Back in Business

Well well, Mr. Cameron is about to be back in business. Let me tell you, having him at home while I am trying to work and Jante trying to get things finalized on the business has been hard work (I don't see how stay at home Mom's do it!) This baby is QUITE active. I would try to take breaks regularly to give Jante a 10 or 15 minute break but it has still been a challenge. But we are back in business with the school. As I mentioned in the previous blog we have been on our school tours and while it was fun it really is stressful because you want to find the right place to help your child grow and develop. Because we were so happy with Creme in Cinci I thought it would be hard to find a place here. As I mentioned we picked 3 of the top rated private day cares in the Atlanta area (Discovery - #6, Creme - #2 and Suzuki #1) and did the tours. Because Discovery and Creme are both Franchises I wasn't for sure how different things would be from location to location. We started with Discovery and honestly it was "okay" but it was something about it that I wasn't feeling. It could have been the high teacher to student ratio's or the fact that ALL the teachers looked like the just graduated from High School. Whatever it was I had pretty much scratched it off the list after we left. Then we were on to Creme'. Honestly I didn't think it could get any better than the Creme' in Cinci but I was SO wrong! There are 3 locations in Atlanta and they are all similar but different. There are 2 that used to be other day cares (Creme' bought them out) so they don't look like the Creme' Cam went to in Cinci. But the one in Sugarloaf (where he would go) is brand new and will only take 120 students! If you know anything about a day care - 120 students is a VERY small #, especially for the size of this facility. They have tennis, basketball, and swimming. They even offer lessons for your child once they reach the age of 2! We were extremely excited, one catch - the cost is out of control. We really thought we would be getting off cheaper here but not so (but you know when it comes to your kids, $ is no object!) Last was Suzuki. They are rated #1 in the Atlanta metro area. This school is based on a Japanese teaching philosophy and very similar to a Montessori School. They really focus on "teaching" which I love. My only issue with them was their student to teacher ratio is 5:1 for the 10-15months and 6:1 for 16-36 months. The other issue for me is the multi-age groupings. In normal Montessori's the multi-age classes range from 1-6 months but at Suzuki the toddler class are kids age 16-36 months. This range is too wide in my opinion. I understand the positives of the younger kids learning from the older kids but I think at that age they should be with kids closer to their own age. Maybe we will try Suzuki when he is older because I do like the Montessori and the focus on teaching.

13 Months Cameron turned 13 months old on Saturday. Cameron is progressing well with his "attempting to walk". Still not walking on his own but he can with a little hand assistance from Mommy and Daddy. I told him I will give him 1 more month and then he needs to be running through the house!

To celebrate Nana and I took Cameron to the local Rail Road festival. We had a great time, eating and shopping.