Hi Tan
I am guessing you are asking about child care centres?
the types of questions i ask are:
Child/Staff ratios (these are legislated but some centres are better than the requirements)
Routines in the room my child wilbe in
Programming - what activities they do, how they plan them etc
Food policy - bring own or provided
Nappies - bring own or provided
Look at sleeping area
Look at toilet/changing area
What parental involvement there is
Staff turnover (can be high due to low wages etc)
Commujication with parents
At a centre all staff will have background checks etc, you can ask about this but if they are a registred centre this would be covered
At child care centres you will find they def playw ith the kids and do educational activities - it isnt 'babysitting'. the best way ti guage this is to spend some time there and watch how it is to make sure you are happy.
No centre I have ever gone to has guns etc - but worth asking/watching
in terms of 'gentle philospohies' this will depend on the cntre - depending in your childs age diff things may be available - community based centres, montessori etc
It is worth spending time at a centre to see hwo comfortable you would be with it - i think thisis better than having a checklist - your gut feeling and being around the staff and seeing how they interact with the kids
Also good to talk to some parents there - so go at drop off o pick up time
Fam Day Care - some similar things but also more detail when you meet with the carer as each carer will have their own methods.. the one we used for DS1 when he was younger was fine fpr example to rock him to sleep but others that i met would have left him in a cot til he 'self settled' - evenw hen i told him he didnt do this!
My daughter has been going to day care for 2 years now. You dont have to make their food they do it all for you, they have a chef that makes the food fresh. What ever question you have dont be afraid to ask, at the end of the day they are working for you and you have a right to ask whatever you want. They do all kind of activities with the kids, they even get them to make presents for mothers day and fathers day similar to kinder. They get to to sleep during the day. Not sure on the teacher and parent ratio as it depends on the age of the child, be sure to ask and check out a few child care centres, you'll know which one is best.
I would look into Family Day Care... I use it for DS, and it is a home based carer, in her home, but overseen but a council run organisation. The carer and all adults in her home are background checked and monitored by the FDC organisation. My carer has been doing this for 20 years, and came highly recommended.
She can have a max of 5 children and they range from 6m to 5y. However, once they hit 3 it is suggested that they attend pre-school for a few days. I think her oldest on maybe 4 and he is only there one day a week.
The FDC organisaion has playgroups and come to her home with a bus with fully fitted child seats and take them out one a month for group play activity.
My carer has been receptive to my gentle parenting philosophies and I spent a half day there with her and the kids prior to enrolling DS. I like the fact that she has had repeat family business (cousins, siblings) and many friend referrals. The family home environment was something I felt more comfortable with, and the personal attention DS gets is great. He can even say her name, yet refuses to say mumma...
We provide all food / drinks, but again, our carer has food and snacks and is very flexible with eating and timing... i.e if I arrive in the morning and DS has not had breakfast she will feed him, or if he doenst feel like lunch at "lunchtime" she will offer again in an hour based on the demands of the children.
My carer is very interactive with the children and DS has learned a few words, but the main thing is the personal interaction he has with her and the other children. They are like siblings to DS and I see him hug and interact really positively with them. Sometimes I think my carer can be to soft on DS, but I am working with her to help him learn in a way that I find acceptable... (And that is not really a bad thing at all...)
I guess most importantly is to ask around if you can and see what experiences people have had in your area with day care, and them go into all the centers and observe how they work and then make a list of detailed questions, just like you have asked us, and see what responses you get. I bet you will have a gut reaction to the centers if you visit them... Good luck....
So with the FDC, its one person with multiple children?? How would she manage? I struggle with just 2!
I was thinking of the childcare so my 3 year old could socialise and i could have alone time with my little one. He goes to the toilet, but needs help.
There are stacks of vacancies in my area, so is that not a good thing?
With FDC it is the same (if not slightly better) ratio than in a centre... up to 5 to 1. In most centers it is the same. But with FDC there are only up to 5 kids at only one time with the one adult, not say, 20 in a room with 4 adults. So that one adult is focused on all the kids. oh and her toilet in in the laundry, backing onto the backyard... But each carers home is different....
My carer has a room (converted garage) and an fully fenced outside area, and it is easy for her to have an eye on the kids all at once...
yes with FDC they have one carer and mutliple children (about 4-5 max but depends on age). i found it a good option at the start but DS1 has done better in the centre he is now in (but it is a great centre and he started there at 20 months). some people have an issue that there is only 1 carer/adult bu tthis wasnt an issue for me
i also went to FDC when i was a kid, and am still in contact with my FDC 'mum' and family - they were like aniother family to me.
