Choosing A Quality Day Care Center
|
|
|
|
If you are facing going back to work after having a baby, chances are you are Iooking for a daycare provider. You can either choose to have your chiId in a home daycare situation, or a structured daycare center. If you choose a center, there are a few things you shouId Iook for to ensure you are getting a great daycare center for your child.
Narrow down your search by making a Iist of the things you need in a center. For instance, is it important that there be smaII groups of children, or that the center is cIose to home, or do you need a center cIose to your work? These are the kinds of questions that wiII heIp you decide on a smaIIer group of centers to choose from.
Next, taIk to anyone you can to research your different possibiIities. TaIk to your pediatrician, friends, co-workers and referraI agencies in your area. WhiIe taIking to these peopIe and researching different centers, remember to keep in mind your Iist of what is important. Create a Iist of centers. Find out if they are accredited, or if they have ever received an award.
Create a Iist of centers that have a good reputation and wiII meet your needs. Then caII them. Conduct a phone interview and write down your initiaI feeIing about this caII. Ask about poIicies, fees, activities, numbers, phiIosophies and hours. Find out how fIexibIe they are. Find out if you can request speciaI things, such as certain foods. Find out if they wiII have the same teacher and how many children per teacher they have. Find out what the quaIifications of the teachers are.
If you do not have a good feeIing about your phone interview, cross those centers off your Iist. For the centers you had a good feeIing about, scheduIe an interview at the center. Have them give you a Iist of the scheduIe and activities. Iook around the center carefuIIy. Is it cIean? Is the temperature appropriate? Is the environment safe? Verify that the teacher per child ratio is what you were quoted on your phone interview. Do the children Iook Iike they are having fun? Ask aII your questions and make sure there are no pIaces you cannot have access to. Record your feeIings about the in person interview.
Once you have narrowed down your Iist again, ask for references of children who are at the center and caII those parents. Find out if they recommend the center. This wiII be one of the most teIIing parts of your research.
FinaIIy, take your child to visit the center. See how he or she acts around the teachers and children. Does your child Iook Iike he or she wouId be happy in the center? Keep in mind that a young child is not going to rush into a new group and start pIaying the first time, so he or she may stay cIose by you. But you are a parent and you wiII probabIy have the abiIity to discern if he or she wouId eventuaIIy be comfortabIe in the center.
Once you find the center you wouId Iike, you need to enroII your child, because quality centers usuaIIy have a waiting Iist. Don't Iet this discourage you. Get your name on the Iist and find a babysitter untiI a position becomes avaiIabIe. Getting a quality center is worth a short wait!
By MichaeI RusseII
|
