Big Hugs Child Care & Development — Local services in Piscataway Township

Whatever you do, DO NOT send your child here. The director, Sam, is a sham (among other things) She pretends to be so nice/ knowledgeable and goes on about how she has been "doing this for years"… she even shared with me that her son has special needs and presented herself as an empathetic individual. However, in reality, she is only about the money and getting people in the door. Sam is actually very harsh in her expectations of young children, unforgiving, strict, and wants them to behave as if they are little military men and women. I withdrew my son when she had the gall to write me a letter in black and white stating that she attempted to force him to nap, punished him for not napping, removed him from the room, forced him to sit in a chair in her office, denied his request to use the toilet, and continued to upset him and make him cry to the point that he was saying he needed to throw up. She still would not allow him out of the chair. She also proudly boasted how she eventually "wore my son out. " and that he was made to "lay down quietly." (her words) Additionally, she implied that my son had some sort of delay just because he was not 100% potty trained at 3 years old. I know that is a little late, but boys can be stubborn/strong willed when it comes to potty training and take longer than girls... Additionally, before this letter was written and sent home… Sam had several verbal exchanges with me regarding naptime. My son was expected to lay in a sleeping bag and stare up at a ceiling quietly and not get up for two hours straight. He was not allowed to talk or play or do any alternate activity in place of naptime such as quietly doing a puzzle, looking at a book, or coloring. That is literally AGAINST THE LAW in New Jersey. Alternative activity during naptime must be provided to children who don't nap. Instead, Sam repeatedly punished and upset my son for not napping. She isolated him from the other children, put him in extended time out in her office, still didn't offer any alternative activity, and refused his right to use the toilet when he asked. (Who tells a newly potty trained child that they are not allowed to use the bathroom when they alert an adult that they need to go??!?) My son was in daycare with the help of a state subsidy program, and when I told them what was going on, they immediately terminated their contract with Sam's center and granted my son and immediate withdrawal at my request. Sam then had the nerve to mail a bill to my house for two additional weeks of daycare beyond the date that I pulled my son from her center! She stated that my contract with her said that I must give two weeks notice before I withdraw my child, or else I owe her the balance. ... I am NOT paying for two additional weeks of care, ESPECIALLY considering the reasons and circumstances under which my son was withdrawn. Sam bullied my child, used corporal punishment, refused his rights to use the bathroom, and broke state laws by refusing to provide alternate quiet time activities or toys during naptime. I have contacted the office of licensing, DCF, and the state subsidy program that assisted me in paying for my son's daycare. I mailed Sams bill back to her and told her that I welcome her to take me to court on the issue. I withdrew my son for very good reasons… If I wanted to switch centers because a friend of ours was going somewhere else, or because we were moving in a few weeks, or because i found one closer to home, those are all reasons that justify a required two week notice period…however, what Sam was putting my child through on a daily basis justified an immediate withdrawal and I definitely don't owe her an additional dime! (She attempted to bill me in excess of $500 for two additional weeks of care beyond the day I withdrew my son by the way.) Sam also claimed that she never got my notice of withdrawal when I faxed it to her-- and she is the one who provided the incorrect fax number printed on her company letterhead. Please stay far away from her as she is nothing but trouble...

My husband and I recently pulled our 2 year old out of this daycare. Our experience with this school was completely negative. The director (Sam) is very welcoming at first with a focus on financial gain. She gave us a price and then 2 months later advised the tuition would increase. I guess it was just to get us through the door. But that's only the beginning at Big Hugs.

My child began here in the infant class. He was only 22 months old and not speaking yet. On several occasions my child was not feeling well and we weren’t notified. I went to pick him up from school and noticed his clothes were changed. I asked did he have an accident that day and was told he vomited when he woke from his nap. Naturally, I was completely baffled by the fact that I wasn’t contacted. I would have called his pediatrician and had him checked. I approached the director with my concerns only to have them dismissed. Paying $200 weekly I wasn’t happy with the response.

This happened to my child a second time with a fever. Only this time I received a phone call at 5:45pm on my way to pick him up for the day. I was told that he had a fever on and off the entire day but it was now 101.5. The "Student Teacher" advised he wouldn’t be allow to return to school for 24 hours. When I arrived at the school I immediately asked why I wasn’t contacted earlier in the day. I was provided his daily report which indicated that my child had not ate anything all day. Again the response I received was ridiculous. The director of big hugs (Sam) advised me that she didn’t have to notify us until my child's temperature was 101.5 as per NJ State law.

I was so upset by her response I decided to do a little research. I obtained the NJ State law pertaining to daycares. The information was completely false and the state does not indicate that a parent can not be contacted prior to the fever reaching a temp of 101.5. The state simply indicates once the fever is at 101.5 the child is considered sick and must be removed from the facility. I also contacted several bigger daycare centers (i.e. Kinder Kastle and Goddard School) and asked about their sick child policy. They all responded the same and stated that it is at the parents digression if they should be contacted prior to a fever of 101.5. With that being said I decided to give notice. In addition my child had never been as sick as when he attended this school. I don’t think they are cleaning it through enough and I wont suggest anyone take their child here. This was a trial period since we had two children but didn’t feel comfortable enrolling our 6 month old after these experiences.

The events listed took place within a 4 month period. I have notified all of my colleagues within this area to save them from a horrible experience with our precious...

At first I loved the school when I enrolled my children. Things changed after a few months when I dropped in without calling too. I witnessed children not just mine being yelled at and I don't mean just a simple "don't do that", I mean top of the lungs yelling "DON'T DO THAT". I witnessed children being ignored when crying to the top of their lungs. At one time I had 3-4 accident reports a week. My son was getting hit, bitten and hurt and no one say anything!

They ask for 3 packs of wipes every month (ridiculous) because of sanitary reasons, yet, you pick up your kids and they are disgustingly dirty. Other children's noses are overflowing with running boogies.

Oh don't even think of bringing up your concerns to the director because there is always an excuse on why her staff yells and her excuse for being a cold fake individual is because she is "British" GO FIGURE!!!!

My last draw was walking in to find a teacher corning my son, grabbing his arm and yelling to the top of her lungs with anger at him because he wanted to play and it wasn't playtime. My son is 3 yrs old. When I questioned the director she said the teacher as wrong but.... as usual another unacceptable excuse.

Yes they have a great set up, yes their teacher/child ratio is about 10/1, yes it's really appealing to the eye when you enroll your child, yep they bring home activities, and yes, it's really cute, BUT beware of all of those things you can't see until you are there.

In the Front room, there are children crying for long periods of time. No attention, no compassion it's so sad. The only ones the teachers really tend to are those who have been there for years. It's obvious because they've established a relationship with those children but for those who don't have that longevity, it's sad to see how much they cry and for how long. I don't mean 5 minutes, it's sometimes taken me 10-15 minutes to leave or pick up my children and the babies are crying the entire time and worse than that, they are being ignored by the staff.

So my advise to you... Read the application, the sarcasm, ridiculous rules, the directors attitude about the things that happen in her school and why she feels it's necessary to have an application of this type is just a small example of what you are in for when you...