Maybe call some centres and check them out - having vacancies isnt a bad thing in itself - maybe your area has heaps of centres...and you could also try out FDC, meet some carers etc and see how you feel
i really think if you go visit you will 'know' if it is good for yu and your child. i personally find it great for my 2yo - he loves playing with the other kids, has made somefriends there and learns heaps - the stimulation and variety is great. it also gives me time with DS2 which i love and it is good for us all.
good luck!
I use FDC too Tan, to give myself sometime for selfcare. I have a great lady who was a center manager. She only has 4 children a day so it is a great ratio. I met with several carers at their homes before I found my one. I watched them interact with the children and I had DD with me so I could she how she reacted and watch them interact with her. I would spend about an hour with each I would say. Lousie impressed me the most as she had a written phiosophy of care and showed me how she plans each day with different developmental stuff and play. She also has scrapbooks for each child where she does observations and tracks thier progress and work. DD had done some works of art!! Not bad for less than 12mths!! There is a set routine and rules and the children know that. There are a few things that we differ on but Louise has been prepared to accomodate my wishes and that is awesome. I have also had to loosen some of my standards but all in all I am thrilled with the way it works. I can see that DD has built a relationship with Louise as she starts babbling and waving when we park outside of a morning! As always hun PM if you wanna know more
Last edited by amy_o; September 7th, 2009 at 05:59 PM.
: Forgot something.....
The FDC sounds nice.... but i'm just wondering, how do you know that they're just not acting nice while you're there? Whereas in a centre maybe they're more individually accountable because they are with co-workers...?
Ahh in my case Louise never knows when I will be back to pick her up!! Some weeks it is at 5 other weeks it can be early like 3. Same with the other parents. Also the organisation that runs it does random spot checks too. Too me that is pretty good insurance, also when I am there I talk to the other mums and that gives you a pretty good feeling as to whether they have concerns. For example two of the toddlers were going thru a bash each other up phase. Each of the mums were really calm about how it was handled (and still handled!!) that was good for me to see.
I got a good GUT feel when I met my carer, which has been confirmed by DS reaction to seeing her, and going to visit her, and the fact that he runs full pelt up to her front door every day...And on the odd occasion I have got back early he crys and cuddles his friends and doesn't want to come home early...
I also feel that in a center with multiple carers, whilst they may be accountable to each other, sometimes it can also have the effect of on or two pulling all the weight and other slacking off, just like in any workplace... Not to say that all centers are like that, or that my carer would be the perfect one for you. I guess that is another good thing with FDC, you have a number of carers to choose from, to find one that suits you, and you are able to develop a personal relationship with them over time...
I guess it also depends what you are looking for in sending them to daycare. For me I chose a centre over FDC because I wanted it to be like going to school, there are more kids to interact with and for Tori that was what she needed, she needed to have the big group feel and the added stimulation, had it been for Liam only I probably would have looked into FDC because he was younger, didn't need the large group interact etc.
For L the advantages of a daycare centre is that they will run a Kindy program, so because he misses out on the cut off for Kindy for next year, he will be able to do a similar program through daycare. A similar thing would be offered at FDC just obviously on a smaller scale.
Being that he hasn't experienced any type of care etc yet, FDC might be a good option because it is smaller, less kids etc but still a very similar adult/child ratio.
I personally prefer small council run/ family run centres over the large chains- I have had Tori in all 3 types, she lasted 3 weeks at the large chain one because I wasn't happy with the number of kids etc We loved the council run one she went to, not as many flashy new toys or anything like that, but it was a small centre and had a lovely feel about it. The centre that they are at now is just wonderful, again it is nice and small, run by sisters and a mum and they have had bulk of the staff working their for longer than 5 years, some even for 9 years which to me indicated that the conditions were good etc.
The only way to find out though, is to go out and have a look around, go in and talk to the staff- ask if you can drop in for a visit, and maybe see if there are any people around your area that can give you recommendations because word of mouth is usually the way to go.
Hmmm I dunno if daycare is the right option, plus i have trust issues (LOL). Just from reports i have seen where the children were being abused.
I was wanting to send him so he could socialise because we dont get out much, and yes he's a few days off the kindy cut off. Though we are enrolling him in thriving 3's and kindergym for learning purposes.
Mostly though i need a day alone with ds2, and if i had a whole day, i could do the bulk of my cleaning while he has his nap. It's either that or get a cleaner in! At the moment i clean from 8pm when they are in bed, and its ridiculous.
