Episode 46: Touring the Neighborhood Daycare & Preschool — 5,000 Core English Words

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Chapter forty-six. The last chapter.

Leo is eighteen months old. He walks, he runs, he says about twenty words, and he has opinions about everything. Emma is going back to teaching in the fall, and Ryan's office wants him three days a week. So one bright morning, they visit a daycare and preschool, two streets from home.

Listen to the questions parents ask on a tour, and to the end of a long story.

Director: Good morning, Little Harbor Learning Center. This is Susan.

Emma: Good morning. My husband and I are looking for a place for our son in the fall. We'd like to schedule a tour, if that's possible.

Director: Of course. How old is your son?

Emma: He's eighteen months. He'll be almost two in September.

Director: Then he'd be in our toddler room. I'm afraid there's a waitlist for that group, but spaces do arise. I'd recommend coming to see us as soon as you can.

Emma: Do you have any time this week?

Director: I could do Thursday at nine thirty. Please bring him along. It's worthwhile to see how he reacts.

Emma: We'll be there. Thank you.

Director: You must be the Johnsons. And this is Leo! Hello, Leo. Come in, come in. I'll show you around, and please ask anything.

Ryan: Thank you. It's very bright in here.

Director: We designed it that way. This is the main corridor. Each room is for a different age. Babies, toddlers, and then the preschool group, who are three to five. Obviously, the needs are very different.

Emma: How many children are in the toddler room?

Director: Twelve at most, with three teachers. So the ratio is one adult to four children, consistently. It's never more than that, even at lunch.

Ryan: What are your hours?

Director: We're open from seven thirty to six, Monday to Friday. Most children come from eight thirty to four thirty. You can choose three, four, or five days.

Emma: What does a typical day look like?

Director: The morning is free play and a group activity. Music, painting, stories. Then outside time, in the garden. Lunch at eleven thirty, then a nap. In the afternoon, quieter things. Puzzles, building, water play.

Ryan: Do they all sleep at the same time?

Director: They do, eventually. In the first weeks it's a little unbalanced. Some sleep instantly, some scream. By the second month, it goes smoothly.

Emma: And if he doesn't sleep?

Director: Then he rests with a book. We never force a child.

Emma: What do the children eat?

Director: We cook here every day. No delivery, nothing from a packet. A combination of vegetables, protein, and grains. Mostly organic, when we can get it. Today it's crispy fish and rice.

Ryan: He has no allergies that we know of. But his mother is allergic to sesame.

Director: Then we'll note it, and watch him. We have a strict policy. No nuts or sesame in the building.

Emma: What's your policy if a child is sick?

Director: If he has a fever, he stays home until he's been well for twenty-four hours. If he becomes ill here, we call you immediately, and you'd need to pick him up within the hour.

Ryan: And discipline? How do you handle it when a child hits, or bites?

Director: It's a normal phase at this age. We don't punish. We gently separate the children, and help them find the words. Our basic principle is that a two-year-old who bites is not a bad child. He's an individual who can't speak yet. We're here to educate, not to judge.

Emma: I like that very much.

Ryan: What about the first days? He's never been apart from us for more than a few hours.

Director: We do it slowly. The first day, you stay with him for an hour. The second day, you leave for thirty minutes. We build it up over two weeks. He'll cry. Nearly all of them do. And you'll cry in the car.

Ryan: I already know that.

Director: Then you're prepared. It's a familiar story. It usually takes about ten days.

Emma: I'm a teacher myself, so forgive me. Is there a curriculum?

Director: There is, but it's not academic. Not at this age. That comes later, in primary school. We concentrate on four broad things, and we emphasize play. Language, movement, getting along with other people, and curiosity.

Emma: That's exactly what I hoped you'd say.

Director: In the preschool group, we begin early literacy and simple mathematical ideas. Counting, shapes, measuring things. We measure everything in inches and in centimeters. The children love it.

Ryan: And science?

Director: We have a little laboratory corner. Nothing theoretical. Magnets, seeds, a solar lamp, a pot that makes steam. Last month a parent who is a historian brought in a real fossil. The children could hold it. One girl asked if the universe had a mother.

Ryan: What did you say?

Director: I said it was a magnificent question, and that scholars are still working on it.

Emma: And art?

Director: Every day. Paint, clay, markers. We don't draw for them, and we don't correct them. We try not to confuse them with rules. If the sky is green, the sky is green.

Emma: I think I'm going to cry.

Director: There's also a workshop for parents, once a month. Child psychology, sleep, food. It's educational, and it's primarily a chance to meet other families.

Ryan: Do you send updates during the day?

Director: A short message and a photograph at lunchtime. Not more. We'd rather be with the children than with a phone.

Ryan: Can I ask about tuition?

