Caritas De Sol-Arias, Ana - Malden MA Family Child Care

I would love to first tell you that both my children were in the care of this organization since the age of about 5 mouths old till they graduated. upon graduating I received a letter for both my children teachers stating that they were advanced in the learning and seemed to be bored with the school work . My children whom are now 6 and 11 still visit with Ana and staff from time to time and request that they are invited to all there events. My youngest still calls her Lela which is what I understand to be a short term name for Abuela which means grandma. I have since recommended several other parents whom share the same experience as me.

My daughter has been going to Caritas De Sol since she was 2 1/2. I have nothing but good things to say about them. Being an overly protected parent I was afraid to leave my daughter anywhere but when I meet Ana and her crew I decided to give them a try. This is my daughter 1st daycare. Let me tell you I have no regrets.  My daughter loves it so much that when I pick her up she refuse to go home. All the kids loves Ana also known as Lela and her staff. Is not an easy job taking care of children but Ana treats and love all the kids as her. She invest her time energy and her all to ensure that each child is safe and happy. My daughter doesn't like to talk much and when Ana is on vacation and she has to go to backup daycare she always complains that she misses Ana's daycare and ask why Ana has to go on vacation because she doesn't want to go anywhere else. I would a million times recommend Caritas De Sol. Ana is loving, patient, easy going, understanding, caring and will work with you to ensure that your child is safe and happy. I can also say that Caritas De Sol is not just a business for Ana but it is her passion, dream and she loves what she does and is good at it. If you are looking for a safe, happy place for your child to grown give Caritas De Sol a try.

