How to Choose a Good Day Care Center

You've made the phone calls to a few dozen day care centers to see if there were any openings for your infant or preschooler. You've narrowed the list down considerably to a few maybe either close to your job, on the way home from work or one close to home. Here are a few things to look for in your child's new day care center when you're making your final choice.

You may have opted to possibly place your child in the care of a small, home-run child care center. Your first question has to be, "Is this center licensed by the state?" Each state has minimum standards in the quality of care that must be met for a center to be licensed. Some at-home day care centers are, indeed, licensed by the state, and their small teacher-to-student ratio and their homey environment make it the perfect choice for many parents and children. Some state ratios can be as high as 18 four year-olds to one teacher in licensed care centers. Some schools keep the caps much lower than that. Check with each center to ask what ratio they follow for your child's age group.

Take into consideration your child's interests. Does he like to play in the sand at home? If so, are there plenty of hands-on activities like sand and water tables available for him to do both outside and inside the center? Does your daughter like to be read to at night when it's quiet? Check to see if there is a quiet reading corner in her potential classroom. Ask the teacher how often books are rotated out and fresh ones brought in. Inquire as to whether there is a quiet reading time each day.

Ask the director of your potential day care choices what the discipline procedures are for children at the center. Make sure they match well with your own philosophies of how to care for and direct your child's behavior. Some centers may employ time outs of a minute for each year of the child's age; others may have areas of the room where children can take out their physical aggression when they need to.

Take a tour of the center without your child. Talk in-depth with the director, assistant director, and your child's potential teacher. Volunteer in the classroom for an hour one day without your child present to gain a better understanding of how the classroom operates. When you feel comfortable with a one or two classrooms, take your child with you for a couple of hours to each center and let him or her help you make the best choice, based on how comfortable he or she feels in each room and in each situation.