S/O Daycare - Church Center?

[vtdiamond]

I would give them a try and see what you think after seeing it. In my home town most of the preschools are in churches, and my mom is actually a preschool teacher at the school I went to, there is no religious involvement in the program.

I would ask about the Yelp review, but honestly my take on Yelp reviews is that they are either really good or really bad. If it was only one bad review I wouldn't be too worried, but if it was multiple bad reviews I'd be concerned.

How is your job hunt going?

[hermione]

C goes to a place affiliated with the Greek Orthodox Church. We are neither Greek nor religious. We chose them because of excellent reviews from friends and just a general like when we toured. We've been 100% happy.

[Deleted]

I'd try it.
There are a lot of religious run PreKs/daycares here and it's pretty basic "Jesus loves everyone" "Be a good friend and a decent human" sort of stuff. Nothing too indoctrinated philosophical. Stuff I want my kids to learn religious or not.

Also, we go to a pretty holy roller/letter of the law church and it's also where DD goes to school. I thought I'd be all up in arms over the religious aspects I don't agree with but I'm finding it's pretty tame all in all.

[sessy]

My kids went to the preschool at my church. There was no religious instruction at all even though it was run by the church. So I would check and see what the relationship is and clarify any other concerns obviously.

[pooh8402]

E goes to a center that is connected to a Presbyterian church. I've never heard of a religious exemption for licensing, but I guess that varies by state. We looked at a lot of options, both religious and secular, and they were all licensed--I didn't want him somewhere that wasn't. Ours displays their license and even notified us last week that they had a licensing visit. Fwiw, DH and I prefer a religious education for E, but from what I hear from other parents, it is more like teaching children to be nice versus indoctrination.

Re: your specific issue, I'd ask for clarification on the yelp review for sure. When I was researching, there was this one person locally who went to all the review sites and posted a similar review about a certain center (down to the same diaper all day). But the center had glowing reviews from lots of other families. We didn't choose it, but based on location, not that review.

[pierogigirl]

DS2 goes to a JCC and we are not Jewish. There is a little more religion than we are comfortable with, but the care is good and it's the only center that opens early enough for our schedules. The facility is really nice, too. DS1 went to a different daycare until he started kindergarten. He doesn't even remember it at all, so I think DS2's religious confusion will fade once he stops going.

Until then - he sometimes asks for Shabbat juice, tells me I have shofar shaped eyebrows, and sometimes plays in his Sukkah. He also sings a lot of songs I don't know.

[sessy]

Dec 14, 2015 19:42:33 GMT -5 swizz said:

Dec 14, 2015 19:37:00 GMT -5 sessy said:

My kids went to the preschool at my church. There was no religious instruction at all even though it was run by the church. So I would check and see what the relationship is and clarify any other concerns obviously.

According to the posted schedule for the 2s class, there's like 15 minutes of "Bible Study" which overall seems pretty minimal in a 6a-6p day. 

That does seem really minimal. 

[zarapipe]

Our girls go to one and we love it. It's a plus that it is religious for us but quality was number one. We have been using it for almost 4 years now and it's great. We toured others and this was the best.

[jessnpaul]

B goes to one at an Episcipalian church but there's no religious aspect to it. I only had two options as we had to stay in town... the other option was the Jewish Center which I heard good things about but I wasn't cool with the fact that they're off for EVERY Jewish holiday... and there's a lot of holidays! How do those parents ever work when daycare is closed so many days/month!

[docholly]

I am not religious and my kids go to a daycare in a Presbyterian church. They go to bible school one week in the summer, and do recite a prayer before eating in some classes, but that is it on the religious end. Bible school is optional but everyone else in my older son's class was doing it. I am ok with what is done. It is good to learn about different religions, and I will expose them to others.  If it was a huge part of the curriculum, I would feel differently. 

[magpie]

My DD goes to a daycare that is affiliated with a methodist church. They teach values, but not religion. So they do not talk about Jesus, but they do talk about gratitude or giving thanks peace or whatever the "value of the month" is. The day school is part of the church property, but is separate from the chapel, though in the later years of preschool, they do go to the sanctuary part of the church once a week for a program about the value. We are not religious (and H is pretty staunchly atheist), but the values they focus on are great (they're just basic "being a good person" kind of things). We evaluated them the same way we did any other daycare.

[curbsideprophet]

Ask for a copy of their scheduled closings. Our center is affiliated with a church and is closed more than others around Christmas and Easter.

[lurknomore]

My girls are at a dc that is affiliated with a Baptist church. We're not Baptist. DD1 also went/goes to a Jewish day camp in the summer, and we're not Jewish. As far as dc, we are very happy there. They do "chapel" every Friday and say a short grace before every meal. I don't find that cumbersome, and I actually like that they are getting exposed to some stuff we don't do at home. Nothing is over the top, tho, with religious connotations. They are a licensed center and actually just got the highest daycare accreditation/award OH offers.

I second pp's comment about asking for a schedule of closings. Ours too is closed sometimes that you wouldn't have expected it.

[preppy]

DD starts at one in January and we are not religious. Honestly it makes me a little uncomfortable but we were in a bind when we didn't get into either of the daycares we were on a waitlist for. She will be going for 3 months until we move to RI in April so it's not long term. I wouldn't have chosen a religious daycare longterm.

[bdubs419]

My kids went to a Jewish center (before we moved) even though we are not Jewish. When we originally toured all the local centers, I had a great feeling when I went there. It seemed like the best option so we went with it. Honestly, I miss the "homey" aspect of it now.

My kids are at a large chain center now which is fine, but I did like the smaller feel of our old one better.

[cinco]

My kids have all gone to a preschool in a church. The older kids was religion based, DD2's is in a church but not religious based. With the older kids they had chapel for 15 minutes once a week, and then Easter and Christmas programs. We are not religious, but it didn't bother us. It was more lessons on kindness and giving. I think they are all different, and think it is worth checking out.

[Deleted]

J goes to a preschool at a church (not our church). They are NAEYC accredited though. As far as religion, they do say a prayer before snack, a very generic thank you type prayer. Since we are religious, albeit a different religion, this is not an issue for me. That's the only way religion/God is incorporated into the program.

I don't think it could hurt to explore it further.

[dcn]

Ds1 goes to a Lutheran preschool. We are Catholic but haven't been to mass in years. They do ten min of Jesus time at the end of class. He loves going and we've been very happy.