Let me start by saying that we won't be sending our child to daycare until they (and we) are 100% comfortable with it. We learned some techniques from our classes on how to start the transition and while I do need to go back to work at some point, our child comes first and if I have to take more time off I will (I get more time off than Brian so I will be the one staying home longer). We have heard that many adopted kids do ok in daycares since they are used to being around children from their time in the orphanage. We hope that is the case for us, but we will be working out a contingency plan just in case we feel that it's not the right time for daycare yet.
We have decided that we really prefer to have the daycare as close to home as possible so that we are both only 20 minutes away from our kiddo and both daycares are our way to or from the gym. Plus our parents will be close in case they need to pick the baby up for us for any reason. We are also pretty sure that we want a day care center vs. an in home provider for various reasons that we have talked about.
This is where we need help! Since Brian and I know nothing about daycares (although our dogs used to go to doggy daycare, that's pretty similar right?), fill us in! What should we know? What should we ask about? Obviously if we see small children chasing each other with knives and the workers having cocktail hour, we would count that as a red flag, but what else should we look for?
Thanks for your help! I'm sure this won't be the last time we will need your advice!
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| Well Brian's covered, now just need to find one for the baby..... |
Watch out for above-average chaos levels. Mess, kids running wild with no direction, etc. Those are the environments where I've seen bad things happen (happy to talk about them if you'd like). And trust your gut. If something feels off, even if you can't put a finger on it, trust yourself. Don't worry about whether they're "teaching" the little kids things like numbers and letters, etc. All that comes in time. What they need to be learning in daycare is how to be good little citizens. How to respect and value others, and how be respected and valued. The rest of it just truly doesn't matter at this point. The daycares I've seen that were most focused on curriculum were the ones that least understood children.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the chaos. Some centers that we checked out just seemed out of control (and really smelly) while others had a much more calming feel about them. We looked at several when we first moved to Phoenix and actually printed off a checklist with questions to take with us from the Child Care Resource and Referral website. It made it easy to ensure that we were asking the same questions to each place. I was particularly surprised about child to teacher ratio differences. Some of the nicer centers we looked at use a ratio well below state guidelines and you could really tell which ones were just packing the kids in versus which centers the teachers were adequately supported. We leaned towards a curriculum based environment versus just babysitting. That was primarily why we switched from a home daycare to a center when we moved. I would ask about turnover of staff as well, that's an issue we have experienced that has affected Ethan. I like that our daycare is secure ( you have to have a password to get in), I like that they post the meals and activities in advance, and every day we get a sheet telling us what they did, what he ate and how much and when he went potty/got changed. Some daycares change hourly versus others were up to every three hours. Go with your gut feelings and if you are torn between a couple, go at different times of the day and observe how they interact with the kids. Trust your feelings! -Jackie
ReplyDeleteFirst and most important, trust your instincts! If you have a funny feeling about it, move on, find somewhere else. I also agree with the chaos comment above, but another equally concerning red flag would be no chaos (provided it isn't nap time). Kids have energy, kids need to use that energy, and kids are loud...REALLY LOUD! If they are all calmly sitting around a table politely coloring at any given time I honestly would be concerned. I know that sounds funny, but that's my opinion. Check for cleanliness, cleaning supplies handy but out of kids reach, peek in the bathrooms and take not of the soap (they will rarely be full if they are being used!). Look to see that the staff are engage with the children, not just watching them, but getting down to their level and interacting with them. Whomever shows you around, notice how that person interacts with the children as well and watch for eye contact and body language between the staff. It's pretty easy to tell if they are acting normal or if they were told to "be on their best behavior." Make sense? Also, one last thing. Smile! Have an open mind. Don't be afraid to ask questions, lots of them. And most importantly do not settle, if there is something wrong keep looking elsewhere!
ReplyDeleteOh, ask if they have a video monitoring system that you can log into and peek in at your babe from your office computer. This is becoming very common.
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