Selecting a day care facility for your child is a big deal. Before you can even think about dropping them off at day care, you need to feel 100% comfortable with your choice. But what exactly should you consider before making your final decision?
1) Is it located close to my home?
Many parents understandably choose a day care centre close to where they work. This makes drop offs and pick-ups a lot simpler and it allows parents to spend more time with their children outside of work hours. This is all great and is especially wonderful if you live close to your office.
However, if you have a bit of a commute, you may want to prioritise finding a place close to your home. So for example, if you live in Dural but commute into the Sydney CBD for work, you should look for a child learning centre in Dural.
Although having a day care centre around the corner from your office may make your weekday routine easier, putting your child in a day care facility close to your home will allow them to socialise with other children from your area. It will enable them to meet children who they can play with on weekends. And in all likelihood, many of these children will also attend the same school as them as they get older. So by enrolling your child in a local day care centre, you are allowing them (and you) to build relationships and social circles that will continue well into the future and make that transition into school life a lot easier.
2) Is there outdoor space?
It’s important to encourage your child to enjoy playing outdoors. This helps inspire curiosity and exploration as well as being beneficial for both physical and mental health. Although childcare centres limited to indoor facilities will also be safe and nurturing for your child, you ideally want them to have access to both indoor and outdoor play so that they can enjoy some fresh air on a regular basis.
3) Do they have a curriculum?
We know that physics equations and violin lessons couldn’t be further from your mind when you drop your one year old child off at day care, but when it comes to early education, having a curriculum is what separates the best from the just-good-enough.
In early education, a curriculum isn’t about maths tests or history quizzes. It’s about helping children to build the basic skills they need to succeed later in school life. It’s about developing cognitive and problem-solving skills, emotional resilience and social awareness through play. The best early education centres will have a thorough and robust plan as to how they achieve this, but it will be delivered in a way that is fun and stress-free for the children.
4) What’s their attitude towards nutrition?
A healthy relationship with food is something that is developed early on. And whilst you might be providing a wonderfully balanced and healthy diet at home, if your child is exposed to pizza, chocolate and other junk foods at daycare… you’re going to be fighting an uphill battle. So when it comes to choosing a day care centre, find out if they have a proper nutrition program.
5) How did I feel when I visited the facility?
This one is simple really. An early education centre can tick all the right boxes on paper, but if you just don’t get a good feeling when you walk in the door, then it’s not right for you or your child. Leaving your child at day care is a big deal and you need to feel assured that they are cared for in a safe, nurturing and fun environment. If you’re not happy leaving your child there, how can you expect your child to be happy about it?
Conclusion
There are many things to consider when it comes to selecting a day care. The facility itself as well as the programs they offer are important aspects to consider. Ultimately however, we suggest that you trust your instincts. After all, only you can truly know what’s best for your family.