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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Spying or Not?
Frizzled 09:38 AM 04-27-2012
I am tempted to reply to an add on CL just to see what some daycares in my area are like... Any ideas or opinions on this? I know you all have something to say about it!

AND...
GO!
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dEHmom 09:49 AM 04-27-2012
you know, I was tempted to. But then I believe in Karma. I think if you were interested, you should just contact them and be honest.
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Christian Mother 10:08 AM 04-27-2012
i'd just call them...i don't mind if other daycares called me asking questions...I'd prob. welcome talking to someone other then kids..heheh!
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littlemissmuffet 10:10 AM 04-27-2012
I know what most daycares in my area are like because most of my kids have come from them or the majority of my interviews have interviewed at them. After all the horror stories I am confident that I have the best home daycare in my area My DCPs all agree!

Many of my DCMs are in mommy groups - and I hear alot from those about other daycare providers. When my DCMs bring their child's weekly crafts, or bring photos from outdoor playtime almost all the other moms reply that they wish their daycare providers would do crafts or even bring the kids outside to play
I also know that I am one of the few daycares in my area that doesn't do tv.... ever!

If I wanted to know what other providers were doing I don't know what I would do... I know how catty some providers are about sharing information to help another provider better their daycare... which is sad, because we should all be in this to help the kids have the best environment possible!
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Kim 10:11 AM 04-27-2012
I wouldn't be sneaky about it. I hate it when people contact me pretending to look for care. Most of the time you can tell they are pretending to seek care just by the questions they ask so you're most likely not fooling anyone.

I would contact providers in your area honestly and introduce yourself as a provider. Networking with other providers can be invaluable for referring families to each other- if one of you has an opening and the other doesn't or if you are in different school districts or if a family calls and they live closer to one of you, etc. I'm a firm believer that not all families are a good fit either. While one family may fit perfectly with one provider they might not mesh well with another. I've had a couple families over the years that were referrals from other providers. You scratch my back I'll scratch your mentality. Who knows you may even make a friend and have someone to chat with that gets it on a bad day.

I've also met a few that have no interest in networking and are view other providers as competition. I would rather network and have my name out there as a referral than not. To each his own I guess.
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Frizzled 10:17 AM 04-27-2012
Thanks for the input! I am going to try and contact them as another provider. I liked that networking idea a lot! I have a dc provider friend but she is about 3 towns away from me. So it would be nice to have someone who is available to got to the park with or what have you!
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dEHmom 10:59 AM 04-27-2012
Originally Posted by Frizzled:
Thanks for the input! I am going to try and contact them as another provider. I liked that networking idea a lot! I have a dc provider friend but she is about 3 towns away from me. So it would be nice to have someone who is available to got to the park with or what have you!
I would suggest maybe thinking of arranging a coffee date with the others. get to know each other, so it won't feel so much like "competition" to each other. If you have business cards, swap them.

Might be a nice way to form a relationship and even help each other out.
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Oneluckymom 12:28 PM 04-27-2012
To be honest I have wondered the same thing...only was to afraid to act on my curiosity. I am totally clueless on what other daycare's in the area are like and my kids were never in a home daycare...so what do I know?

I wish I had an answer for myself. And I totally agree that other daycare providers can be very catty. I had called a few to ask some questions and they were not very helpful.
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bice99 12:36 PM 04-27-2012
Find the local chapter of PRO and meet up with other providers through that
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thatdivalady 04:19 PM 04-27-2012
What is PRO?
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EntropyControlSpecialist 01:27 PM 04-29-2012
Originally Posted by dEHmom:
I would suggest maybe thinking of arranging a coffee date with the others. get to know each other, so it won't feel so much like "competition" to each other. If you have business cards, swap them.

Might be a nice way to form a relationship and even help each other out.
We are doing this next weekend at my home. It'll be a blast.
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Tags:calling providers, competition, groups, networking, other providers, provider gatherings
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