I don't live in your area but I am familiar with both chains. I have experienced and heard less good about various Kids R Kids facilities in the Houston area. In contrast I have experienced and have heard almost nothing but good about various Primrose facilities in the Houston area. Consistency to me means the chain as a whole has a clear vision and the people in place to achieve that vision. BUT any daycare is only as good as their staff so the reputation of the chain is only part of the equation.
The first thing I would recommend you do is read the reviews of the daycare facilities as determined by inspectors who work for the state of Texas. Each licensed facility is subject to random inspections. The inspection reports are what you need to know also. We toured a few daycares that looked amazing. However, when we read the inspection reports we saw consistent, big issues which to me indicated leadership and quality issues at those places. If the leadership isn't any good, the staff will struggle and the children as well. Don't go by appearances alone.
https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Care/Search_Texas_Chil...
Once you have a few facilities in mind with great reports, go on a tour. On a practical note go during the day and observe these facilities. Go more than once if that is what it takes. There are differences from morning to afternoon; in the afternoon the kids tend to be tired and ready to go home. They are a bit harder to manage in my opinion. Contact each facility so you can go when the kids are awake; going during naptimes is not very helpful. Seeing the staff in action is the only way to make a real determination. Remember any daycare is only as good as their staff. Pay attention to how the teachers act. Do they seem frazzled? Overwhelmed? Calm? Happy? Cheerful? How do the kids seem? Are they mostly happy? Lots of crying from lots of them? Crying is to be expected but most of the kids should be happy.
Going back to the state’s inspection website, reading the reports is a bit overwhelming at first. On the first page you can read three important things: 1) general facility information (top); 2) inspection details (middle); and 3) deficiencies (bottom).
At the top you learn the following: how long a facility has been open; how many children they can accommodate; and if they have needed any corrective actions and/or been temporarily closed due to violations. For me if the facility can accommodate more than about 200 kids I get nervous. If they have received any corrective actions or been temporarily closed, I am done looking at them. There have to be rules for your search and those are some of mine.
In the middle you can learn about the inspections. You can see how many inspections they have received in 2 years and then click on a link to read the details of those inspections.
At the bottom you can learn about their deficiencies. You can see how many they have had and the severity of those deficiencies. Don’t necessarily panic if all of the deficiencies are “high”. You can click on a link to read the details of those deficiencies.
I looked up the Kids R Kids you mentioned. The facility is new and has only been licensed since 2013. So far they seem to be on track to do well because in 16 inspections they have only had 4 violations in 2 years. The other thing I note is the school capacity. They can handle 320 children which is a lot in my opinion. I would be concerned about the student to teacher ratios which is a consistent complaint I have experienced and heard about this chain by the way. Next I read they have had 16 inspections in 2 years. Those inspections deal with background checks and/or records keeping and occur in both operating years, 2013 and 2014. For me those are not deal breaker type violations on the surface but it would cause me a concern because it indicates to me they are not taking care of their internal workings which are designed to help protect the children. Finally I read the deficiencies of which there are 9; 7 are high and 2 were medium. Those deficiencies, though, worry me when I read the details from the link. The last deficiency was a background check issue. The ones from the summer of 2014, though, raise major red flags for me – prohibited punishments, oversharing information with a parent, responsibilities of caregivers, and placing children at risk. The last few go back to the background checks and records keeping. At this point this facility would have some hard questions to answer from me.
Next I looked up the Primrose you mentioned. They have been licensed since 2005 which is solid and they only accept 175 children which is a good thing in my opinion and experience. They have had 6 inspections in 2 years and 6 deficiencies. The 6 deficiencies are as follows: 5 from July 2014, pertaining to training, background checks and (more seriously) safety in the infant room. The baby room had crib mattress safety issues and prohibited equipment in the cribs. The last was from June 2013 and pertained to fire inspection permits. I already feel better about this facility based solely on their reports.
PM me if you have more questions. Daycare searching is a stressful undertaking. My kids have been in daycare for two years and I have been pleased more than not. A great daycare is your ally in raising your children and there should be an open dialogue in place to assist this process. Good luck.