The Ideal Daycare -- What to Look For

Our daycare, New Beginnings, is located at the downtown University of Houston campus. Our professional staff includes our Director, a graduate from the University of Houston, receiving both her undergraduate degree and Master's in child psychology, five full time staff members, all college graduates, and two part time staff aides, both of whom are completing their undergraduate degrees in psychology. Our Director opened this facility with her five staff members eight years ago. Our part time staff aides joined the team in the fall of 2004. Each staff member, including the Director, is required to complete two child-related educational courses per year.

The capacity for our infants' room is eight, and we have two full time staff members assigned to this room. The capacity for our toddlers' room is twenty-four, and we have three full time staff members assigned to this room. The part time student aides rotate between the two rooms, under the supervision of the full time staff, and assist as needed.

We are located on third floor of the Academic floor of the main building located at One Main Street. Prospective clients are welcome to visit our facility and speak with our Director at any time during hours of operation. A staff member will be available to provide a tour of the facility. No appointment is necessary. Our hours of operation are 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Age-appropriate healthy, tasty hot and cold meals are provided regularly to our children. Breakfast, which often consists of whole-grain cereal with either toast or muffin, is served between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. A morning snack, often consisting of vegetables or fruit, is served between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. A hot lunch is served between 11:00 a.m. and noon, followed by a comparable snack at 2:00 p.m.

Come visit our colorful playrooms designed to enhance your infant or toddler's sensorimotor skills. Each infant's crib has colorful mobiles above for your little one to focus on and follow with his or her eyes. Inside the crib, we have taken safety precautions to ensure that there are no stuffed animals or other objects which might proffer a potential hazard to your baby while sleeping. In each crib, we utilize a set of standard soft, spongy triangular blocks, in between which the infant sleeps to ensure sleeping occurs only on his or her back. There are two rocking chairs present so that staff can rock the infant for comforting and soothing relief. There are walkers available for your developing child to explore new territory. There are easily accessible floor mobiles for your baby floor to play with. The floor is covered with well cushioned mats which allow your infant to explore outside of the crib. The room is moderately colorful so as not to provide over stimulation to your baby.

We have two rooms for our toddlers, one for nap time and another for playtime and exploration. We do not utilize separate playpens for each toddler, as we encourage active exploration through playing with other toddlers. The toys available in the playroom are designed to enhance your child's gross and fine motor skills. These include plastic building blocks, large Lego blocks and large puzzles for your child to freely play with, designed to increase your child's fine motor skills. There are jungle gyms located both indoors and outdoors, coated in safety plastic, allowing your child to safely climb uninhibited to develop gross motor skills.

Each bathroom is equipped with ample antibacterial soap. Each staff member is required to wash hands each and every time they use the bathroom, even if simply stepping inside for a paper towel. The infant and toddlers' rooms have easily accessible antibacterial lotion in each room.

We look forward to your visit to our facility at any time.