What are somethings you look for for child care?

Question

I'm thinking about starting up a child care business. I'm planing on getting certified, but I was just wondering what one looks for when deciding on what child care service to go with? Just want to hear from people that have put their children into child care, so I know what I could exceed at. Thank you!

Answer 1

How many children to how many workers (the child/worker ratio)

The environment in which my child will be staying in-

        is it clean? is it age appropriate? has it been child proofed?

How much a place charges, and is it worth it?

Will you be providing snacks? If so- are these healthy snacks? I like to see the weekly chart of snacks that the place is providing for my child

Do you encourage interaction between the child and parent at home? --meaning, do you send a sheet of paper every day letting the parent know when the child ate, slept, went to the potty etc.

Will it just be a babysitting service or will my child actually be learning something? --Will you encourage games using numbers and letters and colors, or will you just plop them down and let them go at it

I like, that my child care center has a monthly calendar so, I can see that on July 22, my child will be learning about the letter "L" -- meaning they will talk about anything that starts with the letter "L": lions, laughing....etc. They have done this for several things like on June 1st- they talked about "summer"

Best of luck!

Answer 2

Well I put my daughter in child care and I as looking to see if they would provide:Healthy Beverages And food Little palets for the children to nap on also clean bathrooms and rooms and give the kids hand sanitizer make them wash there hands after they use the rest room and toys or books for the child or children to play or read. And they have to be clean.

Answer 3

I look for cleanliness, friendliness of the staff and a solid curriculum. I do not go with home based day cares because they are too small for my tastes, I prefer larger centers where I can be sure there are alot of teachers around in case something happens. I worked in a day care when I was much younger and we always ran into stafffing problems, I hate to think how that would go in a small center.

I also look for understanding of my choices, I do not want to be criticized for breastfeeding or cloth diapering, as some centers have criticized (I provided disposables for the center and cloth diapered at home and still got c**p from the teachers) there was just no respect.

So you really want a family oriented center, where parents are encouraged to visit as much as they like and sit in, and have activities for the older children that the parents can get involved in.

Answer 4

I make sure the place is clean(but i dont expect it to be ultra tidy, coz then i'd wonder where all the toys are!)

Experianced/qualified staff(some of both)

Do the children there seem happy

What are the meals that are povided like?

Cost- do they charge per hour or per session?

All the necessary policies (health and safety etc)

Ofsted reports.

Answer 5

When i put my daughter into child care i always looked for cleanliness, they should provide the meals, they have to have lots of toys, a cot (something to sleep on), a good price lol and great warm welcoming care givers!

Answer 6

i looked for:

cleanliness

ease in talking to the owner

what does the play yard look like (mowed, weedy, etc)

toys and age of other children

policy on missing day and if you still have to pay and vacation notice.

reputation in the community

Answer 7

Okay, I have worked in the child are field for 10 years and I have a baby so I am extremely anal when looking for child care, so here goes:

1) Caregiver must be CPR and first aid certified (child and infant)

2) Caregiver must be trained in ECE OR have lots of experience with young children

3) Small group setting (max of 5 children)

4) lots of opportunity for outside time

5) Activities - Creative time such as fingerpainting and getting messy, songs, stories, outings, cooking, different things each day, emergent curriculum (go with interests of children, not set themes), science, nature, etc.

6) For infants and toddlers - communication books

7) No smoking household

8) Clean house

9) Quiet areas for children to sleep

10) Healthy home-made meals following the food guide (1 meal and at least two snacks per day)

11) Everyone in the house must have a recent police check

12) What would you do in an emergency?

13) Back-up care if you are sick

14) Policies around vacation and sick days - parents should get two weeks a year of vacation where they do not have to pay

15) Safe, large areas for play (large fenced-in backyard, adequate shade, no dangers)

16) Age appropriate toys and activities

17) Use of TV - a big no-no for me and one of the reasons I pulled my daughter out of home daycare and enrolled her in a centre

18) Interest caregiver shows in my child (do they want to hold them?) and how they interact with other children

19) Discipline method - obviously parents would be looking for positive discipline

Good luck!

Answer 8

The main things care,love saftey and lots more but i have always gone on the above and then the gut feeling. You just know inside and thats when you know its the right person x