NanaKim

Socialization is a key part of development for babies. Where can we find our friends? This is not easy for today’s working families unless there are plenty of young family and young neighbors to hand. My daughter and son-in-law are ready to look at child care centers, firstly on a drop in backup care basis for days I am either sick or taking some vacation time with Grandpa. Luckily my daughter’s employer covers her for emergency childcare at a few designated sites that are approved based on national accreditation. Secondly, they would like to see their daughter have more opportunities to be in the company of other children her age and so would want her to be in school sooner rather than later.

I am qualified to evaluate child care options as my previous job before being NanaKim was coaching all different kinds of child care settings to meet state and accreditation standards. I am able to visit the sites chosen by the employer, and later on as we get close to enrolling two days a week, I also visit other sites with shorter commute times for the parents, those businesses who include reassuring information in their attractive websites.

What am I looking for? Well, primarily I want to see excellent relationships between the teachers and the children. I want to see joy, hear laughter and see that children are respected and listened to. The more kindness is shown to little ones, the more loved and secure they feel. Any child who does not feel safe is not going to be receptive to learning. Any adult with responsibility for children who cannot step into this space with calm, patient love and really think about how to meet the needs of each child, needs to get a different low paying job. Yes, the pay stinks for these precious people who care for those we love so much. So if you find a good program, do your best to show your appreciation.

Next, I want to ask staff about the good stuff on their website like the wonderful philosophy and the impressive mission statement. They can’t deliver high quality experiences if people are only vaguely familiar with their stated approach to children or apparently know nothing about it.
I look at the posted daily activity schedules to see how much free play and how much outside time the children get to enjoy. Play is how children learn best. Play with peers, self-directed and free flowing, creates emotionally healthy people. Time outside has huge benefits that I will celebrate in another post. I want to see the outside space too to know what materials my granddaughter would be exposed to. I’m a fan of natural surfaces that don’t give off toxic fumes in hot weather. I love to see an abundance of playground balls to share and ride on toys to enjoy. Sand would be fun but honestly I really didn’t see too much of that at all. Some programs, especially chains, will have pretty impressive play structures, but you can also find those at many public parks.

Inside the classroom I love to see children’s artwork up on the wall and well used art centers. I get excited to see the lid OFF the sensory table with some attractive materials available. It’s actually a rare sight as it’s a hassle for the poorly paid teachers to manage. There must be plenty of books in reasonable condition. For my granddaughter’s stage of life, children are really hard on books and they get destroyed quite quickly. For this kind of daunting turnover I recommend books like Indestructibles which are as their name suggests. They are super colorful and attractive with plenty of titles to choose from, and pretty low cost. I’m also looking for enough age appropriate materials including blocks and supplies for pretend play so that children have enough choices to avoid conflicts. There are plenty of suggested lists for what “should” be included in a classroom based on the age of a child.

So with my shopping list of characteristics in mind and often with the company of my son-in-law and granddaughter, we visited about six local programs that made the cut based on the information available on their websites. We were able to talk with administrators and caregivers and have a good look around each site. The worst place got the “over my dead body” rating. We visited all the classrooms and saw only one child who appeared to be happy. Some classrooms had no books “because the children tear them up” (so many follow up questions in my head about that); sensory tables were present to meet state licensing standard but were not available to children “because of the mess”; shelves that held materials were noticeably grubby and shockingly, largely empty. The director answered my question about how they did positive discipline with the children by proudly talking about punishing and shaming children. Yikes! I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

The best programs turned out to be the ones already approved by the employer. They were in the same national chain, Bright Horizons. One was NAEYC accredited and the other was in process of becoming accredited. The classrooms were so beautiful and relaxing to be in. The staff were gorgeous people, gentle and loving towards the children. I was tracking all the ways that accreditation standards were being met. You have to meet 80% of the standards to be accredited. Displaying children’s artwork was one standard that these locations chose not to meet, which made me sad. They thought it was important for parents to display the artwork at home. In the end, that was just nitpicking on my part as they were very professional and had a good heart for children. My granddaughter has loved her time there and made many new friends. That place got my “worth the commute” rating.

Is your family looking for childcare? What options are available near you? What criteria are important for you? How is your grandchild doing in their childcare setting? What’s different from when your own children last had experience of daycare or preschool?