Borrowing your collective brains

[mizarchivist]

What questions would you ask a daycare before signing on a dotted line?

I fear I'd just go with: "Hey, kid seems to be having fun, what the hell."

Comments

OH I've done this one

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

What is your turn over rate?
Will my child have the same provider for most of the day?
What do I need to provide?
What is the method of feedback and communication from classroom teacher to us?
What are your rules about when a child shouldn't come in if they are sick?
What are your rules about when a provider shouldn't come in if they are sick?

That's all I can come up with off the top of my head right now.

Re: OH I've done this one

[mizarchivist]

Thanks-

[ricevermicelli.livejournal.com]

There are worse metrics then that one.

I asked about turnover as well.
Can parents visit during the day?
Is there an age at which they expect children to be potty trained? How is potty learning handled by staff?
How much do the kids get outside? Where do they go?
How do they handle conflicts between kids?

That said, we very much chose the daycare where kids seemed comfy with the staff. Comfort level is hard to fake.

[gosling.livejournal.com]

Excellent questions. :-)

Thanks

[mizarchivist]

My boy- at least for the short bit of time I was there, just sort of started playing, which was entirely awesome. He wasn't even hugely grabby. Just mostly curious.

After reading over everything that's put up so far I am most interested to hear how they handle conflicts. I do know that they get out relatively often when it's nice out and they seem to go on a fair number of adventures around Arlington. Anyway- we'll see. It may all be for nothing this time.

a possibly excessively lengthy answer from the former preschool and toddler teacher...

[gosling.livejournal.com]

Are you NAEYC accredited? [Most quality programs are. Lack of accreditation isn't always a sign of a poor program, but if they give you a defensive answer or don't seem to know what you are asking that can be a red flag. NAEYC is the National Association for the Education of Young Children. All programs must be liscenced through the state. Those are very minimum standards. NAEYC accreditation sets higher standards.]

What are your child to staff ratios? [Legal ratio for his age is four to one. Ideally you want better ratios at least some of the day, although even quality programs can find that hard to support.]

What training does your staff have? [They should have ongoing education of some sort. All should have some training in early childhood education. Lead teachers should have considerable relevant training and experience, but it's absolutely fine if they have undergraduate degrees in something else. Most do.]

How long have the teachers been there? [If most have been there at least a few years, this tells you that there isn't high turnover and that they probably like their job and have a general positive attitude. Their working conditions are your child's living conditions for most of the day, so a disgruntled staff is a serious indication to run the other way. Rapidly.]

How do they handle it when they need substitute teachers because someone is out? [Ideally they should have a pool of several people and/or shift regular staff around slightly, so that they minimize unfamiliar caregivers.]

How do you handle it when a toddler is extremely upset at separation? [He may never be, but it gives you a sense of how sensitive they are in general.]

What do you do with a child who is crying a lot throughout the day? [To some degree this is a variant of the previous question.]

How do you handle the transition to the program? [Again, this will give a sense of how nurturing and generally responsive to the children's needs they are.]

Where may I nurse my child? [This question has two levels, as it gives you more information than what you actually asked. Legally they have to say anywhere is fine. Any facility that regularly deals with very young children should know that and probably will. Part of what you are gauging here though is also how sensitive they are to children and families' needs in general. They may not know if you are asking for privacy or asking if it is ok to nurse in the classroom. Any answer other than some variant of "We can provide x place if you would like, but you are very welcome to nurse in his classroom" can be a bit of a red flag about sensitivity in general, depending on how they say it. Nursing at drop-off and pick-up generally really eases the transition. If they deal with very young children they will have observed that if they are being sensitive to families and kids. Also, having them be uncomfortable about you nursing, if they are, is going to potentially cause stress in general.]

How do you determine where to place children and when you move them to other rooms? [There are legal guidelines in relation to ratios, but that isn't really the question you are asking here. What you are looking for is something that indicates that they look at how a group of children work together while simultaneously considering what would work best for an individual child. You also *really* don't want frequent transitions to new classrooms with a new team. Children should be allowed to bond to a small group of staff and stay with them for some time. This is particularly important with infants and toddlers. Ideally a young toddler like yours should come into a group and stay there until he is preschool aged.]

Also ask about any special dietary or health needs he has. [I don't remember if he has any, but if he does that is a critical thing to be sure they will handle well.]

