How to Select a Daycare for Your Child

Once you make the decision to put your child in a daycare, it is time to decide which daycare is best for you and for your child. If you live in a town where there are many daycares it may be hard to see that each one is unique and they are all ran differently. Here are some things you may want to consider before placing your child into a daycare.

Word of Mouth: The best way to find a daycare is to talk to other parents. Find out where they take their children and ask if they are pleased with the daycare. Ask what they like about the daycare and if they would recommend it for your child. Also ask if they have had any bad experiences with local daycares. Other parents are your best resource for the good and the bad daycares. If you do hear things about a daycare, don't be as quick to judge. One bad experience does not make the daycare bad. Ask several people and judge from their combined experiences.

Schedule: Make sure you find out what hours the daycare is open. While most open at 6 AM and close at 6 PM, this is not always the case. You want to find a place that works with your schedule. If they open at 7 AM and you have to be work at that time, it will not work for you. This also goes for the time that they close. You need to make sure someone can pick your child up before the daycare closes.

Food: Every daycare has different policies on food. Some may provide breakfast, lunch, and snack. Others may only provide lunch and you must feed your child breakfast and snack. There are even some that provide lunch for your child and ask that you not send them with a packed lunch from home. Ask what meals are provided. Once you know that, ask what type of meals are provided. You want to make sure that your child is getting the nutrition that they need. You do not want them eating bologna sandwiches and potato chips for lunch each day.

Discipline Policy: A standard disciplinary action for daycares is sending a child to time out or a naughty chair. However, not all daycares use this practice. Ask the school how they discipline children. This is important not only for making sure your child is being treated fairly, but you also want to make sure they are safe. What is the school's policy on biting? If another child in the classroom continues biting children day after day, you do not want to put your child in that danger. Make sure that there are procedures for this type of thing.

State Certified: You want to make sure that you are sending your child to a state certified daycare. This does not mean the daycare is better than one that is not state certified, but it does mean that state officials check in more often. The state sends employees to show up unannounced and make sure that the state certified daycare is following the rules and regulations they are given. This includes things like the child to adult ratio, and making sure the building is following fire safety procedures.

Employees: Every state as rules and laws for certified daycare. One thing these laws control is the child to adult ratio in each classroom. You want to know how many children are going to be in the class with your child and how many adults will be in the room at all times. Look into the laws of your state and make sure that the daycare is following guidelines. This is a very strict law and daycares can be fined for this action and even shut down. If they are breaking this rule, what other rules are they willing to break?

Also, ask what kind of experience your child's teacher has. For daycare employees there is not a lot of experience required, but some are certified in early education. You want to select a teacher that is right for your child and educational needs. There are good teachers out there who are not certified.

Visit: Before enrolling your child in any daycare, you should visit the school. The first visit should be unannounced and without your child. Make sure to go in the morning before the children are down for a nap, but after the daycare has been open for a couple of hours. This will give you an idea of how clean the place is kept. You should expect to find a few messes, but it should look like it was cleaned the night before.

The next time you visit, tell the daycare director you are coming and ask if there would be a good time for your child to visit the classroom. Let your child stay in the class for an hour or so. Stay and watch. Your child may not be comfortable at first, but pay attention to how the other children interact. Are they spending the whole time playing or does the teacher seem prepared with activities?

Take your child into the bathrooms and make sure they can reach the toilets and sinks on their own. If they are at the age where they have just learned to potty train or are still potty training, you want to make sure they can go to the bathroom without being injured or uncomfortable.

Price: Most daycares in one town will all charge around the same price in order to compete with each other. Still, there are some that will charge more. While the price is one of the first things you will probably find out, make sure to compare prices of all daycares. Also, ask if there are any scholarships or state funding that you can apply for.

Curriculum: If your child is going to be in daycare, you want to make sure that they are going to be learning something. Ask if the school has a curriculum, what they use, and what your child will be learning. This is an important age where most of the focus will be on learning to line up, sit quietly in a chair, and raise their hands before speaking. These are all procedures that will get them ready for kindergarten. At the same time there should be a focus on learning the alphabet, numbers, and colors.

Structure is also important at this age. Do they have scheduled recesses and naps? A good daycare provider will have a daily schedule written out and the class will follow this schedule. Ask for a copy.

Television: There are many educational videos available these days and it is okay for teachers to use this as a learning tool. However, television should be used sparingly. Ask the classroom teacher how often the children are allowed to watch television. Most of the time it is allowed for 15 minutes after nap, but this is different in every facility and classroom. If you feel they watch too much television during the day, select another daycare.

Security: You want to make sure that a stranger cannot just walk in off the street and take your child. What kind of security measures are in place at the daycare? Most of the time, you will be required to provide a list of people who can pick your child up. If anyone on the list comes for your child they will be required to show a photo i.d. There are other daycares that require you to open the door with a key card, or staff must buzz you in.

Cameras: Another important part of security is classroom surveillance. Some daycares have cameras in the classroom so the daycare director can monitor classroom activity. There are others that even let you watch the classroom live on your computer. Cameras in the classroom are great, but it is not widely used by daycares at this time.

The most important thing you can do when selecting a daycare is follow your heart. Your main concern is that your child is safe. If you get a bad feeling about a daycare, do not send your child there. You should have piece of mind that your child is happy when away from you. Print this Quick List off and make sure to ask these questions when visiting or calling a local daycare.

What time do you open? What time do you close?

Do you provide meals? If so, what kind of food is prepared?

What is your discipline policy?

Are you state certified?

How many children will be in my child's classroom? How many teachers are in that classroom?

What kind of experience will my child's teacher have?

Is there a good time I can bring my child to visit the school?

How much do you charge for childcare?

Are there any scholarships or state funding that I can apply for?

Does your daycare use a specific curriculum? What will you teach my child?

Can I have a copy of the classrooms daily schedule?

How much television are the children allowed to watch?

What security measures are in place to protect the children?