I will justify the 1 star for the fact that I believe Sabrina and Michelle are genuinely nice people who do like children. They REALLY need to have fewer children, no infants, and refresh themselves on the current research on child development. For brevity's sake I'll just mention the biggest issues: They do not have the ability to devote the time and attention required for an infant, period. My child came home with *caked* spit up and milk on her face/clothes, and cheeks scratched from crying fits. Which means that she was being fed without being burped, and/or laid down too soon after feeding, as well as being left to cry. My daughter would be exhausted from crying, hungry and usually wet when she came home. My child rarely cries at home, but after her first day, I received texts daily that my child was crying and needed to be left to "cry it out" at home because she was crying an abnormal amount and was, according to Sabrina, manipulating her caretakers into holding her. I'm not from the "cry it out" generation, and I'm also pretty up to date on current child development research, another reason why it blows my mind that someone would think it appropriate to leave a 1.5 month old to cry. So I was bit offended at her suggesting my child was manipulative/spoiled. I also felt it was unprofessional that, when I went to pick her up, Sabrina jokingly suggested my child could "learn a thing or two" from another infant in her care who required less attention. But as a FTM, I checked myself and spoke to other moms, childcare workers, and even a friend w/a psychology background, which confirmed that it was inappropriate to employ CIO method with such a young infant. Newborns don't have the memory or cognitive capacity to consciously recognize that crying = being held, nor can they remember that the last time they cried, they were held. They simply feel a need, instinctively cry, and once that need is met, they stop. And one of their needs is touch/comfort. Some babies need it more than others, especially when they are exposed to unfamiliar people, routines and environments. I know that day care workers and even parents cannot hold their children all the time--but the narrative that an infant is just being a glutton for attention, verses perceiving a legitimate need, is just about as outdated as you can get, and less than I would expect from someone who schedules no less than 4 days off a year for "professional development." Speaking of days off, she schedules about 4 weeks off total a year, 2 of which are full straight weeks that don't fall on actual holidays. This is not including her sick days or potential bad weather days. On top of everything, she basically charges per hour--she advertises a price that only covers 8 hours. So if you work f/t, you will pay more than the price advertised. I feel bad that my daughter even spent a week there. I still remember the look in her eyes the last day I dropped her off there, it makes me sad, still. I pay only $20 more at a new daycare and receive infinitely superior care. The staff were surprised to learn she was considered "fussy" at another daycare. My baby comes home clean, happy and with a full tummy. I also receive a daily log, which provides a level of comfort and assurance sorely missing during my home day care experience at Kiddie Shack. read more

This is not the review of a disgruntled ex-parent. Nor was there a specific incident that led to this review. My child attended year ago, so I am speaking from first hand experience, however I have also had a lot of time to think about it and talk to other parents who used to have children there. The largest problem is supervision and the ages of children there. Infants are often left to play among toddlers that are several years older. Our infant often had chairs smash their hands and fingers (from older children picking up chairs and moving them around, bruises and cuts with no explanation, and consistent diaper rashes. Sabrina changes diapers on a schedule, twice a day. Not when a child needs to be changed. So if they soil themselves right after a changing, they will sit in it until the next one. At the time we were there Sabrina was assisted by her mother. Often, all the children were only supervised by one of them. This is more children than 1 person is allowed to watch by state standards. Sabrina's own child is older, but stays home and has has many needs of his own. A friend of ours once went to get his child and found a 6 month old laying on the floor by himself, completely unattended (with the door unlocked) along with his child while Sabrina was across the house yelling at her own child. It is difficult to discuss concerns with Sabrina, as she gets extremely defensive. She insist that parents call ahead of time, and gets very upset if you drop in un-announced. I found that to be unacceptable, as I should have access to my own child at anytime. I don't know how Kiddie Shack compares to other in home daycares as this experience drove me to pay a little extra and move my child to an actual school. My child has flourished there and is much happier. My child always has 2 teachers with their class of 12 at all times, there are cameras where I can log in at any time to check, and it is very telling that I have discovered FIVE(!) parents there who all used to be at Kiddie Shack and left due to the conditions. Sometimes I honestly feel guilty the my kid was in that environment. I am so much happier at our new daycare and my child has flourished so quickly that I actually go through guilt for putting my child in Kiddie Shack just to save some money. And that was really the only reason we chose them. The shock of the cost of daycare to a new family led to me to trying to save every dollar I could. Some things are worth a little money. My child is definitely one of them. Not only is my child healthier now, but my child is much smarter as the daycare schools (that seriously only cost like $20 more a month) actually have curriculums that are consistent. Do yourself a favor and at least tour a place like that after you tour Kiddie Shack. Then ask your gut how it feels. read more