Re: a possibly excessively lengthy answer from the former preschool and toddler teacher...

[gosling.livejournal.com]

Possibly the most important questions, though:

Does it seem like the teachers really delight in the kids and enjoy being there?

Do the kids seem like they really love the teachers?

Is this a place you feel comfortable?

Do you find yourself envying your kid a little, because it just seems like such a fun happy place to be?

Are the teachers creative in their problem solving and knowledgeable about both child development and classroom management in a nurturing positive way?

Re: a possibly excessively lengthy answer from the former preschool and toddler teacher...

[mizarchivist]

Thanks.
A lot of that was apparent when I went in this afternoon for a first look-see. I'm not overly worried about the separation issues, but as I mentioned to ricevermicelli, the question about conflict resolution is a big one for me. He's a good kid, but who's to say the kid next to him is, and everyone has a bad day. And there's the obstinate id-driven fun of being a year+ old.

Re: a possibly excessively lengthy answer from the former preschool and toddler teacher...

[ricevermicelli.livejournal.com]

They could all be the best and sweetest kids in the world, there just needs to be a plan in place for the day they all want the same duplo.

[mizarchivist]

Damn those Duplos!

Re: a possibly excessively lengthy answer from the former preschool and toddler teacher...

[tigira.livejournal.com]

That makes me think of where F went to preschool. He loved everyone there so much that he still wants to stop in once in a while to say hello (and now perhaps bring them coffee and bagels).

When he broke his wrist, the teachers used toilet paper tubes for all the kids to make a "cast" to also wear on their left wrist. Then they went around decorating each others' casts.

Then, when the city offered F full time at the city preschool for his speech therapy, I decided to work it out so that he still had a couple of days a week at the old one. It had heart - and that's something far more important at that age than all the academics. It really was a family.

[aelscha.livejournal.com]

I have no insight, but I am totally flagging this post for when it becomes relevant in my future. Excellent hiveminding.

[minkrose]

Ha, I just did the same thing! Though, my mother works in preschools for Newton public schools, so I'd also ask her about specific schools when the time comes, if we're still nearby.

NAEYC is the gold standard, as mentioned above.

[kebbykate.livejournal.com]

I too put my time in in the saltmine that is daycare, then picked one for my kid--E. As you have seen, she's turning out pretty well.

The NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) has a very rigorous accreditation process and any place that has it will trumpet it and is likely to cost a freaking fortune, but...you can ask if the place you're looking at strives for the NAEYC standards or hopes to be accredited at some future time. It is the gold standard. The daycare I worked for was a newer operation and knew that it would be quite some time before they could seek the accreditation, but our director really pushed us to follow as much of their recommended practices as possible and invested in training us to do so. And ultimately it was a better than average daycare and I would have placed my girls there without hesitation.

I was fortunate that there was a NAEYC accredited center just down the road from C's company, so that's where E went.

What I would recommend is finding a NAEYC accredited center--not one that also does Montessori or Waldorf or what-have-you, just a typical program and touring it, even if you can't possibly send CF there because of location or budget. See what it looks like, smells like, feels like, sounds like. What does the director say to you? How do the teachers engage with the children? He'd go into the toddler room, so that gets the most attention when you tour.

Then go see anything that seems to make sense in terms of location, budget, recommendations, etc. and compare. Maybe you'll find something that fits the price/location ticket that is NAEYC accredited and maybe you won't but if you see what's considered the gold standard you'll pick up on unacceptable crap elsewhere.

(Are there any federal offices around your work? They usually have good centers in or near them and they aren't exclusive to Federal employees. Plus there's been a baby bust the past four years, so there are more spots.) I made C go through three different places and by the time we ended up at the place close to his job which was #4 he knew where we needed to be as soon as he saw it.

Good luck!

Re: NAEYC is the gold standard, as mentioned above.

[mizarchivist]

Just reading that exhausted me and filled me with dread.

To be honest, I'm hoping that QE thinks it's a good place and that it'll work out (with the ever-present caveat that it's needed at all right now). Why? Well, the whole concept of wading through this is just exhausting on its own, add to it my particular thing of: Can I get there without help and with a chance of being on time? That whole not willing to buy a car for this enterprise so I can get to daycare.

[gosling.livejournal.com]

It occurs to me I know a fair amount about at least some of the specific local daycares, so I might be able to tell you more about at least some of the individual ones you are considering.