How do you know if a daycare is bad or good for you and your baby? How do you know if your preferred daycare is actually a good daycare? What do you look out for while comparing and choosing daycares?
To know if your daycare is the best and right fit for you consider reviewing the following elements;
- Staffing- What is the staffing ratio at the daycare? Are there adequate teachers? What is their interaction with the kids?
- Routine- Are there systems in place for certain procedures such as security ?
- Involvement of parents- How do they communicate and involve parents in key decisions?
- Hygiene- What are their hygiene standards and routines?
- Policies- What do policy say on matters such as safety, sick children etc.
- Qualifications- are they licensed? Do the staff have the relevant certifications
- Reviews- What do others say about the daycare? Are enrolled kids happy? What are the parents saying about the daycare?
Important Elements of a Good Daycare to Look out for
If you are wondering how to vet a daycare, a good daycare will generally have the following;
1. A Low Turnover Rate
You can always tell if a daycare is good by looking at how they treat their staff and how long they stay. If the daycare’s staff turnover rate is low, it is highly good one.
Also be on the look out at the age of the staff during the daycare tour. If you notice that most of the staff are older adults too and not too young, it means the caregivers are happy working there and are probably likely to stick around.
All this is an indication that the management is treating them well and therefore they are likely to treat the babies under their care well too. When employees feel appreciated, they love what they do and create a happy environment necessary for caring of babies. Such is a daycare you should consider for your baby.
2. Adequate Staffing Ratio
A good daycare maintains the right caregiver: children ratio. The ratio is regulated by the licensing your daycare has, and aims at keeping the number to minimum which is practical and efficient for one caregiver.
You should hence look out if your daycare is meeting this requirement. If it is , then it is an indication that it is a high standard daycare that will meet your needs. You should aim to enroll your child in such a daycare.
Some very high quality daycares will even have a lower different ratio that required as they aim to make it easier for the staff to manage the babies under their care. Generally having fewer kids per staff member leads to a less stressful environment for both the children and staff.
3. A Diverse Activity Portfolio
A good daycare always has an established routine/schedule guiding how everything is run. It should set procedures to follow for every occurrence. Therefore the presence of a schedule for all classes and activities is a sign of a good daycare and good management.
Further, you can tell how good a daycare is through its diverse program/ activities. Good daycares has a variety of age appropriate programs and activities for its classes, integrating both outdoor and indoor activities. In addition, they have an intentional curriculum and themes guiding them.
In addition, be on the look for the amenities and facilities available at the daycare. It is a good sign if the daycare has adequately equipped designated areas for its activities that include;
- Dramatic Play Area- with several choices of play like kitchen, dress up for both genders etc
- Reading Area- displayed with books that include diversity
- Art/Writing Area- with the children’s artwork displayed
- Nap Area- for napping
- Reading area- for reading
- Sensory area – for encouraging the use of sand, water, tactile items, etc.
- Bathroom – Clean, private, and with baby-size toilets and sinks
- Dining area – proper nutrition available and food allergies shown
- Large outdoor area for big toys and running, gross motor play
- Quiet area- for decompression when necessary
4. Daily Communication and Updates for Parents
A good daycare has a standard way of involving and communicating with the parents. This may include making attempts to talk to you, sending daily pictures, sending emails on your baby’s progress, sharing activities done and generally offering feedback.
If a daycare is putting effort into the above, it is a good sign. Some premium daycares even have cameras and keeps a record of their footage, whereby they even allow parents to access live videos of their babies during the day.
Daycares that put effort into showing parents what their kids are up to is proud of the work they and indicates they are doing it right. It shows that the caregivers have the time and passion to communicate, interact and offer the parents useful feedback.
5. High Hygiene Standards
You can tell a daycare is good and right for you from their hygienic standards. Hygiene is a big deal for daycare centers so if you see the place is spotlessly clean, then the daycare is concerned about the hygiene and safety of the children.
For a good quality daycare, you should find that critical places such as the bathroom, kitchen, eating area etc are kept spotlessly clean. It is a major difference with a bad daycare when hygiene is no kept up to standard.
Tip: The smell of bleach is actually a good sign. It means play items, surfaces and other things are regularly cleaned and sanitized. You should consider putting your child under such a daycare.
6. Solid and Operational Policies
A good daycare will have important policies in place that are actually followed. They cover areas such as vacations, dis-enrolling, teacher orientation, evacuations, who can pick up the kids, emergency communication, and late pickup among others.
If the daycare has these policies and strictly follows them, it is a sign of a good daycare. For instance, a daycare seeking permission from the parent before allowing another person to take the child is a good thing you will like as a working mom.
