What I learned at day care.
For my "pediatric rotation," I spent two days at a day care. This is because the local children's hospital will not allow students in, but we have to get our hands on kids in some fashion.

Day one: 18 four-year-olds

1. If you name your child "Odin" you deserve what you get.
2. Both teachers privately told me that they didn't like this age group. Well, guys, it shows.
3. That kid who goes around all day with a dark frown on his face, pinching and hitting every kid he passes? He'll be seeing a lot of school administrators in the future.


Day two: 12 one-year-olds

1. If you name your child "Dash" you deserve what you get.
2. Forcibly holding a child down while she screams is not the way to make her take a nap.
3. If you think your shirt can't possibly get any more snot/saliva/formula/yogurt on it, you're wrong.

Overall, I was surprised at how much the kids were expected to do -- even the babies took their paper plates and cups to the trash and then lined up to be cleaned up. But there was barely any sort of curriculum for the older kids. They got about two minutes worth of calendar discussion, were shown a square and the number 19, and were released to art projects. Their teachers are supposed to have early childhood education backgrounds, but didn't think to put together an art project that involves 19 squares?

The one-year-old room really set me against day care. This place is an expensive, well-organized facility used by the upper-middle class folks of Wedgwood. Even with those advantages, these kids are warehoused in a room with two adults who don't interact with them other than to say "No!" or "Come eat." And with the above mentioned questionable practices, I wouldn't want to send my kid anywhere for the day until he or she could actually *tell* me what's going on.