As parents, there is nothing more important than the care and safety of your children. You do everything you can to keep them safe and teach them right at home. While ideally, parents would stay home with their children, this is not always possible. This is when it is time to look for a day care centre. With this comes many things you must think about. Here are some important decisions in choosing a day care centre.
Choosing an Age and Planning Ahead
One of the hardest decisions is at what age you will send your child to a day care centre. On the other hand, availability can also be very limited. For this reason, planning should start when the decision is made to use a day care centre. As soon as you have made these two decisions, you will need to apply to be added to a waiting list. These lists can be rather long. Earlier applications lead to better chances of your day care centre having an available slot when you have the need.
Type of Care
Another important decision to consider is the type of day care centre that is right for you. Family-based is just one of the day care centre options. With this type of care, your child will stay with a provider in their home. Another option is centre-based care. With this day care centre option, your child will be among a larger number of children. There will be more caregivers in this type of day care centre than in that of family-based.
The latter will normally have one to three with significantly fewer children. The final day care centre option is learning-based care. This option is normally available to children up to school age. Learning-based care is a day care centre that is structured around education. Your child will have play and activities that are structured to stimulate their minds.
Hours and Needs
The final decision you will need to make in choosing a day care centre is the hours, days and needs you have. You will need to find a day care centre that is open when you need your child to be there. There are many that open early and close late. Some are even open on holidays for when the need arises. You will also need to know what services you require. Do you need your child picked up or dropped off? Does your child have special needs? You will want to consider these needs when you choose a day care centre.
While these decisions may seem hard, especially for new parents, with time and early planning, you will be able to fulfil all of your day care centre needs. This can become a joyous time in your child's life instead of a scary one.
Share13 November 2018
Hi. My name is Susan. I have five children of my own, but over the years I have cared for more than thirty foster children. You could therefore say that I am somewhat of an expert in child care! I am also very astute at selecting child care providers that offer the types of experiences which reward and challenge children. Children's social, emotional and physical development is of tantamount importance. As you can imagine, many of my foster children are quite troubled, and I always seek the latest research in order to ensure I am giving the best possible care. I have started this blog in order to share my wealth of knowledge with others who strive to optimise the childhood experience. I hope you find ideas that you can apply. Happy reading!