June 28, 2000
Many working parents with kids in daycare wonder how their children are doing throughout the day.
In today's Family Now report, News Specialist Ruth Todd introduces us to an approach one Utah daycare is taking to help parents stay close to their kids.
While the other children at daycare sit and play, Dillon Grange is back and forth constantly across the room.
He climbs on the toys and sometimes spends a few minutes in time out.
And Dillon's mom knows every move he makes, without ever leaving her desk.
Deanna Grange/Working mom: "HE'S SO BUSY. HE NEVER SITS STILL. ALL THE OTHER KIDS, THEY'LL JUST SIT AND PLAY, BUT HE JUST BOUNCES AROUND."
She knows because Grange's daycare - Excel Academy, in Sandy - has installed nearly two dozen video cameras that track the activity of every child there.
For an extra $25 a month, she can log on to a password-protected website on her computer at work and see live images of Dillon and her daughter Casey throughout the day.
Deanna Grange: "HE'S IN THE TODDLER ROOM, SO I JUST CLICK ON THE DIFFERENT CAMERAS IN THERE, AND THEN SOMETIMES HE GOES INTO THE INFANT ROOM TO TAKE A NAP, AND THEN I JUST CLICK ON THAT CAMERA AS WELL."
Excel Employees even use the system to make their job easier.
Jodi Bailey/Daycare center director: "IT ALSO HELPS UP IN THE OFFICE. IF WE CAN'T LEAVE, WE CAN SEE WHAT THE DIFFERENT CLASSES ARE DOING."
Grange finds that instead of the distraction of worrying about her kids all day, she can check on them every so often.
And she watches to see what Dillon is doing without her around.
Deanna Grange/Working mom: "I LOOK TO SEE HOW HE INTERACTS WITH SOME OF THE OTHER KIDS, BECAUSE HE'S GETTING CLOSE TO TWO, AND HE WAS GOING THROUGH SORT OF A HITTING PHASE. AND SO I'M WATCHING TO SEE, IS EVERYBODY HITTING OR IS IT JUST HIM."
Excel is among a growing number of day-care centers using high-tech surveillance systems to allow parents to check on their children.
