Kelley’s Kids

We have used Kelley for the past six months for our almost 2 year old son. Her care has been nothing short of outstanding for us. She is extremely attentive to the children. Teaching them so much through structure and play, giving the kids building blocks to grow on. Her environment is safe, clean and inviting. The children have outdoor time daily. Her snacks and lunches are nutritional and healthy. We have nothing but good things to say about her care for our son. She is open and easy to reach for any questions, or concerns. She provides a daily log so that you know when/​what your child eats etc. We have nothing but confidence that our son is having fun in a safe, healthy environment. It is very comforting to know we can go to work with our child being taken care of so well! I would definitely recommend Kelley to anyone looking for early child care.

As a first-​time parent, finding good childcare is frustrating and daunting. I was very nervous putting her with a stranger, but my 15-​month old daughter has been with Kelley’s Kids for over 5 months now and we couldn’t be happier! After dropping off my daughter and seeing her get excited to see Kelley and the other kids made me feel comfortable knowing she was happy and in good hands. Our daughter originally started at Rainbow Academy in Cranford, and after 3 weeks we pulled her out due to negligence and the lack of attention and care given (and she cried each time we dropped her off).
Kelley is very involved, caring and passionate about what she does. She has a schedule for the kids which has helped our daughter tremendously! Prior to starting there my daughter wasn’t much of a napper, but since going to Kelley’s she sleeps very well.
Kelley provides healthy, balanced lunches and snacks, which is great once your little one starts eating solids. She has a clean, big playroom with a variety of toys, games, books to keep them engaged, and weather permitting, they have sufficient and regular outdoor play.
I’m sorry to read that someone had such an unpleasant experience. Ours has been different. We’ve found Kelley to be very responsible, accommodating and communicative. I’ve only had to supply 2 bibs, not 11 :)

We met Kelley when our daughter was six weeks old. As soon as we left that first meeting at Kelley’s house, my wife and I knew this was where we wanted to send our daughter for day care. We cancelled the appointments that we had to meet with other day care providers, and committed to Kelley’s Kids that day.
That was three years ago, and our daughter has now graduated from Kelley’s Kids. We cannot express how grateful we are for the loving care that Kelley provided for the past three years. Kelley exceeded all of our expectations, and we unequivocally recommend Kelley’s Kids as a daycare.
Our daughter was always excited to go to Kelley’s house. We loved hearing stories about what she did with her friends. Kelley always gave us detailed accounts of her activities during the day. Once our daughter was old enough, she delighted in telling us herself about all the fun things she did at Kelley’s.
I think the best part of sending our daughter to Kelley’s was peace of mind. When we brought her to Kelley’s, Kelley would always welcome her with a smile, and we walked away with a smile on our face. I could go to work with peace of mind knowing that our daughter was getting excellent care and was having fun. When we would pick up at the end of the day, we were always rewarded with a smiling, happy kid. I can’t express how valuable that is, to know with certainty that your child is being nurtured while you are away.
We really appreciated Kelley’s experience when we had questions regarding child care. We were first time parents, so we had a ton of questions for Kelley. She was always willing to consult with us, even when we had questions at night or on the weekend. Kelley is a wealth of information, and we always appreciated her guidance.
I think the most important thing that I can say about Kelley is that it felt like she became a part of our family. Our daughter still talks about Kelley, even though she graduated several months ago. We will always look back fondly at our time with Kelley. It was a very special time for our daughter, and Kelley was a special part of her life as she grew from an infant to a toddler to a sweet little girl.

I really hate to write a negative review online but as a parent, I feel obligated to share my experience with others since finding a caregiver is such an important decision. I wish I had more information on Kelley before I hired her, as most of the reviews I found online are the same exact references that appear on her website. We hired Kelley’s Kids to watch our infant son. Although she is experienced and has a clean home, there were numerous things we were uneasy with and as a result, we began looking for a replacement after just his first week and pulled him out after a month.
Kelley’s contract specifically states that parents will «provide the child with a schedule and discipline at home which are consistent with that of the provider.» This honestly didn’t stand out to me until we hired her. In the first week, we were emailed a 3 page document on how she disciplines and teaches the children. Some of it was helpful but some seemed to be more of her personal preferences such as teaching children to not shriek, having them not bang on the high chair because it is too noisy for her and requesting that parents do diaper changes at home with the baby’s pants on because she does so to save time. I completely agree that consistency is important between caregiver and parent, however I feel the caregiver should attempt follow the parents’ lead to an extent that it is possible. Kelley seemed abrupt and outright annoyed if we mentioned deviating from the way she wanted things done.
Additionally, she showed unwillingness to compromise or do anything that did not conform to her rigid schedule. For example, I requested that she indicate my son’s last diaper change along with both wet and bm diaper changes in his log book, as we had an issue with him leaking and my feeling was that he needed to be changed more often than was in the set schedule she follows. She flat out refused. I have never heard of a daycare not recording all diaper changes and refusing a parent’s request to change a child more often. She also required we provide her 11 bibs per day, which I find excessive, not to mention a seemingly random number, and insisted we change brands of diapers 3 times in just the first week to one that she preferred (even though we use the «rejected» types at home with no problems). I know these are small examples, but as parents it was very frustrating attempting to work with a caregiver only to be met with a condescending and callous attitude each time.
Her contract also states that one parent must be available at all times and she will not work with a family that does not have back up care in the area. We realized why when she called me at work to tell me our son needed to be picked up immediately because he pooped out of his diaper and needed a bath. As a working parent, this is unacceptable! We are paying her to deal with situations like this, and as inconvenient as they may be I would expect the caregiver to take care of it.
I could go on and on as to why we were unhappy with Kelley but ultimately, it came down to our son and us just not feeling comfortable with him being in her care. In the end, we felt concerned enough that we pulled him out a month before our last month’s payment ran out (her contract requires parents pay both the 1^st and last month up front so if you terminate early– lose a job, have to move, etc– you will lose out on $ 1100) .
When you interview her, ask lots of questions, get a feel for her personality and read the contract carefully to see if she would be a good fit for your family. If you have concerns or don’t feel she is 100% a great fit, my advice would be to keep looking elsewhere. We really wish we had.