Child Care in Canberra

Kittykate said :

My daughter went to the Weston Creek Children’s Centre and loved it – I can’t recommend strongly enough. The manager, Emma, always put the needs of the kids first and my little girl thrived.

I’d recommend talking to Emma about putting your name down on the waiting list. She was really helpful to me, as I also didn’t put my name down until I was a fair way into my pregnancy.

Also, they have an approved preschool program for the older kids.

I absolutely agree, Weston Creek Childrens centre is wonderful. My child attended from 2 years old and was in the Pre School program as well as a Public Pre School. They actually have qualified Pre School teachers and the staff are amazing. I initially had my son in family day care and when the carer decided to finish up, we felt lost! We were so fortunate to get a place 4 days a week and my son has absolutely blossomed. My family are now enrolling their children in as early as possible to secure a place. My son still talks about Lynnie and Kelly and Katrina (the staff), he has very fond memories of it. Would highly recommend. Feel free to contact me personally with any questions as we had tried a few other places before finding this gem.

Nice comment JohnBoy !

johnboy said :

fllen said :

Have you considered maybe raising your own child instead of outsourcing them from one year old! No person in any child care institution will LOVE your child. It is a job to them. Why would you want to raise your child in an environment where workers simply follow gov rules. A parents job is so so so much more than that. I feel very sad that your child is nothing more than a commodity for you to PAY someone else to raise. Do yourself a favour – downsize your life and raise your own child – much more fulfillment in that – money is not lasting – family and love is……..
ps. nobody has been on there death bed and said that they should’ve earned more money – but many have said they shouldv’e spent more time with the ones they love!

It would be nice if we all lived in circumstances where it would be possible.

But even having said that, for most of human history children were raised communally, child care’s really a return to older ways.

It usually still is possible. People say it’s not because they don’t want to give up money and the stuff that comes with it. Ma Bodine and I are raising a child on a pretty average (less than 70k) single income. It means we don’t have much, but I can’t think of anything worse than putting an infant in long term day care. Why have a kid if you don’t have the time or inclination to raise it?

fllen said :

Have you considered maybe raising your own child instead of outsourcing them from one year old! No person in any child care institution will LOVE your child. It is a job to them. Why would you want to raise your child in an environment where workers simply follow gov rules. A parents job is so so so much more than that. I feel very sad that your child is nothing more than a commodity for you to PAY someone else to raise. Do yourself a favour – downsize your life and raise your own child – much more fulfillment in that – money is not lasting – family and love is……..
ps. nobody has been on there death bed and said that they should’ve earned more money – but many have said they shouldv’e spent more time with the ones they love!

It would be nice if we all lived in circumstances where it would be possible.

But even having said that, for most of human history children were raised communally, child care’s really a return to older ways.

Have you considered maybe raising your own child instead of outsourcing them from one year old! No person in any child care institution will LOVE your child. It is a job to them. Why would you want to raise your child in an environment where workers simply follow gov rules. A parents job is so so so much more than that. I feel very sad that your child is nothing more than a commodity for you to PAY someone else to raise. Do yourself a favour – downsize your life and raise your own child – much more fulfillment in that – money is not lasting – family and love is……..
ps. nobody has been on there death bed and said that they should’ve earned more money – but many have said they shouldv’e spent more time with the ones they love!

astrojax said :

…better than northside in childers st, where the staff turnover was a worry and mgt didn’t seem brilliant.

I hear you there (moves are in motion), though as with most places there are always one or two staff that are shining lights. At least with the new place I guess you don’t have to put up with the daily parking shenanigans for pick-up and drop-off anymore.

the centre at anu, in the heritage cottage by underhill, is brilliant and we love having astromonkey there – as he loves being there – but you may need to enrol or get a gig at anu to get up the extensive wait list to get a spot… the care is great, attentive, fun and educational and they provide morning tea and all nappies. better than northside in childers st, where the staff turnover was a worry and mgt didn’t seem brilliant.

Just a quick note about Tizzy Hall- a lot of what she says goes against SIDS recommendations for safe sleeping so I’d look into this before implementing her ideas!

benno1 said :

As a single parent, I had no choice but to put my daughter into childcare so that I could put food on the table. She attended Abacus in the Treasury building since the age of 6 months, doing full time 5 days a week care. Expensive (around $360 odd per week, maybe more now) but well worth it. I really cant reccomend them highly enough. Once my daughter got to pre-school age, she was well advanced compared to other kids her age who had stayed home with Mum (dont bash me, I have nothing against that if you can do it) in terms of learning and social development. The Pre-School program teached Kerrie was absolutely fantastic and did a great job of preparing my daughter for school.

Teacher Kerrie, sorry.

As a single parent, I had no choice but to put my daughter into childcare so that I could put food on the table. She attended Abacus in the Treasury building since the age of 6 months, doing full time 5 days a week care. Expensive (around $360 odd per week, maybe more now) but well worth it. I really cant reccomend them highly enough. Once my daughter got to pre-school age, she was well advanced compared to other kids her age who had stayed home with Mum (dont bash me, I have nothing against that if you can do it) in terms of learning and social development. The Pre-School program teached Kerrie was absolutely fantastic and did a great job of preparing my daughter for school.