As we mentioned recently in the quicksnips, a 15 year day care study was released that has a lot of Moms out there talking and thinking about their daycare decisions. Day care providers can vary greatly in their day to day work plans and philosophies, which sometimes makes it difficult to compare one caregiver to another. There are a few hotspots that are (or should be) common to all day care services and asking the right questions early on can help you to steer clear of those that are not up to minimum standards.
Questions To Ask
What is the staff-to-child ratio
The fewer children each staff member is responsible for, the better. There should never be more than 5 small children allocated to a single staff member's responsibility, and never more than 10 older children. Many states have laws setting maximum staff-to-child ratios for day care providers. Day care workers get sick like everybody else, so be wary of day care's where the staff-to-child ratio is pushing the edges of your comfort zone. Ask about how they manage things when people call in sick. They should have an easily describable plan for those situations. "Oh, that never happens here" is not the answer you are looking for.Are children separated by age group?
Younger and older children should be separated. This isn't simply because older kids have different interests than younger kids, age group separation helps reduce the number of infections that get passed around and children of different care requirements.How many children do you have in my child's age range? Historically?
This is an important question because socialization is one of the primary benefits that can be met by a day care. It is also important because you want the staff to be well tuned into the needs of children in your child's age range.Do you have written policies?
Policies matter because they set an expectation for parents as to how the day care will react to certain things. At the minimum, a day care should have a set of policies encompassing discipline and health emergencies. At best, the day care will have an easily communicable set of standards for a wide range of those unexpected situations that always seem to crop up - and those standards would meet with common sense. If the policies are too complex and not very intuitive, you can expect that they will not be followed perfectly.How do you care for sick children?
- Is medicine given out? Where is it stored and who manages distribution?
- Are parents told about illness among other children?
- When must children stay home because of illness?
- Is there a sick room or some other manner in which sick children are isolated?
- Is there a nurse or doctor available to assist with medical care? What health-related training and certification does the on-site staff have?
- Are records kept for each child listing health related problems, injuries and accidents?
What training has the staff had?
All states have basic training requirements for day care providers. At the very minimum, ensure that staff is certified in first aid and CPR. Bonus points should be given for staff with education in child development, identification of abused children, and injury prevention.Inspect the Property
As you tour the property, it makes sense that you keep your eye out for basic safety concerns - sharp furniture, well maintained play area equipment, electrical outlet covers, etcetera. There are other things that you should be looking out for that might not be quite so obvious at first.- Emergency Phone Numbers - Emergency phone numbers should be clearly posted around the facility
- Impact absorbing surfaces - Jungle gyms, swingsets, and slides should be placed on some sort of impact absorbing surface.
- Climbing - Can young children get to high places?
- Protection from outsiders - how easy is it to access the facility from outside?
- Cleanliness - All toys should be washed daily with a disinfectant cleaner.
Keep Them on Their Toes
Visit the day care center regularly and be involved beyond just picking your kids up and dropping them off. Keep yourself up to date with the latest information by talking with the staff and ask pointed questions. Ask your child daily about what happened at day care. If your child raises any red flags, bring them to the attention of the day care immediately.Occasionally pop by the facility unannounced and at unpredictable intervals. While there, you can help with cleaning or repairs or as a playground supervisor, but your main reason for going is to ensure that at any given point and time during the day, things are running as expected.
Danger Signs
Here are a few signs that a day care is not up to par:- The staff fails to answer your questions or address your concerns
- There is no way for parents to be involved in the day care practices
- Your child is not happy
- Unexplained accidents happen more than once
- High staff turnover
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