Taking care of the child is a tough responsibility for the parents. Especially for the working women. One major step you take in parenting is to send your child to daycare.
There are ample number of question arise when you decide to send your child to daycare. This question varies from the comfort level of ones family need to another. Moreover the most important to you will vary depending upon on both of you, that’s means taking account of you and your child.
In this article you will opt to know the various questions you need to ask the daycare provider. So just scroll down and explore the question.
Questions To Ask Daycare Provider:
1. Are You A Licensed?
This is the first and foremost question to ask daycare. A proper licensed is required for the daycare provider to take care of the child. As they should be trained enough to take care of the child.
This also signifies that the daycare is clean and they can properly supervised the children. “The absolute first step you should take when choosing your daycare is to make sure they are operating legally and have the proper documentation in order,” says Brigida Aversa, (R) founder and COO of Tiny Hoppers.
2. What is Your Sick Child Policy?
Illness is inevitable. So daycare that limits exposure to sick kids is the best way to choose a better daycare. This is also an important question for the daycare provider.
A good policy is that no children are allowed to be at daycare until 24 hours have passed since a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea has subsided. Productive coughs, rashes, and nasal discharge should also be on the no-fly list to keep your little one safe.
3. What is Your Discipline Policy?
Disciple matters a lot in the initial stage of a child’s development. It means they should have a proper and healthy routine of life such as eating, sleeping playing on time. This can also be an really sensitive topic for the parents.
This is one of the major question you should ask to the childcare provider. At most of the centers and care provider have written the guidelines for review. You need to also find out what type of practices are prohibited at the center.
In addition to discipline policy, do ask about cleanliness or safety precautions too. Do check the bathrooms, kitchen, playground or toys/playroom and what kind of environment your child will be in at the daycare.
4. What Types of Meals and Snacks Do You Serve?
As we know proper nutrition is one of the most important aspects for the growing stage for your little one. So you have to be very careful in aspect of this. Asking the daycare provider regarding how is your food that you serve to child? Is one of the major and vital questions.
Do check that they are giving enough fruits, vegetables, proteins in their menu. Make sure to see also that their menu should not repeat often. You should make aware of the food sensitivities such as allergies to a particular food, object, etc to the daycare provider. After that, ask what the stance is on occasional treats, junk food, and food preparation.
5. What is your Overall Child Care Philosophy?
What matter is that you want a good sense of the polices and childcare philosophies of the daycare provider. This policy should be benefits for both of you. It should satisfy the child needs.
Do check with that they are organized, with written policies that lay out clear expectations for sick children, emergencies, and payment. Also make sure they provide varied curriculum, opportunities for student-led, hands-on activities, consistent structure and caring discipline strategies that focus on guiding and redirecting rather than punishing or shaming.
6. What is Your Child -to -Teacher Ratio?
One of the major questions to ask daycare providers is what is your child to teacher ratio. This all depends upon the age of the child. Then the appropriate ratio will vary. Most of the center follows a maximum number of children 4:1 for infants and 5:1 is for toddlers.
You have to be very careful with this aspect of the question to your day care provider.
7. Can I observe or Visit My Child Whenever I like?
You should look for the daycare that offers an open doors policy for the parental visit. The parents should know that their assistant can be valued in addition to the activities.
But make sure you shouldn’t have to schedule an appointment to visit the people caring for your little one.
8. What Is The Age Range of Children at The Facility?
This is one of the major important questions to ask a daycare tour. This will helps you to figure out whether the baby will stay at what level of children around with. More over the children gets conformable with the child in or around the age of them.
For example, If your child is 2 years old and will be with 4 newborns, chances are she will not receive as much attention as the infants
9. Where Do Kids Naps?
As all, we know nap is quite necessary for a child who is under the age of 5. So it makes sense to ask the daycare provider regarding where do kids sleep?
Are they by themselves, or next to other kids? Does it match your napping schedule at home? Do they put kids down for naps awake, or let kids fall asleep first? Does everyone nap at the same time, or whenever they fall asleep? What happens if a child won’t or doesn’t nap? This all answer you need to figure out with the daycare provider.
10. How Do You Communicate With Parents?
Communication is an important aspect for both of the ways. It is very important to figure out the way the daycare provider are communicating with you.
Do check with the mode such as texts, call, emails, etc. And see the vice-verse for you too. The ways by which you can reach to them more effectively and easily. Do follow with whatever means of communication they response first.
11. Is There Any Weekly Learning Plan?
This is an major question you should ask the daycare as you should make a point that there are certain learning plans that should go side by side with the co-circular activity of your child. There is a huge difference between in-home and a daycare center.
In the daycare center, the productive of learning is more as it involves a structural learning than the in-home learning. So this matters a lot as a ask to ask the daycare provider. And it has a set of plans that define what the youngsters square measure learning at every level.
