Daycare mamas

[vernacular_life]

I'm working on my list for daycare interviews.........mind taking a look and seeing if I'm missing anything big?


Basics:

What are your fees?_________________________________________________________________
Are there any extra fees?_____________________________________________________________
Do fees go up at the beginning of the year?_______________________________________________
What are your hours?________________________________________________________________
How flexible are you with hours?  Can I drop off/pick up at different times?____________________
Are there any set weeks that you’ll be closed?_______________________________________
Is there backup if you/staff is sick?________________________________________________
What am I expected to provide?_____________________________________________________
How many kids are here?__________________________________________________________
Are you licensed & have state creds?_______________________________________________________

Employees:
What is the ratio of staff/kid? (should be 1:3 if 6 kids, 1:4 if 8) __________________________________
What kind of background do your employees have (edu)? _______________________________________
Does all staff have up to date CPR and infant first aid? _______________________________________

Health and Safety
What illness keep/send a kid home?_______________________________________________________
How long w/o fever until return?_________________________________________________________
How do you handle emergencies/911? ____________________________________________________
Where are medicines stored?__________________________________________________________
How do you clean toys/play areas?  How often?____________________________________________

Sleeping and Feeding
Comfortable w/ BF babies/expressed milk?____________________________________________
Is there a time when you’d like kids to stop bottle feeding?_________________________________
For solids, what kind of food do you offer?______________________________________________
How many naps for infants?_________________________________________________________
Do infants have a different area from older kids?_________________________________________

Environment/Activities
Is there a daily ‘program’? (tummy time, toys, storytime  etc)_____________________________________
Do kids watch TV?________________________________________________________________
Is there an outdoor play area?________________________________________________________
Do you play music?________________________________________________________________

Discipline:
How do you handle discipline for things like fighting/biting, etc?____________________________

Questions for us:
-How are bathroom/changing area/sleeping area?________________________________________
-Are employees interactive w/ kids, or are they in swings/bouncers, etc______________________
-Overall gut feeling?_________________________________

Comments

[jamiethetiger.livejournal.com]

I found my gut instinct took over, completely. I certainly asked all the questions and was happy with their answers. But I also just simply observed. They can tell you they do x,y,z, but you can tell if it's true by just paying attention. Emma's daycare is also a preschool, so kids there range from 6 weeks to 5 years old. The times I visited, the first thing I always noticed was laughter. The kids are always laughing (ok, and yelling but that's cuz they're kids and kids are loud). The teachers/employees were happy and not just when they were "on."

That's really what was the deciding factor. It felt good to be there. It still does.

[monkeysmama.livejournal.com]

Looks like a good list. FWIW - I didn't really ask any questions. I was too shellshocked and could barely keep it together. I also went with gut feeling and word of mouth and location.

At the time I didn't think much about it - but I think that the over 'educational philosophy' is also good. I'd highly recommend Montessori.

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

I'm making the list so that I have something to go by when I get shell shocked!

There's no Montessori that's really convienent to us, but there is a Goddard school. While I know that they have a fantastic reputation, I seriously hope that I can find a daycare that's less than $325/week. URf.

[lkell.livejournal.com]

i have zippy experience with this as I have no kids. But this look spretty good. Only thing I can think of is issues some of my friends deal with and that's things about food allergies (hopefully Baby W has none) ... and how they handle that.

But you've done a great job!

[tray85.livejournal.com]

I'd also ask about how they record the day. My daycare writes down everything - naps, diaper changes, food, special activities and general comments. It helps me to know that I might have a crazy baby on hand because she only took two 25 minute naps. Or, that she had no poopy diapers, etc. Katie's teachers write down cute things like "Katie and so and so were chatting it up!" so that lets me know that they were really paying attention.

Overall, gut feel will indeed take over. It helps to spend some time there to see how they do things. It will probably be overwhelming at first.

The little things that made me pick my daycare. I noticed:
LOTS of kisses and hugs for all the babies throughout the day.
Happy kids having a ton of fun.
Happy day care workers who were engaged, caring and knowledgeable.
The staff put up pictures on the walls & the pics were very current and changed often.
They make scrapbooks for each child that every art project and picture goes in after it comes off the wall.
Cleanliness

Good luck!

[vernacular-life.livejournal.com]

thanks! I really like the idea of 'recording the day' -- that will really help, AND prove that they're paying attention!

[njlorelei.livejournal.com]

I don't have kids but one of my friends that has kids recently mentioned that one day shortly before her son turned one the daycare said oh starting on Monday he'll be moved to the such and such room and will now have this food list. They based the move and foods on age and not on the development of the child so even though he didn't have teeth yet and wasn't eating a lot of the food on the new list he was going to be forced to do it. So maybe you'd want to find out how and when they make changes to a child's plan.