Questions to ask a childcare center ????

Some questions to start with...

- How do they help kids settle in?
- How do they handle kids who cry?
- Would your child have a key carer who will see to your child's overall development?
- What do they do during meal/ snack times? Do they offer water/ milk through the day?
- Where are meals cooked?
- How do they handle nappy changes - is there a set time during the day or do they pay attention to when each child might require it?
- How do they handle kids who don't speak yet or for whom English is not the first language?
- What are their disciplining strategies? How do they handle conflict between kids?
- How do they document the child's progress? What would they do in case they see a child isn't progressing as he/ she should?
- What sort of activities do they do? How structured are they?
- Do they have sensory play areas?
- Do they have an external play area?
- What age groups are together (My DD, thrived when she was on the younger band in her group of 2 - 3.5 year olds; as she came up to 3 though, the activities just weren't stimulating enough for her)
- Would they work with the parents to incorporate the parents' style? Eg. would they refrain from giving sweets / fizz/ juice to kids
- How and how often do they provide a report to the parents?
- Do they focus on the child's soft-skills?
- What can the parents do to be consistent in supplementing the children's development?

 

What I asked for my 2year old were all basic questions.He is also going for a part time daycare.Here are some of them.
Do you provide diapers /wipes or should we bring?
Do you help if we start potty training?
What if we come 5-10 mins late to pick up?Do you let the kid stay longer or has any baby sitter provision at the center?
Can I send my little one to the center if he has cold or fever?
Do you give snacks or should we bring?
How many kids are in a class and their age?
Is there any nap time in between the class?

 

Kalpana, I have made an extensive list of questions to ask the care provider here in the below thread: http://www.indusladies.com/forums/infants/174261-tips-choosing-day-care-toddlers.html
I think you will find it useful.

 

hi '
I would also suggest you to separate your twins if possible In different sections and see the difference in their personality .well I am telling this with experience with my twins.
All the best!

 

Interesting! Any reason why you want the twins to be in different sessions Ramya?

 

Guesswho, i generally avoid quoting long posts but I am going to make an exception here.

I wanted to personally thank you for taking so much time in addressing peoples concerns/ queries here. Even though at times we only receive 3 word replies for our elaborate posts (and at times no response at all), the fact that you put in heart and soul and write a reply deserves my applause. You (amongst other members here) add so much value to each and every thread.

Thanks again for being a part of this team

 

I'll add a few more thing to already extensive list-
LOOK. When you go for a visit, spend at least an hour, watch how the caregivers interact with your kids and other kids in general. Meet all the care providers who will be taking care of your LOs. Ask them to show you the changing area, food prep area etc. Since your kids are 18 months, the classroom probably won't have a food prep area but they will have a snack area. Look for cleanliness. One of the daycares we visited had a refrigerator right next to diaper pail and the changing pad wasn't clean and that was a red flag for us.
Also ask them about their strategy of dealing with separation anxiety.

 

@ rakhi I meant different sections/divisions / class .. not in the same class ..different sessions would mean different time which can be very very troublesome for twin mom .
my reason for different section is simple generally in twin one is the dominant one and other is a bit submissive what happens is one follows the other /apes the other and they end to overshadow the strengths and weakness.. also they tend to mingle amongst themselves ..given an opportunity to separate see how their personalities develop they make new friends rather than just revolving around each other and also they tend to find new friends to fight ..
it might seems tooo difficult at first for the mother and for the kids since they are so dependent on each other .. but eventually this really helps ....