Tuesday

Day Care Centres: What to Look For

Before you search a day care centre for your child, check out several facilities and do some extensive research and check their references. Day-care facilities range from wonderful to awful. You want to choose a centre where you child can have fun, is safe and can develop as a person and develop a variety of skills.

Look for a daycare facility that provides activities such as dancing, storytelling and group singing sessions as well as providing creative projects. Daycare centres also provide an opportunity for children to socialize with other children.

Daycare Centre Concerns

Typically at a daycare facility there is not enough staff for your child to receive the substantial amount of personal attention they would receive if they stayed at home with a babysitter. The risk of your child acquiring a cold or the flu or other communicable illnesses really increases. Some daycare facilities will not allow your child to stay at the facility if they notice your child is sick and you might have a difficult time finding a competent babysitter on short notice.

How to Select a Top Notch Daycare Centre

For convenience it is recommended that you try to find a quality centre that is near your home or work. You have to decide if you want to place your child in a daycare facility that offers a small group environment or a centre that had a large group of children.

Finding a Daycare Center

It is very important to check with friends, your paediatrician and people you work with in order to get referrals for quality centres. Ask the managers of the centres that you are considering if they are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children or if they are accredited by the National Association of Family Childcare.

Ask the facility manager for information pertaining to the experience of the teachers, the food items they serve for lunch, the ratio of children to teacher. Find out if they offer a variety of activities and if they are flexible enough to meet your needs such as being a little late once in a while to pick up your child.

When you visit the day-care centre which you are considering for your child make sure it is clean. See if the children enjoy interacting with the staff, find out if it will be warm during the cold months and check to see if the kids at the facility are having a good time.

Check to see if they have furniture designed for safety for children and if the furniture is in good condition. It is advisable to visit the daycare centres when the parents will be there since this will provide you an opportunity to talk to them and find out if they are pleased with the centre or are their kids primarily there due to the convenience of the location of the facility.

Take your child to the daycare centre and see if he enjoys being with the staff as well as the children. Make sure the centre has a license for operating a daycare facility from the city services department. Doing extensive research will improve the chances that you select a quality day care centre for your child.

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