Primary Concerns About Daycares

A.,
Are you familiar with the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children)? They have great information that you might find very helpful.
Good luck!!!!

What is the first thing that you look for when looking at a daycare?-- Reccomendations from people who have used the center before, proximity to my home

What do you like/dislike about the daycare your child(ren) is enrolled in currently? I loved the openess and friendless of the staff, the hands-on approach, the nanny cam I could check and the fact that the daycare owner not only invited me to drop in any time un-announces, that she spends more time on the floor with the children than she does in her office.

Do you think daycares should charge the same rate for all children? Why or Why not? No, younger children do require more work and more attention.

What hours of operation do you think they should maintain? That's pretty much open to the establishment's discretion. The daycare I used was open from 6s-6p but also had evening hours and weekend hours available as needed

I should note that we have not used a day care in over a year, but those are what my husband and I looked for when we were forced to use one. Good luck!

Hi there! I just had a horrid experiance and learned that as a first time mommy there are things we don't realize to look for...

Is it noisy at times? This is a good thing... quite children all the time means something might not be on the up and up. Children play.. that's what they do. My old daycare it didn't matter morning noon and afternoon anytime I walked in it was quite.

Also, are you able to see your children before someone has time to clean or patch things up? At the old daycare you dropped the kids off at the front and they were brought to you when you picked them up. The new daycare I take her directly to her room and pick her up from there.

Cleanliness, safety, cleanliness, safety.....

Who monitors the teachers? Is there a director on site AT ALL TIMES? or just in the morning until lunch? Who ensures that the people employeed (and often underpaid) are doing there job to make sure your child is taken care of.

I had a horrible experience and picked my child up one day and got to her before they had a chance to clean her up.... Her knees were black, diaper full (with a rash), she had hair twisted in her fingers... etc etc. HELLO she was only nine months at the time... prey tell how does an nine month old get that dirty? My new daycare is about 35 minutes out of my way, but I know she's taken care of...

Oh yea. Check on how they keep up with who's bottle, sippy cup, pacifier, etc. is who's When I got my child's stuff from the old day care half was hers... half was not.

Do your research before because BELIEVE ME you don't want to do it later.

A.,
I love the nanny-cams at my daycare (I travel out of state alot, so I'm always in touch with my little one). The hours are 6am to 6pm which works out great if just about anyone's schedule. One thing that I wish we had, is drive thru drop off/pick up hours. I think it makes the separate from mommy thing easier and makes the drive thru line move much faster.
We pay different rates depending on age/potty training - and I think that is reasonable.

My primary concerns were safety, quality of care and quality of teaching. Our daycare is open 5:30am to 5:30pm, though it is on an Army post. I would prefer it to be open until 6:00, but this is supposed to be for people who work and/or live on post. Thank goodness I just work next door to the post!

Our daycare is also accredited, so it has to keep up with the high standards of practice. A group of parents also get together with the director & higher-up staff once a month to discuss any concerns.

Our fees are based on household income rather than the child's age. They also provide breakfast, lunch & snack at no extra cost.

I don't have much experience with non-military daycares, but I like ours! I know it's government funded, and I'm sure a lot of things can't easily be done at off-post daycares.

What is the first thing that you look for when looking at a daycare?
It should obvisouly be safe and clean (toss dirty diapers OUTSIDE please), but it should also be cheerful and fun, with age appripriate toys that will stimulate their little minds. A few of my own pet-peeves: Nursery MUST have a rocking chair & a bottle warmer & mini fridge (NO microwave) and individual high chairs. I can not stand those 5-seaters :) As early as the toddler room, books should be vailable & accessable to the children, not kept High to protect the books. It may cost some money to replace the books more frequently, but the childs should be able to look through them whenever they want.

What do you like/dislike about the daycare your child(ren) is enrolled in currently?
I like the web-cam. Sometimes, I think the center is too big. I feel like the Director is more concerned with rotating staff to keep maximum ratios than getting to know the kids & families. I understand floaters are necessay, I think they do do a good job of keeping them consistant though, so my toddler does not have a different person each afternoon.
Do you think daycares should charge the same rate for all children? Why or Why not? No, infants do require more work.

What hours of operation do you think they should maintain? Typically, it's 6-6. My current daycare is 6-6:30, which is nice, my kids will never stay that long, but it's nice that I don't have to worry about speeding to get there by 6-sharp if something came up or if traffic is bad.

Good Luck!

One thing I did notice when looking for a daycare center (besides the already mentioned safety, teaching, etc) was not only the cleanliness, but also the decor and atmosphere. I know it does sound kind of trivial but one place I went was clean but really run down. Dark paneling and orange counters...It was straight out of the 70's! It made me cry to think of leave my sweetie there all day!
I have her at a LaPetite Academy now and love it. I like that there is a report every day with the times of her "ins and outs" so to speak and when she napped. I like that non-walkers are in separate rooms. They actually have infants, older infants that can sit up and possibly crawl. then are moved to the toddler room when they start walking. then to the 2 year old room. etc. I also like that they have a really varied menu. Rarely do they have hotdogs. But they have everything from turkey tetrazzini to beef stoganoff to chili mac. Always with a veggie and fruit!
The hours are 6:30-6. m-f. I do wish they had Sat hours. So hard to find a babysitter when I occationally have to work on Sat!
Best of luck on your center!

The first thing I looked for was safety. I knew I wanted more than one person in charge of my children at all times, which is why I chose a daycare center instead of a homecare facility. I've seen centers popping up with internet based webcasting, which is pretty neat for concerned parents. I also looked for set schedules, numerous learning activities and teachers who genuinely seemed to care.

I sat in on my daughters daycare a couple days before choosing the daycare and a day with her before starting her into it alone. I think it says something huge when a center invites you into the center with anytime access to your child.

I don't mind the varying rates, since I know that different ages take different types of care and newborns are much more time-sensitive than 2 year olds.

My center is open from 7AM-6PM and I think it's plenty of time for a working parent to drop-off and pick-up their child.

#1 student/teacher ratio. I do not like at ALL daycares that have 18 students to 1 teacher, and I prefer the ones that are 8 to 1 (for 3 and 4's anyway) with 1 teacher per class opposed to 8 to 1 with 2 teachers and 16 kids per class. My son's class right now has 20 kids with 2 teachers, but I loved that his old school had 2 classes with 1/2 the kids and 1 teacher.

#2 I love car lines for pick up and drop off with the option of picking up and dropping off inside if I prefer.

#3 I would LOVE to see a GOOD daycare that charges based on the family size and income and with a set price for the 1st child and cheaper price for siblings. Also, I love the daycares that charge a registration fee per family rather than per child.

#4 Daycares with web cams are awesome. The parents have a password to have access to the center's website to check in. It keeps the childcare workers in line and on their toes and it gives parents peace of mind just knowing that they are able to see what's going on if they wanted/needed. But, I definitely don't think it's necessary and it's not something I look for, I just think it's cool when some of them do this.

#5 Our old daycare had lunch that the kids were required to eat. They were not allowed to bring their own lunch, but their meals were VERY unhealthy. I HATED that I had to pay for lunch to be served when I refused for my kids to eat at home what they were serving at school (LOTS of hotdogs, corn dogs, beany-weenies, bologna sandwiches, etc). I prefer their new center where they bring their own lunch. I not having to pack lunches, but I hated what they served and it's worth the inconvenience to me. If you served lunch and it was always a healthy lunch (approved by a nutritionist) that'd be awesome and several parents look for that now.