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Should I consider different childcare for DD?

5 replies

dollybird · 06/03/2006 13:27

Following on from the 'bad mother or good for her' thread. DD goes to nursery two days per week and has been going since she was six months old as I work p/t. She is quite a shy little girl, but seems even more so at nursery, although she is very outgoing at home and people she knows well. From speaking to her keyworker and other staff at nursery it seems she hardly talks at nursery and quite often doesn't join in with the other children.
She is due to start going three days a week in September when she is 3 as ds is going to school and this is worrying me somewhat. At the same time she will move into the pre-school part of nursery rather than toddlers which may (or may not) help.
I am wondering whether she might be better off going to a childminder and then doing a couple of mornings at pre-school, or if, as she is already in nursery and will be going to school in Sept 2007 I should stick with where she is? Any thoughts?

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Cristina7 · 06/03/2006 13:38

I wouldn't be too concerned about different behaviour at nursery vs home. Do you think it's because she hasn't got "room" to talk there as there are too many children? In this case a CM might be better. Maybe she just likes to watch? When DS was about 3 he went through a phase of just watching everybody and afterwards copying their exact movements etc at home. I admit I was worried because he's v sociable otherwise, but it was just a phase with him.

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Enid · 06/03/2006 13:39

My personal preference for under 3's is a childminder, then nursery from 3-ish onwards.

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FrayedKnot · 06/03/2006 13:48

Are the staff worried about her, or is it just an observation? Is she happy there?

I think if she is already settled at the nursery and has built up a relationship with the careworkers there it would be potentially more confusing for her to adapt to another care environment?

My DS has just started nursery (he is nearly 2) and I had the choice ofr him to go into the 1-2 age group initially or straight into the 2-3 group.

When I saw the difference in the activities and structure of the day in both groups, I opted for the 2-3 group. Although the children are mostly quite a bit older, they do less free play, and lots of craft, painting, singing, etc, which the younger children don;t do. I knew this would suit DS better.

It may be that your dd will respond better to more focussed activities in an older group, perhaps she just isn;t a "joiner-inner"?

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uwila · 06/03/2006 13:52

Possibly it is THAT nursery that doesn't suit her. As you said you were going to add a day to her schedule. Could you trial that one day at a childminder for say a month and see how she gets on, then choose whichever one she seems happier with. You could even do nursery 2 days a week and childminder one (or vice versa).

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dollybird · 06/03/2006 21:16

Hello everyone, thanks for your replies. The staff feel that she is happy and don't have any issues with her. They say she quite often watches other children from the sidelines, and will then do what they were doing when they have finished. I think she will do better in the pre-school part as she likes doing 'older' things (as ds is only 15 months older than her they do everything together and this usually involves age 3+ stuff like lego etc).
I think I may consider a CM for the extra day for a while and see how she gets on, as we already have one lined up for ds when he is at school.

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