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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, March 28-30, 2007 The Park Record B-14 Child care: choosing the right option in their homes. The least expensive option is MediaNeivs Group Wire Service to find a relative or next-door Walnut Creek, Calif. - When neighbor willing to care for a Seema Atwal of Walnut Creek child for free or at a low cost, a decided to look for a job last choice that isn't available to all year, her salary requirements parents. took into account her ability to Most day cares, in-home or pay for child care. She worked commercial, have rates that vary from home for the first three depending on the child's age. years of her son Evan's life. Infants tend to be in the most "We'd never been apart," expensive category because they Atwal said. "It was a big decision require more individual care for me." than toddlers or preschoolers. When she finally went back to At the Old Firehouse School work, Atwal had to find child in Lafayette, one teacher hancare. dles three infants. The ratio Besides money concerns, she increases to one teacher for also knew she needed to find a every six toddlers and one good match for Evan. teacher for every nine 3- to 5Parents such as Atwal have year-olds. several options when it comes to "Children need a great deal of child care: day care centers, fam- personal, one-on-one attention ily child care, a nanny or a to thrive,"' said Dorothy Stewart, friend, relative or neighbor. owner and founder of the Old Cost is often based on the Firehouse School, which has length of time a child needs care, locations in Lafayette, Mill the child's age and the location, Valley and Walnut Creek. "It experts said. matters a lot what we do the first Although some care is sup- five years before they hit public ported by public funding, most is schools." provided by private centers as Child care centers often care well as contractors who work as for anywhere from a few dozen nannies or run day care centers to 100 children. Parents can By BIANCA TORRES ;' AIDS HAS CREATED 14 MILLION ORPHANS WORLDWIDE. TO HELP, CALL 866-AIDS-FUND OR GO TO APATHY IS LETHAL.ORG. AIDS IS PREVENTABLE. APATHY IS LETHAL. ^UNITED NATIONS Hf VTO^NDATION w Visit Our Showroom at 3267 South 300 West (1-15 Exit 303) 801-48-STONE (78663) Stone Unlimited, Inc. THE SOURCE FOR ARCHITECTURAL STONE Park City Sales Rep: Sue Lipke ( 4 3 5 ) 9 0 1 - 1 7 2 2 •' [ '-•]'•• ' ' ' ' . ' • - • *' Gift Certificate to one of Park City's finest restaurants Register to win by visiting www.parkrecord.com and click i Dining Guide One entry per person per drawing. You can also register to win at the Park Record building. Your privacy will be held in strictest confidence. Originally a ski bum, Jen Delonty moved to Port City in 1972 from Mlerton, Co. In 1974 he started framing for The ' Fomify Jeweb, dtscowring HB bad a talent (oi color Expirienud and design. In 1984 Jim ind Reliable struck our en his own and opened Right Angle Picture large f (oming in the oW "Sioi Selection Meets' location ot 517 of ReadyMoin Street. The entire Made shop was in the njeot locker Frames portion of the building' Easy . In 1994 Right Parking Angle moved to its present Convenient location ot 1240 lion Horse Location Drive where there was plenty of loom to grow and plenty of porting to go along wirh it. RIGHT ANGLE PICTURE FRAMING 1240 Iron Hone W w Park City 649-5640 expect to pay from $1,000 to $1,400 a month for children younger than 2 years, according to the Contra Costa Child Care Council, a referral agency. The cost decreases for older children. The cost per month for toddlers and preschoolers is from $850 to $1,000 and around $500 for school-age children. In-home child care centers can be less and often range from $400 to $1,200 a month. Those centers are in the provider's home and can enroll as many as eight children with one provider or as many as 14 with two providers. Nannies normally charge by the hour. Starting rates are around .$12 per hour. A Nanny Connection, a Danville-based referral service, places nannies with clients ranging from $14 to $20 per hour depending on the experience, skills and duties. Some nannies charge more if they do housework or cook meals in addition to caring for children, said Robin LeGrand, owner of A Nanny Connection. Other options include hiring a live-in worker or an au pair, who are typically from other countries and normally contract for a year. Costs for Jive-in workers can also stretch into several thousand dollars per month considering wages and living expenses. Kate Ertz-Berger, executive director of the Contra Costa Child Care Council, said she advises parents to look at factors such as how many children a center has, the staffing ratios and how kid-friendly the facilities are. Are tables and chairs kid height? Are there sufficient toys and learning materials for all the students? Do the workers interact with the children or with the other adults? Beyond the logistical factors, parents can judge a center or provider right away. "It's kind of hard to describe/* said Atwal. "You just know what is the right place for your child.M In choosing a center for her son, Atwal researched dozens of day cares and then visited about 10 before settling on her top choices. Her first try, however, proved to be the wrong fit after just one week. "It was a disaster: He hated it," she said. "The staff was very young, and they were not into the children. I would stop by unexpectedly and they would be standing around talking to each other. The director was fantastic, but the rest of the staff was not." Atwal checked in with another center she liked, but it did not have availability when she was first looking. A spot opened just as she was ready to switch. "He's been happy there since day one," she said. "He doesn't want it to be weekends. ... He looks forward to it. He has really blossomed there, and he loves the staff," Although it may seem odd to expect a child and a caregiver to have a loving relationship, some in the field said that was essential for a good caregiving relationship. "The parents need to feel comfortable and know that you're going to love their children," said Amy Skellenger, who runs a family day care center in her Concord home. "It is my job, but it is a matter of loving these children. I care for these children 10 hours a day. You do become part of their families and their lives." Atwal said finding the right child care was "something she could not put a price on," and fortunately she and her husband can comfortably afford the $1,000 a month expense. For some parents, the cost of day care may be far out of reach-. Ertz-Berger said she will often recommend that parents consider starting their own family day care centers when they have multiple children. "It is very hard to afford child care," Ertz-Berger said. "Frequently parents are paying more for child care than their mortgages if they have more than one child." One of the main reasons child care is so expensive, experts said, is the cost of labor. The average child care worker in California earns a little more than $10 per hour, according to a 2005 estimate from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "There's just not money to pay people enough," said Stewart, who has a doctorate in early childhood education from UC Berkeley. "With what you have to pay people and how much people can afford to pay, it's almost impossible to meet those two needs." |