This all learning process deals with the factor based on the age of your child. It should be a balance between education and fun. Keeping the children fun all the day will impact child behaviour and intelligence.
you should be very careful about what types of activities are to be done with the kids each day, or what their policies on technology are involving. You just do need to have a checklist of monthly or weekly learning set up that the center is giving to perceive the schedule of the day, likewise as learn if different types of play are promoted.
12. What is the Security and Safety Policy?
Another aspect of questions to ask the daycare provider is with the security and safety policy of the daycare. The parents should be aware of overall environment and determine their level of comfort in its cleanliness and the safety protocols.
After checking with the security and safety policy then only you should send the child to the daycare.
13. What is Your Staff Turn Over Rate?
It should come as no surprise that staff turnover rates at the daycare center are high. While 30 to 40 percent is the average annual turnover, it doesn’t mean that is the rate at your preferred daycare. It is important, however, to ask.
You want to understand what the frequency of workers changes as a result of it will have an effect on your child’s comfort and sense of security if changes area unit too frequent. And, high turnover can signal a serious problem in the center’s operation.
14. How Qualified is Your Center?
I think this is the first and foremost question to ask the childcare provider. The parents should have to check online to answer the basics and weed out the unwanted options. You do needed to check that the daycare center has been in bossiness for several years.
It do has reference, positive review, and the necessary licenses. Choose for a center that has gone through accreditation from NAEYC, as this is a reliable sign of a reputable center.
15. What is the Transportation Situation?
If the daycare provider uses a shuttle service to transport children, make sure its vehicles are properly certified and safety procedures are followed strictly by knowledgeable professionals. For 10 or more passengers, a certification label should be displayed on the vehicle, as required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Children younger than five want associate degree approved booster seats, and children 5 and older should be wearing safety fastening devices. There ought to ne’er be an event for academics to go away children within the automobile unattended.
If the middle does not give you the chance to examine vehicles, ask for it. You may realize shocking answers within the mess or lack thence within that tells you concerning however the suppliers operate once oldsters are not observance.
[Raed: Effects of Daycare on Child Development]
Apart from these elements of question you can ask theses all questions to ask a daycare tour-
With Regards to Bussiness Hours:-
- Do the center’s business hours fit a parent’s work schedule?
- What is the center’s policy on dropping off or picking up a child late?
- What are the center’s policies and hours for holidays?
With Regards to fees and services:-
- Are there extra fees for services like day trips or holiday-oriented parties?
- If your child has special needs, how will the center accommodate them? Will this involve additional costs?
With regards to staff:-
- What the educational and professional qualifications of the teachers, directors, and office personnel?
- Which teacher will be specifically interacting with your child?
- Are they available to speak when you drop-off and pick up your child?
- What is the staff to child ratio?
- Is there a high staff turnover rate?
With regards to childcare center atmosphere:-
- Does the childcare center seem clean and sanitized?
- Is there a specific room that is dedicated to diaper changes?
- Is staff regularly washing their hands and staying hygienic?
- Is the childcare center appropriately safe for children?
- Do currently enrolled kids seem happy and playful?
- Do crying or upset children being attended by staff?
With regards to Safety and Communication:-
- How do you keep parents up to date on their kid’s daily activities or behavior? Do you offer a daily report?
- What security measures do you take for your facility?
- Are you licensed? Are you accredited? By whom?
- Do you have any references I can contact?
With regards to General Childcare:-
- What’s your general philosophy on childcare?
- How many children attend daycare per day?
- What is your child to caregiver ratio?
- What do you serve for meals and snacks?
- Do parents need to provide food?
- Do you have formula milk?
- What activities do you do with the children?
- How do you carry the day of a child at your center?
- How do you handle discipline or behavioral problems in child?
With Regards to communication and feedback:-
- Is the staff open to questions from the parents?
- Are they take concern form parents?
- Can parents foster relationships with childcare staff to allow discussion of a potential child issue?
- Does the center provide a daily report to parents about daily activities, eating habits, and behavior?
With regards to daily schedule/curriculum:-
- Is there a daily, structured routine that they follow in the center?
- Are there hours that are dedicated to reading and literacy?
- Do the center’s policies seem to foster the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development of the child?
With regards to Daycare Policies:-
- What are your visitation policies in general?
- Apart from parents who else is allowed to visit the child during care?
- What happens if we’re late to pick-up?
- What policy you have when the child doesn’t come to the center due to vacation or illness?
- What’s your sick-child policy?
- What are your policies regarding immunizations?
- What is the potty-training procedure?
- Do you transport children in a vehicle?
- What are the tuition and fees?
With regards to Employees:-
- What degrees or certifications does your staff have to whom you shirred?
- What training do you give them?
- Do you conduct background checks on all your employees?
- How long does your staff stay for the child? If the parents are late to pick them up.
- Do you experience high employee turnover?
- Do you have a nurse on staff for medical care?
- Do you administer medicine or emergency allergy treatments for the child and the staff?
Well, all this question will help you to figure out which daycare is better for your child. Daycare is an important step in your parenting. As you are busy with work so it may make you a bit hectic to maintain both personal and professional life. So I hope all this question will help you out to what to ask the daycare provider.
