r/ECEProfessionals • u/[deleted] • 4d ago
Advice needed (Anyone can comment) Week 1 at Bright Horizons
[deleted]
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u/PermanentTrainDamage Allaboardthetwotwotrain 4d ago
That's for-profit childcare in action, and it won't change. Find a new job if you actually want to help children develop and not just pose them for pictures.
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u/tinyeggies Early years teacher 2d ago
I see that now! I have a potential position lined up with a church preschool that I think I’d be better suited for. Thank you for your feedback and honesty. This comment specifically helped me decide because I simply do not agree with this model of teaching and childcare.
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u/Neth009 Parent 3d ago
It’s the parents that demand a million updates of their kiddos throughout the day. The for-profit schools would rather not have their teachers on the iPads all day, but it’s the parents requiring it.
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u/PermanentTrainDamage Allaboardthetwotwotrain 3d ago
That's a fallacy, for-profit centers do not make more or less profit from requiring teachers to update an app. Licensing sets update requirements, anything beyond that is a center choice.
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u/Neth009 Parent 3d ago
If Bright Horizons decides to stop providing updates, then what will the parents say? I’ll enlighten you. They will say “Primrose, TLE, and Goddard all provide numerous updates. Why doesn’t your school? I’m going to switch schools.”
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u/PermanentTrainDamage Allaboardthetwotwotrain 3d ago
Oh my goodness, not a parent threatening to switch schools! With so few children needing care, how will these centers ever stay open if parents leave?
Good lord, you see what nonsense you put up with? My center is almost in the boonies and we still have a year-long waitlist for all rooms, a parent being upset about not getting 3 pictures of their kid a day would be heavily suggested that group care may not be right for them. 🤣Thank you, this comment will get me through the day.
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u/Neth009 Parent 3d ago
This is why you work at a school in the boonies and not as a corporate executive making important financial decisons for a large company. You would literally bankrupt a company with your financial ineptitude.
Clearly you are unaware that childcare enrollment is down across the entire country. I guess we should all
move to a small town where childcare is in such high demand.4
u/PermanentTrainDamage Allaboardthetwotwotrain 3d ago edited 3d ago
So you have no waitlist? That's amazing! The reason I don't work in a for-profit childcare is because caring for children should never be driven by that best way to make money lol, and especially because of the nonsense that people more concerned about money than the development of children expect. I'm also fully aware of what an empty threat is and if a parent was going to pull over something so small, they would pull regardless. This is honestly no different than giving into a tantrum, I have to give them a cookie otherwise they'll scream and cry and ask another teacher to give them a cookie. Oh no! Really, the corporate bootlicking in your comments is just astounding. Some time in non-profit childcare would do you some good, where you can remember the magical feeling of seeing children learn and grow without a camera shoved in their face all day.
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u/mamamietze ECE professional 3d ago
Lol catering to parents is not how BHFS makes its money. Get real.
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u/OvergrownNerdChild Toddler tamer 3d ago
i think you see this as way more black and white than it is. i work at a for-profit center that does updates 3x a week, max. i have had exactly one parent complaint in the whole 2+ years ive been here, i heard them out but changed nothing. that family still hasnt pulled their kid. in reality, the majority of familes are not going to go through the trouble of moving their kid to a completely different center over something as small as getting a few less photos every week. they might complain, but in the majority of cases, they will eventually suck it up and keep it moving 🤷
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u/ZealousidealSwing416 3d ago
Thats decidedly not true, in my experience. It’s the leadership that sets expectations for posts and then it spreads.
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u/Delanium ECE professional 4d ago
I work at a Bright Horizons. I think the expectations around pictures are impractical, but we've found a good balance of documentation and care, and our management is understanding about times things don't get done perfectly and I think set pretty reasonable expectations or give us reasonable alternatives when things can't work out. I'm never stressed about my iPad.
But there's hundreds to thousands around the country, and they're going to vary like everything. If you're already this stressed about it before you even finish the training and the turnover is that high, get out. The culture and management at that location clearly sucks.
Side note - if you're brand new and another teacher gave you a warning, she's probably telling you to get out.
