O

PHOTOS BY DAN IEL LIPPITT

Never Too Soon

Parents who choose more costly JCC child care say it can help
teach kids an early sense of identity.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER

H

ow much would you pay to leave
your young child under skilled su-
pervision, where the facility might
provide diapers and wipes and
food, but maybe not? Would you pay more
for a couple of kosher bites?
It seems many parents would. The
waiting list for the Jewish Community
Centers' child-care program currently
has about 150 people vying for yet-to-
come open spots — despite higher daily
fees than most secular centers.
For five days of care, for children 2
months old to 2 112 years old, the JCCs
in West Bloomfield and Oak Park charge
$39 per day. Additionally, when a child
is accepted into the JCC program, the
family must also buy a JCC membership,
at a cost of $378 annually, says Fredelle
Schneider, the JCC's child development
center director.
The fees include diapers and wipes, a
kosher lunch and two kosher snacks,
shoe covers for parents and staff to pre-
vent tracking germs into the nursery,
and participation in any JCC program.
For the same age group, Sunny Skies
Child Care in Royal Oak charges $132
per week ($26.40 per day for a five-day

week), and Little Munchkin Day Care
in Southfield asks $150 per week ($30
per day) for infants through 2-year-olds.
Children's World Learning Centers,
with 18 locations in metro Detroit,
charges $32.40 per day for infants and
$30.40 per day for toddlers.
Child-care centers boast about the ra-
tio of teachers to children. At the JCC,
there are no more than three infants or
four toddlers to one teacher. Sunny Skies
and Little Munchkin each staff one care-
giver per four babies.
Of those day-care centers surveyed by
The Jewish News, only one charges more
than the JCC for daily care (this, how-
ever, does not factor in the required JCC
membership fee): the Community House Fredelle Schneider, director of child care
Early Childhood Center in downtown at the JCC.
Birmingham. Director Robin Brinks says she brought a caregiver into her home.
parents must pay $972 per month But when her second son, Sam, came
($44.18 per day for a month of 22 week- along 18 months ago, she'd had it with
days) for infants or toddlers.
in-home child care. Both boys are now in
That price includes 'just the care" for the JCC program.
babies, says Ms. Brinks — "parents pro-
"I did look at some other facilities. The
vide diapers and wipes, food and formu- most fundamental thing that you have
la."
in our Center, which you don't have at
When Lynn Bloom's oldest son, other places, is a sense of family, that we
Nathan, was born (he is now almost 5),
all belong together, we're all united. I

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didn't get that feeling at other places,"
says Ms. Bloom.
The West Bloomfield mother believes
Jewish traditions stick when taught at
a very young age.
Young children take Jewish learning
"in stride. They are very receptive to
learning things — words in Hebrew, how
to count. Yes, it probably does help to
strengthen their beliefs or feelings of be-
ing Jewish simply because they're com-
fortable," she says.

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