If you have a child who is considered to be "busy" or "active" this is NOT the place for your…read morechild.
My daughter has been in daycare since she was 3 months old. She was in a different daycare prior to Sugar and Spice where she was adored we never had any issues. I wanted to try out a new daycare to give her more structure, less screen time, and have better communication. I was falsely reassured that S&S communicated everything through their app regarding the child's day, pottying, and provide multiple pictures of what your child is doing throughout the day.
My first day picking up my child, the only report I got were about how "busy" she is and how she did not want to nap. They stated she was climbing and did not always listen to instruction. I apologized and said it was her first day and is just testing boundaries (she had just turned 3 the week prior). Everyday after that was a report about how "busy" she was and how she "can't sit still". Again, SHE IS 3. The owner, Ms. Zee, suggested she might need a "sleep study" since she didn't easily nap. I explained that I was a pediatric nurse practitioner and that she sometimes won't nap if she's not tired enough. She also sleeps fine at nighttime. The topic was dropped. Throughout the next couple of weeks, my child would refuse to go inside and cry for me. I figured this was just a separation anxiety and would pass, but she was like this the whole two months while enrolled here.
There were multiple times that things charted on my child's "daily summary" did not make sense. For example, they would put that she needed more diapers when my child is potty trained and doesn't wear diapers. I figured it was a one off until it kept happening. There were instances that said she would "eat lunch from home". My child didn't have a lunch from home. When I asked what was happening, I was told that it's easy to miss a button and chart on the wrong kid. Okay fine, but then it happened again. I brought it up and was told that there was another girl in her class with the same name who they probably were confusing her with. So how long were the daily reports I was getting not even for my child? This bothered me, but again, I let it go.
Moving on to the final phone calls we got her last two weeks here: It was 9 AM when I received a call from Ms. Zee. I picked it up in case it was an emergency. I should have known it wasn't. It was a phone call to tell me that my child had pushed another child to the ground, hit another child in the face, and then pushed another one off a bike in the span of two days. I was taken aback as my child is not a hitter/pusher. I had never received any report of her hitting another child in her previous daycare. She then said they were "documenting these instances" and recommended my child gets BEHAVIORAL therapy and early intervention, even an IEP so she is ready for kindergarten. The sleep study was mentioned again. At this point, I'm frustrated and thrown off because this information is being told to me over the phone an hour after dropping her off. I questioned why she thought my child would need behavioral therapy when this was a one off occurrence and she has never shown these behaviors before or at home. I also firmly restated that a sleep study was not warranted and reminded her of my profession. She said, and I quote "well then you should know that early intervention is key." Let's talk about this later because again, it's 9 AM on a work day. Later, she showed us video of our child pushing others (not a teacher in sight by the way when these things happened) and we had a long talk with our child about why she can't do that.
The next week we were told she's doing great. Fast forward to the week after, that Monday. We get a phone call at 11 am saying that she repeatedly pushed another kid because she didn't want to share her legos. Not okay, but again she's 3. Not according to Ms. Zee. My child was now a problem child. We were told we needed to pick her up immediately. When my husband picked her up, he was told that our child was unenrolled due to these instances. Honestly, she saved me from having to put in a notice of removal because I was DONE. My child is now at another daycare and is thriving. She no longer repeatedly states that she does not want to go to school and they report that she is the smart, kind, and sweet girl we know her to be. On the first day of her new daycare, we received more pictures of my child's day than I had in the whole two months she was at S&S.
While I was never concerned about my child's safety while here, it was clear she was being continually targeted by the owner as a "problem child." The guilt I feel over putting my child here is overwhelming. I would never recommend this place to anyone and I am still in disbelief over everything that happened in the span of two months.
