We also had a GREAT in-home daycare with a former highschool teacher and grandmother who had lots of older kids around. It was just ideal! When DS7 (then about 16 mos. old, I think) met her, he wasn't in her house for 2 minutes before she turned to me and whispered, "Of course, you realize he's very bright, right?" I hadn't said a thing to her about him, so that sold me on her! And she always worked really hard to give him good stuff to nurture him.
Bad daycare is bad, but there's some really good stuff out there if you can find it. And because daycare providers tend to have lots of different aged kids--sometimes even before- and after-care for school-aged kids--they tend to have a lot of stuff for varied ages around. It can be a good fit.
It's worth a look.
Things like Kindermusik and YMCA classes can also be a good fit. Baby Lingua has foreign languages for very young kids. You can cobble together quite a good situation if you choose to!
Just another route to investigate. Sometimes it's not worth fighting the system, and I'm thinking this time might not be worth it for you...
