Questions you should ask when considering a childcare program

You should never leave your child under a daycare program's care without having full information on their capabilities. There are specific questions you should ask when considering a program that offers after school programs to help you make a wise decision on whether to use their services or not. You need to know a lot about the caregiver character, the facility setup, their rules, and principles.
​​
You can visit the specific child care center you are considering or give them a call.



Some of the questions you should ask when considering a program:

• Is your staff trained on infant toddler development?
• How do I know your caregivers are friendly? Do they speak to the children? Do they play with the children?
• Which playing tools and equipment are available in the facility?
• How compassionate are the caregivers? What actions do they take in case a child is unwell, do they ask the children questions, do they answer the children’s questions in a loving manner?
• How do they ensure the child is picked up by the rightful person?
• Are small babies given the freedom to follow their eating and sleeping patterns? Do they follow schedules for meals and sleep patterns.
• How healthy and balanced are their meals? Do they include fruit, do they eat meat?
• Are toys and playing kits strategically placed in locations where the children can reach them
• Are children with special needs accommodated, how well is the staff trained to handle such kids
• Is the surrounding environment-friendly to children, are there any objects which can cause harm to children. Are the noise levels beyond acceptable levels? Is it safe from health hazards like flood water?
• How does the caregiver handle a child who is unable to use pot? Are there any special requirements for such a kid, do they change young children, if yes how often, if not, why.
• Is the parent allowed to pass through any time to check on your child?
• Can you pick your child at any time or are there pick up times
• How effective is their communication lines?
• Is the program well licensed? What is their core belief?
• Are the staffs to children ratios at proportion?
• Find out how the facility responds to medical emergencies and if they have their own doctor and van.

After you get the solutions to those questions then now you will have a clear base to make a decision.   A childcare center should be a place where the child is looking forward to going every day. If you notice some resistance in your kid to go to the institution, there might be something wrong, and a deeper inquiry should be made.

However, do not rush to decisions based only on that fact as children also have a tendency to cry or want to be always around their parents. The best way to know how exactly your child feels about the child care is calling to enquire how the child is relating with other children.

In case there is a major issue which cannot be explained, then your next option is just to look for another child care facility. Go through the questions you should ask when considering a childcare program carefully and made a concrete decision.
 

---