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Family Forum / Pregnancy / Pregnancy / February 2008Day care questions
Hi I'm starting a new job at the end of March, and my plan is to put Jessica into a nursery part time. She'll be starting daycare before I start my job to make sure she settles in ok, and I've got a couple of places lined up to see this week. Having never done this before, I was just wondering what sort of questions I should ask them. The ones I'm viewing all appear to have good OFSTED reports, and the two I'm most intested in have a room for 1-2 year olds (she's 20 months), which I like the idea of. The one I'm most interested in though is in the same road as the new job, which means I can get there straight away should there be a problem. Both of go up to school age, and seem to have a varied mix of activities. They provide a snack mid afternoon and a dinner too (she'll just be in there in afternoons). I've got a feeling I'll go for the one in the same road, but I don't want to go in there ready to sign the paper straight off, I want them to convince me, hence my request for question suggestions :) Thanks :) Lucy x You definitely want to ask about nap times, this was a problem for us with one nursery, they basically waited for the children to fall asleep, then moved them into the sleep room - this might work for some children, but for us it meant DS never slept. Another thing you can ask about is how long each of the staff have been their, a high turnover of staff is not a good sign. You should also try and observe how they handle drop off, do the staff make an effort to greet the child and help them settle in each day, it's really hard to drop a child off if you are just dumping them in the room, most children need welcoming and directing, e.g. "Hi, Ada, how are you today, do you want to come and play with these bricks". Hope this helps Anne > You definitely want to ask about nap times, this was a problem for us > with one nursery, they basically waited for the children to fall asleep, [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Anne Hiya Thanks for the nap idea. It's something that's bothering me, as sometimes she'll sleep for two hours, sometimes she won't sleep at all, but I'm not sure how much she'll sleep at somewhere new, after charging around with loads of kids. Also we cuddle her to sleep with her milk, so I'm not sure they'll do that. I'm having a hard time with this tbh. We don't use babysiters a lot and when we do, it's only ever one of two couples that she's known since she was born, that's why I want to start her there early. But, that said, she needs to start having time away from me, and she needs more interaction with other children - I also need the break as I'm getting a bit stir crazy. Kids, eh! ;) Lucy x > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > go in there ready to sign the paper straight off, I want them to convince > me, hence my request for question suggestions :) Anything particularly important to you, ask about that -- food issues, nap issues, how do they handle biting, whatever. The biggest thing though in visiting daycares is to try to go with an open mind so you can gauge your gut reaction to a place. Just watch the carers in action with the kids. You may find one place just seems much more right than the other. We had to find nursery school when the Bug was turning two on very short notice so were only able to look at a few places. One sounded great on paper and was the top of my list. But when I visited it felt like the people there didn't really care much about the kids or the school -- they were just putting in their time and getting a paycheck. Nix that. Kate, ignorant foot soldier of the medical cartel and the Bug, 4 and a half and something brewing, 4/08 > > Hi > > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > and the Bug, 4 and a half > and something brewing, 4/08 It's intereesting you say that - my favourite at the moment just feels the best. Yes, it has factors like it's open later, it's close to work, etc, but when I spoke to them on the phone, they just felt like the nicest. One of the others put me off when I asked to visit to look round - I asked if I needed an appointment "Nah, Just turn up love, S'alright anytime". Well, that didn't exactly make me feel secure about my child's safety when anyone could just walk in at anytime. The favourite one invited me to make an appointment to view them, and suggested a day and time. Others that I rang went a bit stupid when I asked them things like session times, prices, meal details etc - that didn't inspire confidence. And more over, the woman I spoke to on the phone was nice. Thanks :) Lucy x lu-lu schrieb: > It's intereesting you say that - my favourite at the moment just feels the > best. Yes, it has factors like it's open later, it's close to work, etc, but [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > that didn't exactly make me feel secure about my child's safety when anyone > could just walk in at anytime. The favourite one invited me to make an Well, it also means they're not afraid that you might walk in while they're not perfectly organized. Friends of mine recently moved to the states and the first few daycares they looked at had the "babies" sitting in their strollers in front of a TV or variations of this. Those places were very clean and tidy and quiet, but I would not want my children there and from my friends description she was quite disgusted... They've found a daycare for their two boys now and while it still has a TV in the room (pretty much unheard of in german daycares) it's not on all the time. > appointment to view them, and suggested a day and time. Others that I rang > went a bit stupid when I asked them things like session times, prices, meal > details etc - that didn't inspire confidence. And more over, the woman I > spoke to on the phone was nice. Just look around, ask if you can come back "sometime next week" or "when I'm in the area anyway" and make sure that once Jessica actually goes there regularly that you drop in unannounced every once in a while. cu nicole "lu-lu" <lu@lululu.com> wrote in message > It's intereesting you say that - my favourite at the moment just feels the > best. Yes, it has factors like it's open later, it's close to work, etc, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > anyone > could just walk in at anytime. Just because they are happy for you to come anytime doesn't mean they don't have security measures in place. I would be more happier with a place that said to come anytime than one that wanted an appointment. If the one that said to come anytime, means they are secure enough in their practice that they can have people come in at any point.  SignatureSue (mom to three girls) > It's intereesting you say that - my favourite at the moment just feels the > best. Yes, it has factors like it's open later, it's close to work, etc, but [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > details etc - that didn't inspire confidence. And more over, the woman I > spoke to on the phone was nice. You could view that the exact opposite, one wanted you there at a specific time, which doesn't give you a chance to see it any time. The other was prepared to accept you would visit randomly, which means they are happy with you seeing what they are doing any time of day. I agree you do need to work out what the security issues are with this, because you don't just want anyone walking in, but all daycares we've been involved with have ways around this, like their being a door code which parents have, but you wouldn't have, so you'd have to ring a bell and be met at the door - so you're coming in any time, but not entering without supervision. Hopefully they'd want you to talk to someone senior, so I think it is reasonable to have to schedule, because they can't be available for tours all the time. But I'd worry if they weren't happy with me coming any time, I'd make an appointment, but also ask, would it be ok if I drop in at a different time of day sometime to see that part of the day. To me, the only reason to legitimately prevent that would be if they have a nap schedule and all the children will be napping, so they could say please don't come between 1 and 3, any other time is fine... Anne |
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