I have to agree with many things Jason has said. My son started with Sabrina when he was 6 months old. I initially liked Kiddie Shack and Sabrina for her cleanliness and her attention to detail. Very quickly we starting having issues, but it being so difficult to find a good, clean, morally sound daycare we kept our mouths shut as much as possible. I am a very easy going mother. I don't mind if my child is dirty, because to me that means he is playing, having fun and learning. However when he was picked up everyday he was dirty, smelling of urine, or dried food on his face from lunch. Dirty enough, where I felt the need to go home and clean him up before going out or running errands with him. Got picked up with dirty diapers numerous times.My mother in law noticed his cheeks smelling of urine everyday. His cheeks!? Everyday when we picked him up we had to make sure we had a bottle or snack ready for him because he was STARVING. No matter what time of day we picked him up. I tried to blow that off, thinking that he was just a growing boy. But I am not so sure anymore. She takes off of work A LOT. At least 1-2 days every month she is out for "training" or personal days. 2 weeks paid vacation every year. Anytime schools close for bad weather, so does she. I don't know about all other parents, but I have a JOB. I get very few sick days a year. After our son had been there 6 months, my mother in law and I had both already used up all of our sick days to cover for her days off. I found this completely ridiculous. We felt like she would use any excuse to close up shop, or even to get her number ratios as low as possible every day. We got so many calls for a runny nose, even after the doctor said it was allergy related. She didn't care. Drainage means an early pickup. She is VERY particular about her policies. I didn't feel she was doing her job out of love for the children, but because she needed money to stay home with her son. It was always all business, didn't want to work with your schedule or with a child's needs. My son at a year old was still at times in the same area playing as the newborn babies. Not to mention all the older kids were playing around the newborns as well. 4 years olds playing around brand new babies, just didn't sound safe to me. Our son came home a few times with unexplained bruises and bumps. Again, being the carefree mother I am, I blew it off, knowing that he is a kid...and a BOY at that. And Boys will be boys, right? However, we were treated as bad parents because our one year old hurt a 6 week old who was doing tummy time. 6 week old, tummy time, unattended....with a brand new walking boy! How is that in any way acceptable?? Is it not her job to keep an eye on all of the kids, but ESPECIALLY the brand new babies?! By nature my son has the sweetest spirit (that's not a mother talking, EVERYONE comments on how happy and sweet he is) always smiling. My child has never had any issues with other children until the past few months in her care. He plays very well with his other young cousins and any other child he has come in contact with. I believe he was becoming frustrated with the way things were there. Either wasn't getting enough attention, food or was hurting in some way. And at his age he couldn't communicate his feelings, so he lashed out in other areas. Which is not acceptable, and if he had been in my care i would have got onto him and corrected his actions. So I do understand disciplining his behavior. But all within the limitations of his age. That same day, hours later my Mother in law picked him up. He was sitting in a bouncer crying when she arrived. He laughed when he saw her walk in the door. They then scolded him again for his bad behavior earlier in the day. A 1 year old cannot understand what you are scolding him about hours after the fact! This blew my mind. Had they been mistreating him for his behavior all day?! Sabrina is constantly talking about her "clean record", worried about any kind of liability that could stain that. My son is NOT a liabilty, he is a precious child, that is learning and growing from HER example. I feel sick to my stomach that he may have been treated poorly while in her care. I know she never hurt him, but I do feel like they neglect the children at Kiddie Shack. I had become very frustrated because I just wanted to know that my child was loved, growing and happy. But in the end it felt like it was only a business transaction to her. Beware all new parents...initially her home looks like a great place for a child to grow up. But I truly do worry about the lack of care and attention given at this day care. read more

I am a current parent at Kiddie Shack Daycare. My son is 2 years old and has been there since he was 10 months old. My husband and I have not had any problems at all with my son's care. It is a second home for him which brings us great comfort knowing that we don't have to worry about him when I drop him off. I know he will be fed, diaper changed and most importantly loved. My child has special diet requirements and Sabrina has been very accommodating with his needs and choices I have made as a mother. We discuss his development to come up with a plan to work together so that he has the same level of consistency at daycare and at home. We have discussed tips for sleeping, time out (now that he is well versed in the word No), dietary needs, and potty training. She keeps a clean house and runs a tight ship. There are rules for the kids to follow which is helping them develop character not to mention that my 2 year old can identify his numbers, letters, colors, and shapes at random. She doesn't just sing the alphabet song or chant the numbers in order to them. There is true learning happening at Kiddie Shack Daycare She uses techniques which she learns at in-services/ training days through out the year. That to me is someone who is proud and serious about their craft. I am proud to say that my son is in a day care that has structure My son is growing and learning in an amazing environment that can only be made by Sabrina and her staff. They dictate the environment and they have proven to my husband and I that they are dedicated to the children and the families that attend. My son is happy he is well behaved, he is healthy and again most importantly loved. My husband and I both work and our son spends a lot of time at Kiddie Shack it is a blessing that we found a place where he is learning, sharing and is happy on a daily basis. My son is part of Sabrina's family and it shows. My only regret is that he we didn't know about Sabrina and her daycare from the time he started day care at 3 months. read more

