Dear Daycare Parent

Advertised as a guide to empowering parents who are placing children in day care for the first time, this book from child-care professionals Rioux and Parylak delivers more of a lecture, paternalistic in tone, on how to make a day-care provider’s day run more smoothly. There are a few tips that new parents can benefit from, such as bringing children to the day care before enrollment to acclimate them to the setting, but most of the entries sternly remind parents to pay on time, avoid being late to pick-up, and otherwise behave appropriately. These suggestions are unlikely to greatly affect the child’s experience or ease a parent’s concerns. Many of the tips focus on details or procedures that would help directors or teachers run their operation. They are not, however, matters that an anxious parent should be feeling stress over. Rather than turning to this litany of commandments, most parents would be best advised to ask their day-care providers directly for advice. (BookLife)