The Daycare Myth Parents Need to Stop Believing

Brandon Andres Green, host of Good Neighbor Podcast Tulsa, sits down with Jeannette McCoy of Your Neighborhood Learning Center in Broken Arrow to talk about child care, early childhood education, school readiness, and what parents should look for when choosing the right place for their child.

Jeannette shares why the word “neighborhood” matters so much to her. She wanted to create the kind of place where families feel known, children feel safe, and the center feels less like a drop-off point and more like a community that cares for one another.

This conversation also challenges one of the biggest misconceptions about child care: that it is just babysitting. Jeannette explains how a learning center can combine play, structure, foundational skills, and social development so children are better prepared for kindergarten without losing the joy of being kids.

You’ll also hear what parents should pay attention to when touring a child care center, including curriculum, playtime, communication, safety measures, staff training, CPR and first aid requirements, and whether the team feels like a true partner instead of just a provider.

If you are looking for child care, preschool, or a learning center in Broken Arrow, this episode gives you a practical look at what questions to ask and what kind of environment helps children feel happy, safe, and ready to grow.

The right learning center does more than watch your child. It helps them feel known.

Transcript

Welcome To The Show

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Brandon Andris Green.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast Live.

Why Child Care Choices Matter

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Choosing who will care for your child is one of the most personal decisions a parent can make. Today's guest helps lead a broken arrow learning center that serves children through several of the earliest and most important stages. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Jeanette McCoy, with your neighborhood learning center. Jeanette, how's it going?

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Hey, we're doing great today. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Oh, thank you. I appreciate you joining us. So the

Creating A True Neighborhood Feel

SPEAKER_02 0:45

word neighborhood is right in the name. What do you want families to feel when they work walk through your door?

SPEAKER_01 0:53

I want them to feel like they are a part of the neighborhood. That this is a place where it's a community, that we care for each other. I know that in some of our mom times, we really don't get out and get to know our neighbors, like they did back when I was a kid. You know, the all the kids played together and all the neighbors knew each other. And so I part of that name in choosing it was I wanted that feeling like we were that old-time neighborhood.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Yeah, and um I've I've heard through the community that you're doing a great job at that. So so thank you for making an impact.

Jeanette’s Path Into Education

SPEAKER_02 1:39

How did you first get involved in early childhood education?

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Oh goodness, that's education is just about all I've done. I started out many years ago as a teenager and graduating high school and going into early childhood. And so I did that for many, many years, moved on into elementary ed, but I always had a heart to just to start my own place. And so here we are, many years later and down the road, and we are setting up shop here of setup shot here in Broken Arrow.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Now you are you from the area?

SPEAKER_01 2:20

No, uh my family is from Southern California, so we have been here since 2021. I had family here, some of my own grown children were here, and we decided when we were going to become grandparents here that it was time to move.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

Yeah. So you can be close to the kids.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Daycare Vs Learning Center Explained

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Now I'm I'm curious. I know parents often use the words daycare, child care, preschool, and learning center all kind of interchangeably. What do you want people to understand about the difference?

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Um, I well, when I got started, it was preschool in Southern California. We called it preschool, as we were preparing the children for getting into the traditional K-12 um learning years and experience. And I feel like sometimes in the community when we say daycare or child care, that parents think that we are babysitting, and we are certainly not babysitting. My heart is to yes, enjoy the children playing and lots of playtime and sit with them and interact, but also start with those foundational skills that kids need for when they do get into kindergarten. Being in K-12 education, I know that there are a lot of children by kindergarten, first grade, second grade, they're burnt out already. And so for me, a learning center is a place where we can have some fun while we're learning. And once they do get to kindergarten, oh, I already know this. Oh, I've learned this, and so it's not something that is really kind of mandated or a surprise to them, and they've got just, like I said, that foundation.

Serving Infants Through School Age

SPEAKER_02 4:16

And and I know that you serve children from infancy all the way through school age, but how do you create like let's say one community while still meeting such different developmental needs?

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Oh goodness. Um, so within within the building here, within our center, are we we we have really developed within our staff that community. And so we're on board with each other, we're supporting each other. So even our infants, we're sharing ideas with our older teachers, with the staff that teach our older children. And so we're we're making it flow from one age group to the next age group and building upon what each other's doing. And sometimes when we have those times, teachers will sneak over. Some of our maybe our pre-K teachers will sneak over into the infant room and hang out and play with the babies, so that we are all in touch with with the needs of what each child is, what what they're all needing at their age group. And we all also have built relationships with our parents so that they feel comfortable leaving their children, comfortable talking with staff, and so they're not, you know, just kind of fearful and and think that they're just dropping their kids off and whatever happens, happens.

