Diki Daycare Center

For full disclosure, I did not enroll my child in this daycare so this review is based solely on my tour only. But I thought it might be helpful for parents who are evaluating daycares in the area. The facility and staff seemed nice. What turned me off at the tour was seeing the kids watching TV as part of rest time. Didn’t seem appropriate to me. Of course my kids watch TV occasionally, but I don’t want that to be of a daycare setting (for which we are paying decent fees for the service).

My son will be 4 in two months and has been going to Diki for two years. He started in the Penguin center on 38^th St and this past year moved up to the Bunny class on Steinway. There are pros and cons about each center but, overall, I recommend them and am happy my son has had a nurturing place to spend his days while I’m at work.
The Penguin class has great teachers and a shaded, cemented area in the backyard where the kids sit outside on hot days to get a cool breeze while playing on a large rug laid out for them. They’re also right across from the playground and go there regularly. It was here, actually, that my son had his 2^nd ever febrile seizure. The immediate action taken by Diki staff was perfect and I could not be more grateful for how they handled it.
The Bunny class also has great teachers. They’re kind, compassionate, upbeat and have good senses of humor. They’re always active doing different projects and I get a progress report w/​photos of what my son has been doing emailed to me at least once a month. I’m also very grateful to how they’ve respected our dietary restrictions (we’re the only vegetarians in the class). Yes, they do show videos to the kids sometimes in lieu of other activities but, from what I hear from my son, it’s usually before naptime to get them to calm down. I personally don’t mind if my child gets to zone out for 20 min or so in front of a show. It gives him a break during the non-​stop Learn! Interact! environment he’s in for 9 hours.
In response to someone else’s comment that the teachers don’t speak English well: no, not all of the teachers do speak English well but, really, who cares? This isn’t a university, it’s a tiny kiddo care center. All of the head teachers DO speak English perfectly, it is only assistant teachers who may not have a perfect command of the language. To make up for this, they exude love, warmth and compassion, getting down on the floor to play with the kids and cuddle them when they’re upset. My son can hear enough English from the head teacher, his friends and his family. It also provides the kids with an opportunity to learn how to interact with someone who doesn’t necessarily speak the same language as them which I think is a pretty great educational opportunity.
Overall, although it might not be a perfect place in every way for every person, I feel comfortable leaving my there son all day and trust that he’s in good hands. My son looks forward to «school» everyday and even asks to go on the weekends and, at the end of the day, that’s all I need to hear.

This review was long overdue, but I believe is absolutely necessary, given the amount of parents looking for quality care for their children and the lack of reliable sources and guidelines to choose a good place.
My kids were enrolled in this school last year. The place was briefly shot down by the education department after an incident in which they left a child under their care behind at the playground. I only found out about this event through friends and text messages. Not only didi they make a mistake, they also did not communicate about the news of the incident in a proper, timely manner.
Aside from that, the place has a very strong smell of disinfectant and they show kids videos, instead of engaging them in other activities and the staff’s English proficiency is questionable.