I found Kiddie Shack Daycare after looking on the TX DFPS website. Sabrina has a great inspection record. So I contacted her to set up a meeting. My daughter was 2 months when she started and I have to say I have LOVED it! Sabrina and Michelle are great! Sabrina does pay attention to detail, her home is clean and my daughter is always well taken care of. She understands schedules as far as feeding and sleeping. She was a huge help when my daughter all of a sudden didn't want to eat! She worked with me every which way to try and find something that worked for my daughter. The infants are kept in a separate nursery room and each have their own crib to sleep in. My daughter is breastfed and she gladly accepts and stores my milk for meals. The infants have tummy time, exer-saucer time and are taught motor skills. My daughter is growing and learning so much. She learned to crawl and now stand on her own in Sabrina and Michelle's care! For the older children a great set of curriculum is set up for them to learn colors, numbers and other things. She does take in-services throughout the year for training that she applies in the curriculum for the children as well as care techniques. For holidays she does little parties for ALL children and helps keep the children involved with each other. My daughter just loves them so much. She does have a strict sick policy which I like because it is a well daycare and not a sick daycare. She ensures and takes extra precautions when it comes to sick babies for the well being of others and her own family. I'm so happy that we found Kiddie Shack Daycare! I would not want my daughter to be anywhere else because I know she is well taken care of and loved! read more

I've read the other reviews and all I can provide is what my own experience has been. My son is now 3 1/2 - he's been at Kiddie Shack off and on since he was 8 months old. Granted, now he is only on a drop-in basis every so often since I'm now a full-time mom. But let me tell you, he absolutely LOVES going there! If I even mention that he's going to Beep-Beep's house (as the kids call her) he gets SO excited!! As soon as he unstrapped from his car seat he takes off to the front door - won't even wait for me! I absolutely love the fact that she teaches the kids and they don't just mindlessly play or watch tv all day. The last time he was there I asked him what his favorite part of the day was and he said "sight words"! That's just awesome... And believe me - I'm a very protective mom and I've asked him several times if he likes going there, if they are nice to him or mean to him and I am convinced that he is very well treated and loved at Kiddie Shack. I only wish that I had the means to send him more often! :) read more

I knew immediately after "interviewing" Sabrina in mid-December that our son would be attending daycare at kiddie shack in January. Her home is well kept and clean. There is a separate room for the infants to nap, away from the older kids. Sabrina has great attention to detail, the kids classroom is set up wonderfully. All the children are assigned cubbies to store their personal items(diapers, change of clothes ect) they have an ample amount of books for reading to the kids. My son started crying while touring her home and with my permission she rocked and bounced him to calm him, right then I had my mind made up - my son was going to go here. Since starting in January, I can tell that my son has grown very attached and fond of Sabrina and Michelle. He has the biggest smile on his face when I drop him off in the morning, and when I get him after work he usually takes coaxing to leave Sabrina or Michelle. When we first started attending Sabrina was very understanding that we had a "schedule" that we were trying very hard to stick to as it was helping in getting our son to sleep through the night. It was a schedule we worked out with our pediatrician and Sabrina did her part to help. We have had an open dialogue on how he is doing and whether or not we need to do any adjustments. As a parent I also had to realize that my son would be spending a majority of the day in their care and that he would adjust to their scheduling -- may it be naps or feeding times. It is a very hard thing to have to give up control (especially when it has to do with your child) but Sabrina and Michelle have done their part in making that a lot easier for me. I have never had a second thought about leaving my son at kiddie shack. It made my heart break reading another review that said quote "I feel bad that my daughter even spent a week there." We just went on a week long vacation where my son wasn't at daycare and I could tell he missed it! Anytime we were around smaller children while on vacation my sons face lit up with excitement. He receives excellent care and is socializing wonderfully with all the other kids. My son just had his 9 month well visit and our pediatrician said developmentally he was that of an 11 month old, I can only attribute that to the care and education he receives at kiddie shack. Hands down I wouldn't think about bringing my son anywhere else. We love KSD! read more