Director: Of course. For five full days, it's fourteen hundred dollars a month. For three days, nine hundred. That includes all meals. There's a registration fee of a hundred dollars to join the waitlist.

Ryan: And how long is the waitlist?

Director: For September, there are six families ahead of you for two certain places. I'll be honest, it's doubtful. But families move, and plans change. It's a variable thing. I'd say your chances are equal to anyone's. We treat every family equally.

Emma: Is there any preference for families who live nearby?

Director: Yes. And for the children of teachers. Both of those help you.

Ryan: Is there financial help, if we need it?

Director: We have two scholarship places each year, funded by a local institute. And there's a state program that can cover part of the cost, depending on your income. I can give you the forms.

Emma: What should we bring, if he gets a place?

Director: A change of clothes, a sun hat, a water bottle, and something from home that he loves. No toys with small parts, and no jewelry.

Ryan: Can we put our name down today?

Director: You can. I'll get the form. And look. While we've been talking, your son has made a friend.

At the low table by the window, Leo is sitting with a little girl. He has a blue marker in his hand, and he is concentrating so hard that his tongue is out. He does not look up.

Emma: Did you see him? He didn't even look for us.

Ryan: I saw. I don't know if I'm proud, or hurt.

Emma: Both. It's the best sign there is. A stable child walks away.

Ryan: I liked her. Susan. No ridiculous promises. She didn't try to trap us with a brochure.

Emma: I liked the green sky. And the fossil. And that they cook.

Ryan: It's a lot of money. More than the mortgage, nearly.

Emma: I know. We'll revise the budget. I've done the numbers. With my salary, and the Saturday class, it works. Just.

Ryan: Then that will determine it. If they offer us a placement, we take it.

Emma: And if they don't?

Ryan: Then Rosa, two days a week, and my mother on Fridays. I asked them both, in case. They said yes before I finished the sentence.

Emma: You made a second plan.

Ryan: I always make a second plan. It's a genetic condition. My father has it.

Emma: Leo will have it too. It's in his genes, with my nose.

Ryan: Poor boy. Lists, and a nose.

Emma: And a mother who draws on everything, and a father who sings like a boat. I can live with that assumption.

That evening, when Leo is asleep, Ryan and Emma sit on the porch swing. The street is quiet. The flowers on the steps are pink and white, and the dog is lying at their feet.

Emma: Do you ever think about how we got here?

Ryan: All the time. A plate of soup that went to the wrong table.

Emma: A car you couldn't find.

Ryan: A phone number I forgot to ask for.

Emma: It's confusing, when you look back. It seems so organized. A chapter, and then the next. But every single day, we had no idea.

Ryan: Basically, we still don't.

Emma: No. I read something in a book of his, the one about the globe. It said that everything is made of atoms, and most of an atom is empty space. Even a nuclear family.

Ryan: Is that a joke about us?

Emma: It's a fundamental truth. Most of a life is ordinary. Empty space. Breakfast, keys, laundry, bills. And then a few bright things that hold it all together.

Ryan: You should publish that. In literature, or in an elementary science book. I'm not sure which.

Emma: I'll cite you as an observer.

Ryan: I detect a compliment. Let me try one. I never wanted an amazing life. I wanted this. A porch, a pleasing amount of noise, and you.

Emma: That's a desirable sentence. Brilliantly simple.

Ryan: I've been engaged in its production for six years.

Emma: Six years. And an intermediate result asleep upstairs, probably naked, because he takes off his pajamas.

Ryan: Every night. The frequency is mechanical.

Emma: I was a cheater, you know. On the first night. I told Simon to say he couldn't come.

Ryan: You what?

Emma: I wanted to meet you alone. He'd talked about you for a month. I had a preference before I saw you.

Ryan: Six years, and you reveal this now?

Emma: It seemed like the right time to conclude.

Ryan: The attraction was planned. I'm the property of a strategist.

Emma: In relation to everything else, it's a small secret. No bombing, no drama. Just one phone call.

Ryan: I'm not angry. I'm amazed. And grateful. Come here.

And that is where we leave them: two people on a swing, with a child asleep above them, and the whole ordinary future ahead.

That is the end of chapter forty-six, and the end of our story. You have followed Ryan and Emma from a lunch break to a front porch, through restaurants and hotels, a pharmacy, a hospital, a bank, a post office, a train, and a school.

Keep these last ones with you: "We'd like to schedule a tour." "What are your hours?" "What's your policy if a child is sick?" "Is there a waitlist?" "Can we put our name down today?"

You do not need to remember any of it. If you listen again tomorrow night, and the night after, the words will come to you by themselves, the way they come to a child. Thank you for listening to Echo Stories English. Sleep well.

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