Personally I think a lot of them are very "baby farm"-like. They can have very well-meaning staff etc and some really do get a kick out of being with the kids and genuinely enjoy being around them. Some very professional folk etc. But, IMO, they are weird places nonetheless, especially when there are so many rules and regulations and observations etc that need to be done and measured up against the meaningless drivel that is the EYFS.
"Baby working9while5 is sat on the floor. He looks towards the table. He pulls himself up using his hands. He bangs two bricks together. He looks at a staff member and smiles" etc, which in itself may not be so bad to record, but must then be "categorised" according to the strands of the EYFS and next steps decided upon etc. I'd rather that they could all just have a play and cuddles and keep the place clean, to be honest. Do the observations once a half term, maybe, not all the sodding time. Nurseries are rated "good" or "oustanding" on the basis of paperwork, really, which just seems ridiculous to me. Most parents just want enthusiastic motivated staff who show an interest in their child, not seven different types of rubbishy observation.
To be honest with you, I hate sending my child to his nursery. It's alright enough, I think, they don't seem that bad there etc and I chose it rather than a childminder having had a scare with a childminder who I saw driving around with unrestrained kids in her car before I signed off on the contract. This prompted my aunt to tell me that my cousin spent a year being taken care of by a childminder who was a secret binge drinker and who never fed him and I suddenly felt that I wanted more than one person be responsible for his physical safety. Ideally, I would like him to be with a family member or one person I could trust (have a fab babysitter that I used to work with, but she's got a dayjob - drat!) but having done the rounds in the area, I wasn't impressed with many of the childminders I saw in groups so nursery it is.
I don't think he loves it, I don't think he hates it. I think he has good days and bad days and days in between and on the whole it's not doing him any harm that I can see. But I don't think it does him much good either. It's just his time at baby farm. I've done a lot of observations in nurseries as part of my job and you go into most nurseries and you will always see a good few kids sitting there looking slightly dazed and confused or bored by the whole experience, not really sure who to look to to move it on for them. I don't see this in childminders or in homes as much and I reckon it's because they don't have that key point of contact in the same way. But what do you do? I'm not going to give up work because of my ill-defined unease about it, because there are all sorts of positives to working and many negatives to not, so it is what it is. Nothing is ideal in this world.