My son has been in day care since 7 months & he loves it. I never considered FDC as a woman I worked with had issues with the carer taking her daughter out of the house & also feeding her food that she didn't want her to have. Your child will never be removed from a day care centre to go pick up other children from kinda or school or wherever (without your knowledge), nor will they be given food you don't want them to have.
Where my son goes he has his food provided. They play with the kids & sing & dance with them. He's been doing art for months now - the artwork is all over the room & I will be given a book full of it when he leaves daycare. They do assessments on him so I know how he's progressing. If they notice anything that they think is a little unusual they will tell you & if they think something needs the attention of a doctor they will mention that too.
I feel like the staff love my son. They celebrate milestones just as much as I do. If he's done or said anything they haven't heard or seen before they will be busting with excitement to tell me when I arrive to pick him up.
My son is a very social little man. He had his first access visit with his dad on the weekend & had a ball & I think he was able to cope with this so well because he's used to being tended to by different people.
Firstly, all adults working with children, even as volunteers, have to have a CRB check (to see if they have a criminal record), which puts everyones' minds at ease.
DS has his food there, but as he has a special diet I have to take in goat's milk every week for him. Also if they're making food they let me know so I can take in anything special, although they provide dairy-free cheese for snacks and the caterers make DS a dairy and nut free meal every day.
You can't stop boys from being boys, but the centre has no guns or swords or any fun toys at all. So that's "gentle" (I have no problem with swords and guns aren't an issue yet, though DH will probably enjoy waterguns etc, but would class myself as gentle).
I chat to the carers and realised that they want DS to be DS and have fun, they don't want to mould him into who he isn't. They love him and love watching him develop into himself. They praise a lot for politeness too. It's great to hear a carer say as she finishes handing out the fruit how nice it was that everyone said "thank you" to her.
They do take the children out to feed ducks or go to the park (less and less now, I've noticed) so it wasn't uncommon to get there and see a note saying "gone XXX, call this number" - but I picked DS up at odd times. I quite like that, DS gets to do different things! But I do know that a childminder wouldn't leave that note on the door of her home.
The staff both play with the children and let them get on with it. Like I do. They read and they play and they direct role-play... or join in with it. Like I do. I can direct DS to play monsters or he can tell me he wants to make coffee for me and we pretend that. Same at Nursery.
They do teach things, but appropriately. When the babies have their day naps after lunch (most children fall into this pattern - they do child-led naps etc) then they do the alphabet and things like that - but as the babies like singing and dancing, they do that with the babies too.
Questions I would ask:
What do I need to provide for my child? (This should cover food, nappies, change of clothes etc)
What activities usually occur during the day or week? (ie painting on Wednesday or to the park at 10am every day)
Do you follow the child's pattern or does he fit in with you?
What impact do the other children have on my child? (Do they all play together, are the older and younger kept apart, what about loos etc)
Settling in sessions - some centres offer places that give you two hours in the centre with your child observing, then two sessions of leaving for up to two hours and they call you if your child is upset by it.
Both my boys have been in a couple of different daycare's. One was a FDC type scenario and the last two were Long daycare centre's.
I always ALWAYS go and have a look before I enrol them. They should have no problems letting you wander around for a squiz and ask any of the carers questions. This last time I even took Jett with me so he could have a look around as well.
They will tell you the child:carer ratio, esp if you ask. Our current one keeps with the legislation which has just been updated if memory serves correctly; so atm while they are renovating Jett and Ripley are together but once thats done they will be separated into two area's because the ratio's differ depending on how old the kids are (Rip is in the under 2yo category while Jett is in the over 2/preschoolers catergory). At all their daycares we've had to send food which is fine by me. It helps me keep track of what and how much they are eating.
To be honest, I think going to enquire in person and having a look around; and asking the right questions should be enough for you to get a feel for whether your kids would be happy there. I believe mothers intuition is a powerful thing and you should stick with it.
I orignially looked at a daycare down the road from us when we were in Townsville but within 5min of walking in to enquire about enrolling the boys my mummy radar went pinging and I walked back out again. Wasnt anything particularly dangerous I just didnt like the carers attitude and the general feel of the place. The centre we eventually picked we ADORED; Jett still asks for his kindy teacher and they were very sad when we left. I think we've picked a winner with our current one too, the boys didnt even flinch when I left them for their first day and I already have to practically drag them out of there when its home time
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There is a set routine and rules and the children know that. There are a few things that we differ on but Louise has been prepared to accomodate my wishes and that is awesome. I have also had to loosen some of my standards but all in all I am thrilled with the way it works. I can see that DD has built a relationship with Louise as she starts babbling and waving when we park outside of a morning! As always hun PM if you wanna know more 
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