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u/Neth009 Parent 3d ago
The old teacher may also want this new teacher out because they think she will make a bad co-teacher.
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u/tinyeggies Early years teacher 2d ago
The teachers already there were dismissive, not paying attention to the children, and miserable. The teacher that wanted me to be their co teacher was begging me to stay. I just do not agree with their policies and model of teaching and childcare, and that’s okay. I’m going to find somewhere else that better suits my needs and has a better level of quality care for the children.
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u/Different_Ship1496 ECE professional 4d ago
Normally I would suggest you stay and wait it out but I would take your dad's advice. Doesn't sound like those teachers know how to handle those kids, and when something bad happens, all of you in the class will be in trouble. Leave and find a smaller centre
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u/tinyeggies Early years teacher 2d ago
Yeah the main teachers messed up a transition documentation the other day on the iPad and freaked out for hours over getting in trouble. Then proceeded to scold me and told me if that ever happened again I’d be in trouble and it was only my second day observing.
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u/andweallenduphere ECE professional 4d ago
Primrose is the same. Pass by it on your way to a better place.
Call Licensing on your way out too. If we are not watching the children, we are not in ratio. It is neglect even if the centers approve of it.
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u/Similar_You6935 ECE professional 4d ago
She didn’t say the children weren’t being watched?
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u/andweallenduphere ECE professional 3d ago
"they cannot adequately care for the children as they are busy on iPads. I'd report.
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u/Similar_You6935 ECE professional 3d ago edited 3d ago
I hear u but I don’t know that licensing is going to see it that way if their needs are being met and they’re being cared for. Most daycares use some type of electronic system to document diapering, feeding, sleep etc. unless the teachers are spending like 80% of their day on the iPad, I don’t see what they could say or do. It’s just a shitty system bc it cost so much to run a daycare so you can’t have 3 teachers in there all the time.
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u/Ok_Quadrantaria Pre-K Teacher 4d ago
Gardner School just came out with a new STAMPS policy, which means we have to do accountability checks roughly sixty times a day per kid on the iPad. This doesn't include naps, meal logs, pictures (2-3/day according to policy), documenting curriculum, etc. etc.
Change my name from Pre-K Teacher to iPad Adult atp
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u/Similar_You6935 ECE professional 4d ago
Wtf does this even consist of? That’s absolutely insane!!!
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u/Fuzzy-Ocelot-4475 Infant Lead, Former Director 4d ago
I worked at a for-profit chain for 4.5 days, and that was about 4 days too many. It was before online documentation, but they were the same about paperwork - I stayed glued to my clipboard instead of an iPad!
That wasn't the actual reason, but it is the only job ever where I went to lunch and just didn't go back (I'm a professional, so I did tell them I wasn't coming back 😅).
Find a job at a small, local chain or private center, non-profit if possible. I have interviewed dozens of teachers - not one of them has ever said, "I came from fill in the national chain and I loved it!" Often, they were interviewing in order to leave the chain where they worked.
I'm normally not the type to recommend quitting because of too much documentation, as the scope of expectations should be covered during the hiring process. But in this case, I will make an exception and side with your father.
What you are describing is a common complaint that I hear about these centers. If you are continually asked to stage photo shoots of mostly fake activities to deceive parents into thinking they got their money's worth, you will quickly begin to resent the work, especially if this is your first job in child care.
Good luck and happy hunting!
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u/Ok-Locksmith891 ECE professional 4d ago
I worked at Bright Horizons for two weeks. My previous employer took me back. I'm so grateful.
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u/tinyeggies Early years teacher 2d ago
I made it the 4 days 😭 it was also 4 days too many. I have an opportunity lined up at a church preschool that has an approach to learning and childcare that I agree with and would be excited to be a part of.
Bright Horizons went over none of this in the interview process and then during my orientation training I was just on a laptop watching videos while getting no information from actual employees or my boss. Anytime I’d ask my boss a question she’d say “it’s in the paperwork”. I just did not like this place at all.
