27 November 2006
Daycare - Finding the right one
Of the many things in the modern American family life that are not ideal, the daycare situation is the toughest for me. For our household, my wife and I must both work full time jobs in order to afford our home, amenities, and lifestyle. And it's not an extravagant lifestyle, but it is a comfortably middle class one.
This puts us in the regrettable position of leaving the care of our son to others for 8 hours a day. If we made more money, we'd think about hiring an in home nanny. But we fall into the category of the majority of the American working class, and send our son to daycare.
Being conscientious first-time parents, we did research on available daycares prior to our son's birth. We called around asking these typical questions:
What are your rates?
Do you provide discounts for half-day care?
Do you offer flexible scheduling?
What is your teacher to child ratio? (This is mandated by state law in Wisconsin, but it's nice to see if (1) they are following the law and (2) if they are possibly exceeding the expectations.)
What is a typical day like? (for infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers)
What are your teachers' qualifications?
And the all-important: Do you have an enrollment slot available for us on X date?
Because we knew our son would require some special care (he has spina bifida), we needed to explore those options as well and gauge how comfortable, knowledgeable, and prepared they would be for a special needs child.
The we narrowed the field from those phone interviews, and visited our top three possibilities. We omitted a few sites based on information from another couple we knew who were doing their own research. In the end, a lot of our decision was based on a gut feeling. At the day care we chose, the facility was clean and bright with lots of options for learning and play. And we felt good about the teachers and staff we met.
Our process took some time. I hate phone calls, but the day care providers are used to the process as well, and they're running a business, of course. So, for the most part, the calls were painless and informative. The visits, though, are essential as well. I was really put off by a few sites where the nurseries were too sterile and corral-like. Cleanliness is important. But it was also important to me that the infants not be treated like jobs or hassles. At Ben's day care, they really seemed to want to provide for each one's individual needs - even when four were crying at the same time.
Another point to remember - the choice you make now shouldn't have to be the one you live with forever. You're always free to move on if you think a change would be better for your child. Especially consider that in larger daycares your child will move into different "rooms" as they get older. Those transition times are great milestones at which you should take advantage and re-evaulate your child's new surrounds and determine if teh center is still the best fit for your child.
So far, it's been a success for our son. He loves his daycare, and it seems like he's a favorite among the staff. That's made it a little easier for us. We'd still love for him to not have to go, but while he does, we know everything is OK.
I have more thoughts on how to make daycare really work for your family, which I'll try to tackle next time. In the meantime, if you have any comments or suggestions on finding a daycare, please post them in the comments section.
This puts us in the regrettable position of leaving the care of our son to others for 8 hours a day. If we made more money, we'd think about hiring an in home nanny. But we fall into the category of the majority of the American working class, and send our son to daycare.
Being conscientious first-time parents, we did research on available daycares prior to our son's birth. We called around asking these typical questions:
What are your rates?
Do you provide discounts for half-day care?
Do you offer flexible scheduling?
What is your teacher to child ratio? (This is mandated by state law in Wisconsin, but it's nice to see if (1) they are following the law and (2) if they are possibly exceeding the expectations.)
What is a typical day like? (for infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers)
What are your teachers' qualifications?
And the all-important: Do you have an enrollment slot available for us on X date?
Because we knew our son would require some special care (he has spina bifida), we needed to explore those options as well and gauge how comfortable, knowledgeable, and prepared they would be for a special needs child.
The we narrowed the field from those phone interviews, and visited our top three possibilities. We omitted a few sites based on information from another couple we knew who were doing their own research. In the end, a lot of our decision was based on a gut feeling. At the day care we chose, the facility was clean and bright with lots of options for learning and play. And we felt good about the teachers and staff we met.
Our process took some time. I hate phone calls, but the day care providers are used to the process as well, and they're running a business, of course. So, for the most part, the calls were painless and informative. The visits, though, are essential as well. I was really put off by a few sites where the nurseries were too sterile and corral-like. Cleanliness is important. But it was also important to me that the infants not be treated like jobs or hassles. At Ben's day care, they really seemed to want to provide for each one's individual needs - even when four were crying at the same time.
Another point to remember - the choice you make now shouldn't have to be the one you live with forever. You're always free to move on if you think a change would be better for your child. Especially consider that in larger daycares your child will move into different "rooms" as they get older. Those transition times are great milestones at which you should take advantage and re-evaulate your child's new surrounds and determine if teh center is still the best fit for your child.
So far, it's been a success for our son. He loves his daycare, and it seems like he's a favorite among the staff. That's made it a little easier for us. We'd still love for him to not have to go, but while he does, we know everything is OK.
I have more thoughts on how to make daycare really work for your family, which I'll try to tackle next time. In the meantime, if you have any comments or suggestions on finding a daycare, please post them in the comments section.
