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Winwood vs. Beantree Daycare

Discussion in 'General Chat Forum' started by SchwarzFamily, Dec 31, 2006.

  1. SchwarzFamily

    SchwarzFamily New Member

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    Our 2.5 year old currently goes to Winwood. She seems to really love it there and we like the teachers. After touring BeanTree, we're considering moving her there. Winwood is a great place, but seems to be more 'play-care' than a structured learning environment. We were really impressed by BeanTree's environment, teachers, and the opportunities it presents for our child to really grow. The drawbacks are 1. we'd be moving our daughter from a comfortable environment and 2. it's about a 20% cost increase (x2 kids).

    We're considering making the move before #2 kid arrives in late April. Would love to get opinions and experiences with regard to these places. Should we move our daughter to Beantree or just be happy we've found a comfortable environment in Winwood?

    Thanks!
     
  2. kcchoi

    kcchoi New Member

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    Hi SchwarzFamily,

    Both of my children (ages 4 years and 20 months) have been at BeanTree for 15 months now. It is very expensive, but worth every penny. It was a difficult decision to move my oldest child from the only daycare he knew to BeanTree, but I have never once regretted my decision. The infant room is phenomenal, and I felt so comfortable leaving my daughter in their care. It's definitely easier to have both children at one facility, too. Please feel free to PM or email me if you'd like to talk more.
     
  3. klewis

    klewis New Member

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    We just did the move from Winwood to BeanTree with our 2 children over the past year. I wholeheatedly agree with your assessments. The tuition check for BeanTree is hard to stomach every month, but what I am getting for my money is well worth it. After a certain age, the teachers must have a bachelor's degree and essentially that is what I am paying for. One of my children needs the experience of a teacher with an Early Childhood Education degree has. It is amazing the difference - my kids love to go to school every day now. My younger child who does not have the specialized needs the older one does is learning so much and is excelling beyond where I saw children at that age at Winwood.

    If I can answer any specific questions, feel free to PM me.
     
  4. golfnut

    golfnut New Member

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    I had to chime in on this one. I'm getting thoroughly disgusted with the wait at Winwood. How you ever even got in there is beyond me. We've been on the waitlist for 2 years this spring and we are not even close to getting in (for a 2 year old who turns 3 this summer!). We've also been on the waitlist for a year next month for our infant and again, they can't even guess as to when we can get in, not even their annual "move" in September. It's extremely frustrating.

    We're currently at BeanTree and LOVE it there. It's outstanding. Our toddler has thrived there and is smart as a whip. He loves it there too. However, with an infant and 2 year old, the tuition is killing us. We're really stuck between a rock and a hard place. We hate to pull them out, but then again, it looks like we won't be able to anytime soon anyway!
     
  5. Redskins Fan

    Redskins Fan New Member

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    My daughter, who just turned 2, has gone to Beantree since she was 3 1/2 months old. It is a great environment, and she has really thrived. The infant room, in particular, is outstanding. I don't have any experience with Winwood, but I highly recommend Beantree.
     
  6. SchwarzFamily

    SchwarzFamily New Member

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    Yeah, I've heard multiple families in the queue for Winwood for extended time periods. We lucked out - we came up on the list in late '05 and weren't yet ready to move. I called up two months later and they 'happened to' have another opening. I think what's happened is so many current customers are having more kids who take priority, the list is not shrinking. I would suggest you call them regularly if you're trying to move your kids there...squeaky wheel. Be sure to talk to Kelly - she is the director and might be able to get you prioritized. Winwood is great - you should have absolutely no reservations about sending your child there.
     
  7. nichole

    nichole New Member

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    I used to work at Beantree Learning. I am sad to say, that if I had children, they would not be going to Beantree, or any unaccredited daycare. After working in a school setting for more than four years, I just couldn't imagine sending any child to a place where they pretend they care about how your children will be treated. Looks can be very deceiving with this place.
     
  8. SteelerFan

    SteelerFan New Member

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    Suffice to say I agree with this 100%!! Don't want to say why I feel this way but you can PM me if you like. I wouldn't send my Daughter there if it were free and it most certainly is not.
     
  9. quailpond06

    quailpond06 New Member

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    That's quite a broad statement for your first post. It would be better to provide specifics. Otherwise, it just appears that you're a disgruntled ex-employee.
     
  10. nichole

    nichole New Member

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    I don't think it really matters if it is a first post or last. If you disagree with me, that is fine. I felt that it was my personal obligation to share it, as are many opinions and statements here. My message wasn't meant to point fingers or be negative, because I'm not that kind of person. I truly care about the nature of how children develop and it is my personal experience that beantree needs some serious work. I left beantree, I did not leave as a disgruntled ex-employee.. I'm sorry it appears that way to you.
     
  11. quailpond06

    quailpond06 New Member

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    It's the accusation that "they pretend to care about children" that is open ended. Your statement was negative and did not give any reasons to back up why you did not like Bean Tree.

    What did you specifically witness that caused you to make the statement you did? Was a child being ignored? Mistreated? Are the teachers nasty to the kids? If you seriously have a concern, I'd like to hear the specifics. Why am I interested? Because my child is there and IF there are reasons to be concerned, it's my personal obligation as a parent to know. All that I have ever witnessed was nothing short of great care and concern about my child's well being and if that isn't truly what the situation is there, I need to know because my child could be being negected, mistreated, etc.

    To me, being the first post you've ever left and leaving an open ended accusation seemed suspicious. If it's not the case, then I apologize for questioning your intentions, but it got my attention because I have a personal interest in Bean Tree.
     
  12. techygirl

    techygirl New Member

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    My daughter went to BeanTree for Pre-K and Kindergarten. She thrived at BeanTree. I know some people had issues there (I don't know any specifics) but our experience was wonderful. The teachers were absolutely wonderful! I especially loved the Kindergarten teachers last year. The only problem is that they left and aren't there anymore. They both took jobs closer to home. Every kid in the class seemed to love their teachers. I know my daughter did. She still talks about them.

    The only negative thing I can say is that my daughter was too well-prepared for 1st grade. She is now learning material that she learned in Pre-K. I wish that the public schools had more freedom in their curriculum. At Beantree, they followed the lead of the kids. By the end of the year last year they had finished 2nd grade math textbooks and they all could read well. The teachers were reluctant at first to present higher level material but the kids just absorbed it (science especially) and couldn't get enough.

    If anything, the teacher turn-over is too high. The reason always seemed to be that it was too far from where they lived. In some cases, they were just using it as work experience. But, in the meantime, they seemed to make the kids happy. From an outsider perspective, maybe the issues were more adminstrative and much less that the they didn't care about the kids. I know the teachers did or they were excellent at faking it!
     
  13. twohokies

    twohokies New Member

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    Techygirl's post is exactly why I'm confused about the other two negative posts. My child is experiencing both the pre-k/junior k class at BeanTree along with a couple hours a week in the public school kindergarten. He is doing a lot more academically at BeanTree than he is doing in public K. He will be overprepared IMO when he enters the public school system full-time.

    And I have never seen any children mis-treated at Bean Tree. Yes, there are some unprofessional staff in terms of arriving late or not showing at all - that is obvious to parents. But it doesn't surprise me given the age of the typical daycare teacher and the current perceived attitude of recent college grads. It's par for the course unfortunately and one of the negatives we have to deal with when placing our children in daycare.
     

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