|
By
Marie-Helen Goyetche
Are you looking for quality child care? Use this easy
method to choose the right place for your child: C.H.I.L.D.
- C.A.R.E, developed by Marie-Helen Goyetche.
--
C --
Choices available: Day care or family day care are
the most popular choices. Many of them will fill quickly,
so start shopping early. You might need to get your
name on their waiting list should they have one. Visit
many day cares and ask questions. The hours, fees,
location of day care and services will differ from
one to another. You might also have friends and relative
with some recommendations.
--
H --
Health and safety Issues: Does the facility have measures
in place to ensure a safe environment indoors and
out? What is the policy for sick children? What's
the temperature like? How's the ventilation? Does
the day care smell clean? Can they get medications
out to your child? What's the nap situation? What
happens to the child who doesn't want to nap? Are
the toys washed on a regular bases? Are the bathroom
kept clean!
--
I --
Interaction of educators and other staff members:
Adults who work with children still have a little
child left inside them. How else could they have the
patience, sensitivity and the energy to plan and stimulate
children all day long? Are these adults interacting
pleasantly with the children or are the children off
by themselves? Are the educators friendly and full
of life? Can you hear songs and music? The educator
might be busy but take a few minutes to get to know
her. How long has she been in this field? What her
favorite activity with the children?
--
L --
Lunches and snacks: Are the lunches and snacks prepared
on site? Do they include a well balanced among meat,
fruits, vegetables and dairy products? Do they have
fried food and offer junk food? How do they handle
food allergies, and personal preferences? How many
snacks are offered during the day?
--
D --
Developmental areas of you child: To ensure a global
development of your child, day cares plan their activities
according to developmental areas.
The
Physical: Body development: Do they encourage running,
jumping, dancing and moving their bodies?
The
Fine development: Do they encourage drawing, cutting,
painting, and other games/activities to develop their
hand-eye coordination?
The
Emotional: Do they help develop their self-esteem
and learn to love themselves?
The
Intellectual: Do they encourage talking, singing,
puzzle making, telling stories, asking questions and
having the possibility to find out the answers?
The
Social: Do they encourage participation in group activities
which enhances sharing, respect, tolerance and working
with others?
The
Creative: Do they encourage creating using crayons,
paints, glue, scissors, various papers and other materials?
--
C --
Certification, licensing and training. Is the day care
registered with the state? Are the educators certified
or have a diploma in early childhood education? Do all
educators and others workers have their first-aid cards
up-to-date? The more questions you can answer with "yes"
the more steps this particular day care has taken to
ensure quality day care. All these licenses are usually
posted at the entrance of the day care.
-
A --
Activities: These activities will also be based on
the developmental areas. Are they varied with books,
games, puppets, different learning centers? Do they
go outside everyday (weather permitting)? Do they
go on field trips? Are there weekly themes such as
seasons, animals, holidays... to involve children
in discussions? The television set, is it use for
educational use or it's on part of the day program?
What if your child doesn't want to participate in
a certain activity, is his decision respected?
--
R --
Ratio:Ratio is the number of children an adult can
have in his/her group. The ratios vary for home day
care to day care and from infants to the pre-school
age. Ask (and count) how many in your child's group.
On average a home day care will have one adult for
six children, in day cares one adult for four babies
and one adult up to ten children under four, but these
are averages-check with your state laws.
--
E --
Environment: Where will your child spend he/her time?
Does the play area have sufficient space for more
than one activity to take place at the same time?
Is it clean and well lit? Is there lots of toys, games
and books? Are there signs of animation in the play
area?
Ask
for references, and talk to parents when they pick
up their children at the center. Do not ignore your
gut feeling. If something doesn't "feel"
right, listen to your instincts. Don't trust your
child to that center.
About
Marie-Helen Goyetche
Marie-Helen
Goyetche is a regular contributor at Canadian
Parents Online and has been published in parenting
magazines such as L.A. Parent, West Coast Families
and Birth-to-Three. She is the editor for
Details, The Newsletter for the Association of
Early Childhood Educators of Québec. Marie-Helen
has her diploma in Early Childhood Education and is
a co-ordinator in a daycare setting. Marie-Helen is
the proud mother of two wonderful boys (5 and 7) which
gives her a lot to write about.
You
can contact Marie-Helen Goyetche at mariehg@videotron.ca
or by checking out Parenting Pot-Pourri at
http://www.canadianparents.com.
|
