Choosing a day-care facility or a day-care centre for your child, can be a daunting task to face. Because of the wide variety of day-care centres that are available, it is important to weigh all options carefully, and make informed decisions as to which day-care you choose for your child. A day-care can become an important part of your child’s life, and is a place where your child will learn values and morals that can become deeply imbibed within your child; and thus, it is important to know which day-care you choose to send your child to, considering that the day-care teaches most of what your child will use and reflect upon later in life.
One of the first things to look into while choosing day-cares is the child to staff ratio. In most places, there are laws that dictate how many children are allowed to be taken care of by one adult or staff member, an average ratio is three children per staff member (or 7 older children per staff member) – however, individual attention is always preferred, so try looking for a day-care that will provide a one-on-one service between your child and the staff member.
Another thing to keep an eye out for is whether older children will be allowed to interact with the younger children, especially with infants and with toddlers. It is advisable to keep older children – like 5 to 7 year olds – away from infants and toddlers, because children that young will not understand the fragility of toddlers, and accidents can quickly occur.
Make sure you ask the centre’s director, or manager, or other authoritative figure, know what their policies on discipline are, and that it is well-enforced with the children. Make sure you know what all their protocols are, for any emergency – what to do when the child falls ill, what to do when the child doesn’t listen, among other things. By comparing and contrasting different policies from different day-care centres, you’ll be able to narrow down the search for the perfect day-care centre for you and your child. One other thing to take note of is how well the staff has been trained, and how long they’ve been in the field, to gauge their experience with children.
While looking at day-care centres, take a look at how the day-care centre is built – and whether the building is safe for children, and whether the designated play areas have been made to be safe for young children. While looking at the architecture of the building, make sure that you’re able to spot a fire exit – and that all rooms are fitted with appropriate smoke detectors, and that the rooms have been child-proofed (like covering electric sockets, or having safety glass in the windows), so that your child will be safe while they are at the day-care centre.
Advanced Care and Education is one such institute that has imbibed these values – and makes sure that the safety and well-being of the children is at the top of the list. By providing well-trained, experienced staff to take care of and teach the children, you can rest assured knowing that your children are in safe hands, in a warm, positive environment to make your child feel as comfortable and as nurtured as possible.