Helping Kids Through Big Feelings

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Well, how do you help a child who's struggling with separation, big emotions, behavior, or even major transitions at home?

SPEAKER_01 5:58

So a lot of that is partnering with our fam with our families. And we we talk to them. What are you what are your thoughts? What are your ideas? What are your suggestions? What's going on at home? Please communicate that with us. And a lot of love. Just a lot of love. If we need to walk around and hold that child's hand for the day, then we hold that child's hand. If I need to, or what are the other admin need to go in and support and just sit with this child so that the teachers can still address the needs of the rest of the class? We will go in and do that. Oftentimes, even myself, if I need to have a child come in, we'll sit in in my office and read a story together. Or we'll play on the floor in my office, build some Legos and just give them that space that they need. A lot of times it's the communication for some of the children. Maybe they've been at other centers or they've been other places, and so now this is a new face, and they're not sure. For some of our children, this is the first time they've left home, or mom and dad have had to leave them in care. And so, really, it's just a lot of love.

Earning Trust With Parents Over Time

SPEAKER_02 7:12

What about building trust uh with the on the parental side? I know that parents are placing enormous trust in a childcare team, uh, especially for new parents. It can just be super stressful. How do you build and protect that trust over time?

SPEAKER_01 7:28

So, over I'm I'm just very honest and open with parents. So from the get-go, I let them know where I've been, what I've done, my experience. They are all welcome into the facility at any time that they need to. I do have a camera system, so if they're unsure of anything going on, though our parents don't have access to that camera, if it's something that they need to see, we can share that. So we do pay attention to those kinds of things. Uh, security is very important. So, even for families that are concerned just with things that are going on in the rest of the world. So, our our you know, our front doors, our side doors, they're all secure. We do trainings and so on and so forth. But I I just let our our families know they are welcome to call at any time, they can come on in at any time, they can email, they can message us, ask questions, we will answer.

Training Requirements And Misconceptions

SPEAKER_02 8:28

And I know that um there's probably some common misconceptions about like the skills and the responsibilities involved in caring for and teaching young children. Have you come across any of those misconceptions?

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Oh, absolutely. Back to the the comment that a lot of families believe that we're babysitting. And that is not the case. In Oklahoma, our staff do have to participate in what we call the registry. It's um C E C P D, and they are mandated to have a certain amount of hours of professional development, as well as all staff do have to have their CPR first aid. There are certain um professional development classes that they have to take, and then the others are optionals. There's a whole host of them. Most of our staff, where we are, have college classes behind them, and so they've taken some of those early childhood classes and have learned some of those other beyond the professional development. I also make sure that I have gone in and support my staff, teach them just the things that I've learned over the years, and so we you know, we're we're all still learning, but we do have some formal training behind us.

What To Watch On A Tour

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Well, what should parents pay attention to when touring a child care center and really just trying to decide what's right, what's the right fit for their family?

SPEAKER_01 10:04

I I think that what most parents are looking for not only are the schedules, but the activities that we do. And what what does that look like for their children? They are looking at the amount of playtime, they are asking about the curriculum. And is this a curriculum that we're just sitting down at the table and doing worksheets all day long? So, what does that look like? What are the fun things they want their children to play, and we want the children to play? And I um, as I mentioned, we try to make sure that we've got kind of a combination of some of those learning skills. But families are coming in wanting just wanting to know what the safety measures are.

Partnering With Parents Every Day

SPEAKER_02 10:55

What's one thing you want our listeners to really remember about your neighborhood learning center?

SPEAKER_01 11:01

That we're here to support them. We're not here to be the parent. We're here to partner with the parents. We're here to um meet the needs that they have while they're gone and while they're at work or at school or going about their day that we're here to make sure that their child goes home happy, healthy, having a good day, tired because they've had so much fun, uh not wanting to go home because they're enjoying being here.

Enrollment Info And Closing

SPEAKER_02 11:35

And how can our listeners learn more about uh what all you guys have going on and maybe ask about enrollment?

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Mm-hmm. So they can always call the center and we will answer the phone. We also have our Facebook page, we've got an Instagram page, so we are on social media, we have a website and our email. So there are lots of different ways to go ahead and contact us, and you're always welcome to come on over to our front door and we'll let you in and we'll have a conversation with you and answer any questions that you have.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

I so appreciate you being on the show, and we wish you and your staff and the families at your neighborhood learning center the very best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnptulstad.com. That's gnptolsa.com or call 918.