Local Child Care Options for Babies, Young Children

By Frances Spiegel

New parents in our area quickly discover that locating child care for young children can be difficult; it helps to get an early start. Here is an overview of our neighborhood options.

Nursery Schools. Bordering our neighborhood is the 4 Corners Community Nursery, which uses space in the Luther Rice Baptist Church on University Blvd. (at Edgewood Avenue and Hannes Street) and accepts children who are 2 years old as of September 1st. Silver Spring Day School, which is housed at the Methodist Church at Four Corners, has a “Rolling 2s” program, accepting children as they turn 2 throughout the fall. The Gan Montessori, a Chabad-affiliated Jewish nursery school, rents the County recreation center in North Four Corners Park, which it uses for a primary program for 3- to 6-year-olds. February is a good time to visit nursery schools and submit applications.

Rita George at her home on Eisner St. with A.J. Espino.
Family Child Care Providers. Family child care providers, also known as “in-home daycare providers” are individuals who have been licensed by the State of Maryland to use their own homes to provide full-time and part-time care to other people’s children. Family child care providers care for babies, as well as toddlers, and sometimes older children. There are seven licensed in-home daycare providers in the North Four Corners neighborhood. Local providers can be found by searching for licensed facilities by zip code at www.checkCCMD.org. Finding an in-home provider can be a challenge due to limited advertising. Rita George on Eisner Street (pictured), who has been providing in-home child care to neighborhood residents for decades, relies largely on referrals. Rita acknowledges that getting the word out can sometimes be a challenge. While she is often booked well in advance, she currently still has full-time spaces available for the fall.
Blanca Castillo on Royalton Terrace has been watching neighborhood children in her in-home daycare since 2012. Blanca has advertised on Care.com and www.dcurbanmom.com, but still has availability for toddlers; her baby slots are full.
Nannies. Nannies — individuals you employ to watch your children in your own home — are abundant in our area. Hourly rates vary, but often range from $13 to $20 per hour for one child, with higher rates for additional children. “Nanny shares” — arrangements where two or more families share a nanny’s time and split the fee — are common.
Neighborhood social networks, such as the NFCCA listserv and nextdoor.com, are a good place to request referrals. There are also nanny listings on www.dcurbanmom.com. IRS Publication 926 explains the tax and social security obligations for employing nannies.
Au Pairs. Au pairs are individuals from other countries who provide child care in exchange for room and board and various other benefits as part of a cultural exchange. Sponsor agencies match families with au pairs, run background checks, process visa paperwork, and ensure that program requirements are met. Sponsor agencies usually charge a “program fee” in the range of $7,000–$8,000; then families are responsible for paying the au pair a weekly stipend. More information is available on the State Department website: j1visa.state.gov/programs/ au-pair.

[Spiegel, who has a one-year-old, lives on Margate Road. This is first in a series of articles on local child care options. The next issue will cover pre-kindergartens in our area.] ■

Part 2: Local Pre-K Options