I Had a Not So Great experience with this daycare. My Daughter went here for almost a year exactly. And I had Multiple things that completely rubbed me the wrong way. Due to financial circumstances, I was not able to just get her out. If you have children you know a lot of daycares require the first two weeks, last and a deposit. So, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to remove her when I originally wanted too And because each time it was an excuse and some form of back up to that excuse which now in hindsight, I know that I Have to use my gut feeling when things simply don’t feel right. This could have ended way worse than it did. My daughter was only 1 when she started there. She was not the best-behaved child and I knew that. So I made the daycare aware. They all had a ton of recommendations on what to do to help the situation and I did all that I could on my end to try and fix her issues. From saying “Hands on your body”, to enforcing the “sit down and think about it chair”, to “Early intervention” (Which when they came to our home 5 different people. They said my daughter did not qualify because they did not see all the things that the daycare was saying she would do. And they did multiple activities with her and were at our house for Hours!) But according to the Owner Ana she was a horrible child. Every single day they had negative things to say. Once and a while they would throw in a few compliments and say “If we tell you the bad, we should also praise her on the good” She would always tell me how smart she was and a ton of nice things but never leaving out bad comments. But anyway; Everything the daycare said she would do we hadn’t seen, and we have friends with children that would be around. And she played well with no hitting or anything. Ana on numerous occasions called my child Violent and Irate. The only time we had seen our child be “Violent” was with me Her mother. She occasionally hit me in the face but that was it. Again, we did have her around other kids outside of the daycare, so we saw firsthand that she played well with others. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I picked up my daughter and she had a bubbled up black eye. And as everyone knows unless you hit yourself VERY hard, you’re not going to get a bubbled up black eye Right away. When I arrived there from work at about 515 One of the teachers was there Beverly. My daughter ran up to me (This is important because my daughter would Never run up to me and was ready to go. I literally would have to pick her up and take her.) I was super surprised to see her but as soon as I saw the eye, I looked up at Beverly and she was ready to respond as soon as I asked her when and how did it happen. She answered So fast. “It had happened right before lunch and that she and another child ran into each other. (Ok. I get it. Things happen. My child is Very energetic, and I absolutely believed it.) My annoyance with the whole situation wasn’t that it happened because I know my kid and I know she can be a little excited sometimes and her hurting herself isn’t farfetched. But my annoyance was with the fact that this means after she got hurt. She Cried, she ate, they cleaned her up, and She was down for a nap. That Is almost 5 hours that they could have called or texted me and didn’t. Ana was not there which made me feel some kind of way, but I brushed it off because I knew I would see her in the morning. The day after Ana told me that she had Just missed me the day before. I said it was fine and I told her what Beverly had told me which was X Y Z she then said that “that Beverly must not have remembered what had happened.” Butttt how could she not remember if it just Supposedly had Just happened. She then proceeded to tell me that It had happened right before I arrived which was why she didn’t bother to call me. She didn’t give me an actual explanation as to how it had happened. but did say that. At that point, I was pretty annoyed that I was being lied to too my face, but I knew there wasn’t anything I could do about it right then and there. As I said Bruises don’t happen Immediately unless it was a hard hit or if hours had gone by and if that was the case, I absolutely should have received at least a text. That evening I took pictures and a video of the daughter’s eye. Just for precaution. Months Prior I had picked up my daughter early from school and she had a handprint on her face. There was only 1 teacher there and it wasn’t either Ana the owner or the main teacher Beverly. It was the sometimes teacher Brenda And the only explanation she could give me was that “she had just woken up. And It was her handprint.” I said ok. I took a picture of it as soon as we left, and I told my partner something didn’t feel right and if something like this happened again. We are done there. And I didn’t care if I had to quit my job and stay home till she went off to Kindergarten. He agreed and we kept monitoring her and checking her body every day for marks or bruises. Occasionally we would see what looked like Nail imprints in her back or on her sides (Most of them had long or long acrylic nails). But nothing that was a Major cause for concern. So back to the Bubbled eye. The following week they had a scheduled vacation time off, so we scheduled a trip to Disney. And my daughter's eye barely went down and was black most of the days there. It was such a shame that her first trip to Disney in every picture she had a black eye. The week after that (now going on 2 weeks) when we got back to the daycare. As soon as we stepped foot in the daycare Ana asked me “what happen to her eye?” Insinuating that it did not happen there. So I got upset and immediately asked her what she meant and said what she had told me and what Beverly had told me had happened. She said “Oh it’s been a while I thought that would’ve gone away already? I thought it was on the other eye?” I then got even more upset because It really showed that she from the beginning She wasn’t there when this happened to her and she didn’t actually know what when and how it happened. I looked at her and calmly said “Moving forward if something like this happens to my child please text me or call me at any time that it happens, seeing as though you all text and call Anytime My child sneezes too much, or coughs, or is even feeling warm and no Not just for fevers.” She immediately got defensive and acted as if I was overreacting and said, “if I had a problem, I could have called the day after and not waited that extra week.” Yeah, I could have but I was going to let it go and just get my daughter out of that daycare but if it wasn’t for what she said when we first walked in. I was going to tell her, either way, so please text or call if something like that ever happens again. So why would I not just wait to have the conversation in person? If I was going to just let it go. That afternoon I started looking for a new daycare. The following week was my daughter’s birthday. So, I told my partner we would make her last day that following Friday so she could celebrate with the friends she had made. but Ana had other plans. That Wednesday My partner went to drop off and pick up our daughter and he let her know that the following week would be her last day and she agreed and proceeded to bad mouthing me to my partner as if he wouldn’t come home to let me know. (Which he didn’t wait and called me from outside of the daycare to make me aware of what she said). At that point, I knew It was only going to be a few more days so I didn’t say anything to her about it. We found a new daycare and she agreed to let us start in the next 2 weeks. The following day in the morning she asked me to send her any pictures I had of my daughters’ eye from when it happened. I asked her for what? and again she couldn’t give me an explanation besides that she wanted to see it. So, I didn’t send her anything. but when I returned that afternoon, I just showed her photos from 2 days after on my phone. I didn’t find it necessary to send her photos of my child. The day after that and I asked her if we could bring in the things to celebrate my daughter’s birthday on her last day the following Friday and she flat out with no hesitation said: “No. today is her last day and told me to keep my money for that week and that was it.” Naturally, I was pissed that she did that to my child, so I said, “Say no more.” I put away the money, grabbed my daughter and her things, and said nothing else and just walked out. In this whole situation, I messed up by not asking to see the cameras. Because That could have been all the proof I or they needed. Not that they offered it either. But still I should have and that was where I messed up. Thank God the other Daycare provider agreed to let my daughter start that upcoming Monday. And it wouldn’t put a dent in our work schedule or even our pockets. I told her exactly what had happened, and she helped up with the deposit and everything because It was short notice. Luckily the money we did not spend on that week’s daycare covered the expense for the new one and she gave us an amazing discount. Since my daughter started at the new daycare she has given us updates and has nothing but great things to say about my daughter. A few weeks in she had asked me about the early intervention and how that went, and I told her she didn’t qualify and showed her the report and she said she doesn’t qualify because she doesn’t need it. My daughter went from barely talking at “Caritas de sol” to now in just a few short months saying full sentences and knowing animals, animal sounds, Numbers, Objects, Names, she knows exactly what you’re saying to her. She has developed so much since leaving there. And I don’t know if it is because she is getting more attention now or if it’s because she is in the same age group as the others, but I am just so happy to say we are no longer scared for our child’s safety. And are made aware of everything. We have gotten progress reports and pictures sent to us. This new daycare makes me so happy. And may I add the same way Ana would do to my daughter. They were definitely not ALL bad. Beverly was great with my daughter from what I saw. She occasionally would braid her hair. She was the only one that it seemed like my daughter truly listened to when I was there. She just gave me the best vibes and it felt like she really cared for her. Brenda seemed nice. She wasn’t always there but when she was, she seemed cool. I walked in a few times with her on the floor rubbing my daughters back or legs and she was very sweet. Mrs. Maria, she was the chef of the daycare, she was a sweet older woman. I was there a few times when she was spoon feeding my daughter and saw how grateful my daughter acted towards her. Ana’s Family was all very great, she has a beautiful and sweet daughter, really cool Sons, her husband was nice, and her mother was nice as well. Now, Ana, it brings me great sadness that it ended the way it did because she really does give you the best vibes and was extremely helpful when I lost my job with lowering our payments till I got back on my feet and overall she was cool. But things happen and things change so. It is what it is. All in all, No, I don’t recommend Caritas de Sol. So if this helps the next person or not I feel like everyone should know what happened at this establishment.

Mrs Ana & her assistants Ms. Beverly & Mrs. Maria work 2gether great...they strive 2 do rhe best with not only my son but all the other kids...she has get 2gethers so I got 2 meet most of the parents & it was just a great time...Mrs. Ana has a huge heart & i believe she truely cares about the future of our children..theres no way i can show how much she is appreciated. They do arts & crafts with the kids...my son is spanish & hes been coming hone speaking more spanish which i just love...Mrs. Ana is very strict in when it comes 2 the parents signing in & out..she has cameras so everyrhing is on tape..when my son 1st started going in october he was having a hard time with his behavior & Mrs. Ana worked with him & I & even thou my son has his momments he has done a complete 180 & I try 2 soak up any parenting advice Mrs. Ana or the other staff have because it is working...I feel comfortable & have nothing but postive experiences with this daycare & all staff...If you are a parent that wants your child 2 succeed then i reccomend you sign you child up...also one of the best things about this daycare is Mrs. Ana is a christian & my son comes home asking me 2 put on his favorite christian song...lol...if u ask my son he will tell you how much he loves going...Im just gonna be lost when he goes into kindergarden later this not only because how my son thrives in this daycare but also because The ladies have huge hearts & make you feel like family & i will miss that