When I first started to search for a daycare center I thought it would be really easy to choose and I had a list of the basic things I required such as proximity to the home; that was top priority for me and my family.
But then as I started to look I found that it was not going to be as straightforward as I had imagined. New information came to light, things that I had never thought of or even considered, for instance I learnt that there are daycare centers that are run from peoples homes. This may not sound bad but when you think about it, you want a place that is safe and regulated and not a place where anybody can come and go as they please. Sure there may have been some safety measures but from the look of the surroundings of one of the homes I visited, it didn’t look as though they had invested a lot of resources to guarantee the safety of the children.
Unfortunately, this was the only daycare center I could find near my home so my little list was automatically cancelled. Another gem I discovered was the chance to be able to observe your child during school hours! I didn’t know I could do this but when I was informed that I could, I was very pleased. Some schools tell you that you can drop in at any time to observe your child’s interaction with the care givers and other toddlers, whilst some schools will lead you to believe that you can do this but after a while they place a restriction due to some observations made by a visiting government official!
Here are a couple things to keep in mind when choosing your daycare:
1. Curriculum (Tuition): While I was at the hair dressers recently, I was privileged to be in the company of some dedicated women, they were well spoken, educated and successful in their various fields and they happened to be discussing this very topic! Of course I wanted to know how they went about managing schooling during this period in their children’s lives. One word that kept recurring was ‘Montessori’; they seemed very passionate about this teaching method, which they referred to as a way of life. They insisted that the Montessori curriculum didn’t teach but instead allowed the children discover things for themselves; they claimed that every Montessori child knows how to solve mathematics! If you are looking for a Montessori school you need to make sure that they are certified and qualified to teach your child’s age group. Now this is emphasized because I have met a lot of people during my lifetime that have complained bitterly about their lack of knowledge of mathematics (including myself!), so you can imagine my interest in this piece of information.
The women showered me with examples – one of the ladies was invited to the school and told off because she kept working on her child’s assignment at home, helping her color within the lines! They knew she helped because her daughter’s work at home contrasted with her work at school and they did not approve because it interfered with their monitoring of her grip.
2. Environment: Proximity to the home is something that should be top of the list for any parent. Having said that, there is a host of other environmental factors that should help determine what daycare center is shortlisted. The cleanliness of the surrounding areas of the school -the classrooms and the toilets are important and also the orderliness of the other students should be examined by the parent.
The surroundings of a school in Dolphin (I will not mention the name of the school) appeared to be acceptable and I was mildly impressed until I asked to see the classroom where my child would be staying. At first they refused me access and this was an automatic ‘no’ in my mind; but after a little scramble here and there, suddenly there was a way out of the problem. I was lead in by the lady in charge and we walked up the steep stairs to arrive at a landing with a door on one side and a passage on the other. The passage seemed to lead to other classrooms which I enquired about, only to be told they were for the primary school students and I was not allowed to view the classrooms; even though there were no students there, seeing as they were still on Christmas break. She then proceeded to show me the classrooms for the toddlers, HA! It was like I had just entered into a horror movie. The room was dark, the walls were dark blue, broken down and there was a dusty television in the corner! There were also patched up curtains blocking even a bit of light coming into the room and God knows what the windows looked like, dirty floors and worst of all the sleeping area was squashed into what can only be described as a converted toilet room. The toilet was right next to this sleep area and the smell was the first thing to hit me at the door when we entered. I had to run out, if I couldn’t stay in this place for longer than a minute how could I leave my child there, let alone expect to learn anything.
3. Last, but definitely not least, find out how much interaction your children gets with the older kids and if it is under strict supervision. The supervision is necessary to prevent any form of bullying or rough play, and also because the little ones pick up things very quickly. In addition, you can tell a lot about the school by the behavior of the older students – in another crèche I visited, I was met by a classroom of students in a double file. Each and every student greeted me with a ‘Good afternoon ma’ and the amazing thing is they did it when it got to each of their turns; I was very impressed. I have also been to a school where I had to greet the students myself and even at that, could not get a response from them.
This is not an exhaustive list but it should help you to make more informed decisions and if I have left something out feel free to comment below, we, at Ajapaworld, would love to hear from you.
AjapaMums 