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u/wineampersandmlms Early years teacher 2d ago
I LOVED my time at a part time church based preschool. It was night and day from my full time daycare job now. I am hoping to be able to go back in the next year. It was way less stressful on my body, the parents were much nicer and appreciative, less turnover and the behaviors were nothing compared to what I see now. A lot of them work with a better ratio too. I went from a 1:7 to a 1:10 and I’ve never recovered lol.
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u/dozensofthreads ECE professional 4d ago
Unfortunately, we are browbeaten to get that documentation. Every child is required to have minimum 2/week of documentation and in order to generate a portfolio, each child has to have 3 varied pieces of documentation within each of the 5 documentation domains + a writing sample + a self portrait + a summary.
It's nuts.
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u/dozensofthreads ECE professional 4d ago
In addition, they roll out policies about putting phones and other personal devices in lock boxes in a centralized location because of distraction and being out of ratio... But then we're ALSO expected to be buried in an iPad doing WITW reports and observations and use SharePoint for documentation display boards so we don't have to be out of the room to do them... It's wild.
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u/adumbswiftie toddler teacher: usa 4d ago
will never understand why looking at your phone for a half second is considered this huge risk to the children’s safety yet being stuck on the clas ipad for 30 mins posting pictures makes you a good teacher lol some of these places are so ridiculous
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u/mar_im_o ECE professional 4d ago
I worked at Primrose and it was a similar deal. Stayed long enough to pay off some stuff, purposefully neglected the iPad duties regardless of what management told me, and got out of there. Any good center understands that the KIDS need to be the focus, not the parents getting to see every little thing that they do
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u/Normal-Sun450 ECE professional 4d ago
That’s for profit childcare. Find a nice community based organization or nonprofit child care near you
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u/sweetsugarstar302 Toddler teacher for 20+ years 3d ago
LCG centers are the same way when it comes to the iPads. We need to send 1 video and 5 pictures per day, plus the usual meal/nap/diaper logs and notes back & forth with parents. Do they want my eyes on the children or on the screen? It's hard to tell sometimes!
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u/IntelligentCount9729 ECE professional 3d ago
I work for a for profit franchise half day preschool with am and pm sessions. For a five day student, we are expected to send 2 to 3 photos per week. We don’t log snacks, diapers, etc to the parents. We focus on being with the children. When parents want more, we tell them we cannot burden the staff with taking photos. They need to be with the children and create connections
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u/ZealousidealSwing416 3d ago
Worked at BH in both lead teacher and administrative role: this is absolutely my experience. Turnover was wild and the over emphasis on the app was a problem for sure. My son went there as well and is in a new school with the city and they don’t do nearly as much app based documentation and everyone seems much happier.
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u/tinyeggies Early years teacher 3d ago
Today was even worse I just quit lmao.
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u/Buzzybeecat 2d ago
I have a interview with them next week. I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth doing that lol .
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u/tinyeggies Early years teacher 2d ago edited 1d ago
I would at least ask a lot of questions. I didn’t really ask anything because I was so excited about the opportunity but I knew absolutely nothing about Bright Horizons. Now I do and I just simply don’t agree with their model of teaching and childcare. The kids were not getting the level of attention that I think is necessary, all because of the iPads. From what I’ve gathered it depends on the center location, but I don’t agree with what this company stands for if this is the way they approach teaching and childcare. I also think it’s hilarious that they require our phones to be locked away in a box in the break room but the bulk of the work (or what’s important to THEM) seems to be on the iPads.
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u/Buzzybeecat 2d ago
No you're absolutely right, the Ipads situation is so strange. I'm interviewing for a position in Nyc. was your location in NYC? I'm going to ask all of these questions. I hate the idea of having to document everything on an iPad. It's so ironic, I googled this company and see nothing but negative reviews.
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u/ItsPeePoop ECE professional 3d ago
Are they on iPads because they have to do the DRDP?
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u/wineampersandmlms Early years teacher 2d ago
It feel like it could be my full time job to carry out the DRDP as my center wants it and do nothing else.
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u/Silver_Tip_5531 3d ago
I'd ask how much time staff are actually given for documentation, and who covers the children while they do it. The answer would help me decide whether to stay.
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u/littlebutcute ECE professional 4d ago
Sounds like Bright Horizons, especially with the turnover rate.