Monica's Daycare

Monica's Daycare is a home-based child care program run by Monica Aviles on Roosevelt Avenue in Redwood City, in the residential blocks west of El Camino Real and south of Woodside Road. It holds a state Family Day Care Home licence from the California Department of Social Services, first issued in 2004, with capacity for fourteen children. The program's own site carries the line "Empowering Children to Reach Their Full Potential".

The program, as Monica describes it

The daycare offers infant and toddler care and a preschool program, and says it takes children from infancy through school age. Its stated approach is that every child deserves individual attention, with an emphasis on creativity, exploration and learning through play rather than worksheets. As a family child care home, it runs in a house rather than a centre, with the same small group and the same caregiver day to day, which is the main reason parents choose this kind of setting for infants.

Under the licence, the number of infants is capped separately from the total, and the full capacity of fourteen applies only when an assistant is present, so the mix of ages in the room changes as families come and go.

Arranging a visit

Call to ask whether there is a place in your child's age group and when you can visit during the day. Bring your child's immunisation record and any allergy or medical information, and be ready to talk about the hours you need, since home daycares set their own schedule. Ask what a typical day looks like, how meals and naps are handled, what the policy is on sick children, how holidays and the provider's own time off are covered, and what notice is required on either side. You can look up the licence record on the Department of Social Services facility search using the provider's name and confirm its status and inspection history yourself.

Families on the mid-Peninsula

Children come from Redwood City and from San Carlos, Menlo Park, Atherton, Belmont, Woodside, Palo Alto and San Mateo, most of them within a short drive of Roosevelt Avenue on the way to Highway 101 or Interstate 280.

Monica Aviles answers at 650-568-9845, and the website, monicasdaycarerwc.com, gives a fuller picture of the program.