style based on the kid and not using 1 cookie-​cutter formula for each child. For details please read other reviews, I see that some parents have given a lot more detail. I am so glad we found her. Thanks Barbara for everything you do.

My son was under Barbara’s care since he was 9 months old until he was 3.5 years old.
We didn’t want our son to just be an enrollment number in a large institutional daycare. We wanted him to be cared for by someone who really loves children. For him, Barbara’s home became simply an extension of our home. He loved being there and looked forward to going there every morning.
QUALIFICATIONS & INVOLVEMENT:
Barbara has a unique combination of a Stanford education and 25+ years of experience running a home based daycare. She has a warm and loving personality which made us feel like every morning we were dropping him off with his grandmother.
Barbara takes special interest in developing the children under her care. She tailors toys and activities to bring out the best in each child under her care. She would often send home books that our sone found interesting so we could read him the same stories at bed time. From singing and dancing, to reading the alphabet, to counting in french… we were amazed at the range of activities that our son was exposed to. We were also amazed at how well mannered all children at her place were.
HEALTH & HYGIENE
We loved the fact that Barbara only offers organic food to children at her place.
She has a very effective way of creating an isolated sick area that contains common colds. in the 2.5 years that we’ve been with her, my son NEVER developed an ear infection. After hearing horror stories about never ending infections from institutional daycares, we felt fortunate to have been shielded from this aspect.
PARENTING GUIDANCE:
As first time parents, there were lots of things about raising a child that we didn’t know. We depended on Barbara for guidance to get us through everything from sleep training, developing eating habits & handling temper tantrums to potty training.
She would often visit our home when she felt that we could benefit from sitting together and working as a team on any particular behavioral aspect.
We felt sorry to move into a pre-​school when my son turned 3.5.

My daughter has been with Barbara for 2 years. We moved her over as she started her toddler years since we wanted an environment that wasn’t too rigid but provided a good mix of play and learning.
I have to say that we have been absolutely thrilled with how much progress our daughter has made under Barbara’s care and tutelage. Barbara truly goes above and beyond to take care of your family. Not only did she make a great home away from home for my daughter she even extended advice to us when we were having some terrifying toddler moments at home.
Even though my daughter has now moved to a preschool, she still misses her ‘Barbara Aunty’ and asks me to take her to visit Barbara every chance we get. We don’t have a lot of family close by and Barbara has become extended family for us.
Please make sure to read all the filtered reviews too.

This is a balanced review. I’ll describe first why we really like her, followed by some things you need to be aware of.
She has taken extremely good care of our two-​year old son. He gets excited every morning to go to her. And it’s already been 4+ months!
As conscientious parents, we interviewed and researched several daycare providers before settling with Barbara. In fact, we switched from our then current daycare, and that has paid off tremendously.
She is a Stanford graduate, has high standards of life, is honest, has a LOT of knowledge on raising children (she raised two of her own), is curious, dives into details and in general, is a delight to talk to. There is ALWAYS something to learn from her.
It is difficult to find a childcare provider who is willing to provide detailed one on one attention to each child, AND is also good at doing that. Barbara is that rare gem.
Several things we like about her:
0) She has been doing this for 20+ years in a stable neighborhood. So many kids have stayed in her care from 6 months to preschool.
1) She puts a lot of effort to know each child, his/​her preferences, habits and hobbies. For example, at Christmas, she never buys «one size fits all» gifts. She painstakingly picks out a specific gift for each child, to their interest. I just love that level of commitment.
2) This is her only income, and she pours her heart into it. In fact, she started this because she didn’t want her kids to go to a daycare. That is counter-​intuitive, but thinking about it, that’s the kind of person you want your kid to be with.
3) She is flexible with pickup and drop-​off timings.
4) She teaches discipline and respect to kids as matter of course. When asked, she also gives detailed and very specific advice to parents on how to raise their child.
5) She talks to the kids a LOT and her home is full of different toys (more than we’ve seen with other day-​cares). So kids pick up a variety of new words and skills constantly.
6) Her prices are very reasonable. In fact, if you want standard 8 hours of care, she has better pricing than all other day-​cares in the area.
7) She keeps her daycare disinfected. Regularly washes hands and makes kids do the same.
8) She does a variety of activities with kids through the day, including story-​time and music.
9) She does not force a kid to take a nap at a given time. She tailors her setup to each kid.
10) She is very culture-​aware and experienced with a variety of them e.g. Indian culture for us. So she gives advice with that sensitivity.
Things to be aware of:
1) Get online! She uses her phone extensively for calls and SMS, but an internet connection would make her a lot more productive.
2) She doesn’t accept credit cards. Only cash or checks.
3) She does give timeouts to kids who cross the line. She only uses it sparingly, but and very very wisely, but if that is something against your philosophy, you want to consider. We personally don’t mind.
In summary: She is as good as it gets. Anyone can feed and change your kid, but if you are looking for someone who cares for him/​her like an extension to your family, then Barbara is the one.

Barbara is wonderful with children and I would highly recommend her. She’s very patient and loving and takes the time to use positive discipline to redirect the children. She has a ton of toys and also takes the time to teach them letters and numbers and regularly reads to them.
One of our biggest fears with starting our son at a new daycare was nap time, but Barbara goes through great lengths to ensure that the children have a comfortable, dark and quiet space in which to nap and our son has always taken better naps at her home than he does at ours.
Our son loves Barbara and because it’s a smaller daycare, he gets a ton of one on one attention, and we’ve found that he has emotionally and intellectually thrived with her!

Our son loves Barbara! She’s very caring and patient with all her kids. She always makes sure the kids are learning or doing something interesting, but with a play-​based approach that young children need. Our son is happy to see her every morning and is often laughing when we pick him up in the evening.
Barbara is also great for the parents. She has flexible hours and is even available to babysit at night for special occasions. She also is flexible with nap times and eating times and habits. Highly recommended!
Please make sure to read the filtered reviews. All of these are legitimate reviews from parents with children who were — and some who are still — in her day care. They don’t show up on the front page because they are from users that don’t typically write reviews. In fact, many may have signed up just to show support for Barbara.

First review on Unilocal.My son’s been under Barbara’s care for nearly a year now and it has been an absolute pleasure. The level of dedication and involvement in the welfare of our son approaches what you might expect from a devoted aunt. There are occasions my son refuses to leave when I go to pick him up in the evening. I couldn’t recommend Barbara more.

I spoke with Barbara on the phone, who was very enthusiastic until she learned I am in a same-​sex relationship. Then she said she would not be able to care for my child, since my relationship goes against her beliefs.

Barbara has been a wonderful addition to my son’s life. She is patient and loving. My son took to her right away and is happy to spend time there. She has a play-​based approach, meaning it’s not an attempt to force an instruction-​based school environment on kids that need to explore and use their imagination to learn. She is also flexible with parents and times. Highly recommended.
I have no idea why the other reviews were filtered. They are legitimate reviews from real parents who have entrusted their kids to Barbara’s care. Please click on the link «(7 Filtered)» underneath the reviews, just above the «About this Business» section. Link:
Update: These reviews are now called «not recommended». The link still works.