A bad daycare may differ in this for instance by allowing just anyone to pick up the kids.
7. Good Caregiver Involvement with Kids
The quality of a daycare program is tied to the amount of resources available to the children. If the caregivers happily engage in playing with the babies , it is a sign of a good daycare.
If they are active with the babies, chances are that they put a lot more effort and care into other baby care activities too. Free time/child-directed activities at the daycare are also a good sign.
Further, the intervention method used by the caregivers says a lot about the daycare. If the intervention strategy includes time-out, positive reinforcement, and is being used by all caregivers consistently, then it is a good sign. It shows that your child will be happy at this daycare.
8. Valid License & Registration
If the daycare qualifications and licenses are valid and up to date, it means the daycare is regulated and operates up to standard. The staff working there must be certified staff too. You can verify the information with your local authority.
9. Good Community Reviews
If the daycare has good reviews from its users, it is probably a good daycare. You can check reviews from parents already at the daycare or from parents who have used the center before.
You will also find insightful reviews online. Also if the staffs have kids attending the same daycare is a good sign that the quality is high.
Tell Tale Signs of a Bad Daycare you should Avoid
1. Staff Leaving too Soon
If the daycare’s staff turnover rate is high, it is a sign of a bad daycare. Also if the staff are mostly young, it shows poor employee relations and management. It maybe that the daycare pays poorly and is unable to keep good caregivers for long.
If the daycare cant pay well for older qualified and experienced caregivers, the quality of care the babies receive is likely to be low. It indicates a bad work environment that will impact the care your baby will receive here. As such you should avoid enrolling your child in such a daycare.
2. Over Worked Staff
You can a daycare is bad by its high caregiver to children ratio . One caregiver cannot give adequate attention and care required if they are watching far too many babies at the same time.
There is a lot of negligence and inattention in such cases that translate to poor child care. Further it may result in many accidents and injuries on the babies. It is definitely a tell tale sign of a bad daycare you should enroll your child into.
Read: What to Do When Daycare Closes Last Minute
3. Lack of Routine and Monotony in Activities
If the daycare lacks a routine/schedule running its operations, it a bad daycare. The chances are that most programs/activities are not implemented. Also if their activities are monotonous, it illustrates poor quality care.
It is a major difference because a good daycare has more diverse and mixture of indoor & outdoor activities. The lack of it means the caregivers do not care much about the kids’ development and learning. You should not consider putting your child under this daycare.
Read: How to Avoid Daycare Illnesses
4. Rarely Communicates/Involves the Parents
If the daycare is not offering any communication, feedback or involving the parent in any way, it is a bad daycare. Most bad daycares won’t give feedback unless probed by the parent. It is unfortunate when you are not aware of the activities your child is involved in at the daycare.
Read: Questions to Ask During Daycare Care Tour
5. Poor Hygiene and Dirtiness
Dirtiness is a major daycare red flag for a daycare. If a daycare cannot maintain a certain level of cleanliness and hygiene, it is a sign of poor quality care.
Be keen on this as a dirty place is a breeding hub for infections that your child can catch. It also means other things are neglected as well that matters to you as a working mom. Do not put your child in such as a daycare.
Read: How to Stop your Child from Catching Daycare Illnesses
6. Lack of Policies
If the daycare has no policies running their operations, they are probably low quality. For instance lack of a sickness policy, security clearance policy, and no parent picking policy are all signs of a bad daycare.
If anyone can pick a child without even showing it shows the daycare don’t care about the kid’s safety. Take this is a major red flag and you should avoid such daycares.
Read: Things you Need to Know Before Starting Daycare
7. Staff Lacks Baby Engagement
If you observe babies entertaining themselves, with caregivers occupying themselves it is a bad sign. It is bad when staff are just standing around watching the kids or doing some other work hence giving poor attention to the babies.
Another bad sign is caregivers constantly yelling at the children and using unnecessary discipline approaches, being too harsh, and generally being abusive. In such a daycare your child will not receive the necessary care.
8. Lack of Registration and License
If the daycare qualifications and licenses are not valid or up to date, it means the daycare is not operating to the required standard. As such the level of care they offer is sub standard. Also if the staff are not certified it is an indication they are not skilled as care givers.
9. Poor Ratings and Reviews
Poor daycares attract poor ratings and reviews on online forums and platforms. The reviews reflect the daycare experiences the moms had at the daycare. If the daycare is attracting bad reviews from current and especially past users, and then it is likely a low quality daycare you should not enroll your child into.
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