What To Look For

Choosing a Day Home for your child means asking a lot of questions and being observant. A Caregiver with a safe, clean home who loves kids and interacts well with them, and who offers a wide range of appropriate activities, should be a good Provider. Some things you could watch for and/or ask are:

First Impressions

A good Day Home should have a welcoming, friendly atmosphere and be well known for its nurturing environment. Your own first impressions definitely matter here. If it doesn't feel right when you're there, keep looking.

Policies and Procedures

A Day Home and its Agency should have clearly established policies and/or regulations for everything from operating hours to how to handle emergencies. That way you know the Provider and Agency take their responsibilities - your child - seriously.

Along the same lines, look for a Provider/ Agency with a strict sick-child policy. Find out which illnesses mean your child has to stay home and for how long. A tough policy may inconvenience you if your child is ill, but keeping sick children (and adults, for that matter) away from each other makes sense. Apple Blossom tries to help cut down on illness by requesting verification of immunization documentation from all providers, their family members, and all registered children. We will request that a copy of your child's immunization record be supplied to the Agency during your initial enrollment.

Both the Agency and Provider have an open-door policy and we encourage parents to stop by unannounced.

If an Agency or Provider is poorly organized and has lax or nonexistent rules, it's not likely to be right for you.

A Stimulating Environment

The best Day Homes have structured schedules that include plenty of time for physical activity, quiet time (including daily reading sessions for groups and individuals), group programs, individual activities, meals, snacks, and free time. Television and videos should play little or no part in what your child does all day. A well-thought-out curriculum stimulates your child's development and makes daily life more fun. Also, look for a Provider that offers regular outings, such as trips to the park, field trips organized by the Agency, etc.

Children should also have the chance to play outside every day (weather-permitting, of course) — running, jumping, and skipping are good for them physically, mentally, and socially.

Discuss menu plans with the Provider. Does she encourage healthy eating habits and cover all the food groups? If not, keep looking.

Ask the provider what kind of training programs she has attended, recently. Does she try to increase her knowledge of chid care on an ongoing basis?

Provider Committment

A Provider who makes caring for, and teaching children, her career, should be educated and experienced. Day Home Providers tend to have more hands-on child care experience, as they are usually mothers themselves. Ask about a Providers training and experience when you interview her.

Day Home Providers should genuinely enjoy being with children and helping them learn and explore. Discuss issues such as sleep, disipline and feeding with your Provider to see if you have similiar parenting styles.

Ask your Provider how long she plans on providing child care. Is this a long-term plan, or is she planning on only doing it for a couple of months. If the Provider seems bored - keep looking.

For additional resources on choosing child care, please visit: http://www.child.alberta.ca/home/documents/childcare/Choosing_Child_Care_LOW1.pdf