Child Care Options: Child Care Centre
Decisions about child care are important. Parents want a child care setting that offers learning experiences that match their child's developing abilities. They want to leave for work each day feeling confident that their child is safe and happy.
What is Special About Centre-Based Child Care?
Child care centres offer balanced programs of activities for infants, toddlers, and pre-school and school-age children. Children learn and grow while making friends with other children of the same age.
Centre-Based Care Offers Other Advantages:
- the staff includes professionals with training in early childhood education
- the activities are designed for children at different stages of development
- the environment is free from dangerous objects and materials
- the setting is designed for children
- the toys and playground equipment are age-appropriate and are chosen with the safety and enjoyment of children in mind
When Parents Choose a Child Care Centre They Know That It Is Licensed Under the Day Nurseries Act. They Can Expect That:
- staff are always present to help children develop and learn
- children are treated in a positive manner that enhances self-esteem and self-confidence, and corporal punishment is not permitted
- the centre meets standards relating to such areas as the physical setting, emergency and fire procedures, cleanliness and nutrition.
Choosing Centre-Based Child Care
Choosing a child care centre often takes time and effort. When you are looking for a centre that meets your family's needs, begin early and try to consider more than one centre.
Visit the centre you are considering, meet the staff, ask questions, and watch what is happening. You can learn a great deal from observing the children and staff together.
When you have collected all the information you can, assess each centre you have visited to see if it meets your needs and provides the quality of care you want for your child.
Determining Your Child Care Needs
Before visiting child care centres, consider
- how many hours of care will your child need?
- does your child have any special needs?
- Where should the centre be located? near home, work or school?
Locating Child Care Centres in Your Area
When you know your family's needs, you can begin to explore the child care resources in your area. In communities where you have little choice, your decision may focus on whether centre-based care is right for your child.
Information about child care centres in your community is available from
- the yellow pages of the telephone directory under Child Care or Day Care
- newspaper ads, bulletin boards
- local offices of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services
- community information centres, child care resource centres, libraries, churches
- the human resources department at work
- friends, neighbours, relatives, co-workers.
Making the First Contact
A telephone call will likely be your first contact with the child care centres on your list. When you call, ask to speak to the director or supervisor since you may be arranging for care with that person. If the director or supervisor is not available, ask about a convenient time to call again.
Before telephoning, it is a good idea to make a list of questions. If you use the same list for each call, you can compare the answers from each centre and eliminate centres that clearly do not meet your family's needs. Your questions may include:
- What are your hours?
- How old are the children you care for?
- How many children are in a group?
- How many staff members care for each group?
- What training do the staff have?
- Are parents encouraged to drop in?
- What is the basis cost? Are there any additional charges? Is there a charge when children are sick or away on holiday? Is there an application fee?
- Is fee subsidy available?
- Do you have a waiting list?
If you like the way the director or supervisor answers your questions, ask for an appointment to visit the centre. Since it is important to be able to compare two or more centres, continue to call the other centres on your list. Ask the same questions and make appointments to visit.
Paying a visit
Your visit should give you a good opportunity to talk to staff and observe the children. Make comparisons easy by going to each centre at about the same time of day. Visit on your own or with another adult. Try to make arrangements for your child to be cared for by another person since seeing a number of centres can be confusing to a young child.
Plan to be at each centre for at least an hour. While there, spend your time
- interviewing the director or supervisor
- observing the children and staff
- assessing the physical setting.
After your visit, sum up your impressions and make notes for future reference.
Interviewing the Director or Supervisor
The director or supervisor oversees the staff, plans and directs the programs, and generally set the tone or atmosphere of a centre. The director or supervisor may not work directly with the children but will have a major influence on your child's experience. For that reason, it is important to spend time with the director or supervisor and to think carefully about the way you are welcomed and how your questions are answered.
This interview will give you an opportunity to ask more detailed questions about the centre, its staff and the activities it offers. The answers will also help you decide whether or not the centre is providing high quality care. Many of those questions will relate to requirements for licensing under the Day Nurseries Act.
First, ask about the status of the centre's licence. The licence of a child care centre must be posted where all parents and visitors can see it. A regular licence is displayed in white while a provisional licence is displayed in yellow. A provisional licence means that one or more of the licensing requirements were not being met at the time of the licensing inspection.
A licensing poster, along with brochures, will be posted near every entrance. When the poster shows that the centre has a provisional licence, an attachment in the brochure will tell you what requirements of the Day Nurseries Act were not being met at the time of licensing. Ask the director or supervisor what the centre is doing to meet licensing requirements and make sure that you are satisfied with the answer you receive.
The Day Nurseries Act requires that all centres describe what happens there in writing. Since these records and documents may answer many of your questions, ask to see some samples, including the centre's
- written statement of philosophy which may help you decide whether you share its views on child-rearing and development
- daily program plan which shows how the children spend their time each day
- menu plan which can be compared with your child's personal tastes and your own standards for nutrition.
Throughout the interview, make your questions specific and direct. Instead of asking a general question about what happens when your child misbehaves, focus on a specific example and ask, "What would you do if my child hit another child?" The answer to this direct question will likely give you a better idea of the values and practices of the centre. The answers to such questions about behaviour management, for example, should reflect the centre's policies of relating to children in positive ways.
Include questions about the qualifications of the staff members who will care for your child. Research shows that when staff have training in early childhood education or child development, the care they provide is likely to be of higher quality than the care provided by untrained individuals.
Ask how long the director or supervisor and staff members have been working at the centre. A high turnover may show that people are unhappy working there.
Find out how the centre communicates with parents. Is there a newsletter? Do parents get regular progress reports? Can parents drop in at any time? High quality child care centres communicate regularly with parents and have an open-door policy that encourages visits at any time.
Observing the Children and Staff
Spend some time on your own observing the children and staff (with the permission of the director or supervisor). Sit down and watch to see if the children are happy and involved in the activities described in the group's program plan for that day. Look for evidence of a well-balanced program that includes
- indoor and outdoor play
- active and quiet times
- structured and unstructured activities
- individual, small group and large group activities
- experiences that promote physical co-ordination, language development, and social skills.
Watch how staff relate to the children. Do they talk to them often and listen carefully when they speak? Do they bend down to the children's level and talk directly to them? Are their words and tone of voice positive and do their faces show that they are enjoying their work? How do the children respond to them?
Ask the director or supervisor to arrange time for you to speak directly to the staff members who will care for your child. Ask about their training and experience and their views on caring for children. Notice how they respond to you. Are they friendly, helpful and happy to listen to your questions? Do you feel good about the possibility of having them provide care for your child?
Assessing the Setting
Child care centres should be places where you would like to spend your time. Consider whether the centre is clean and bright, has a comfortable temperature, and is free from unpleasant odours. Ask about sleeping arrangements. Check the kitchen to see how food is stored, prepared and served to the children. Look to see if the menu plan is posted. Notice whether the children have enough indoor or outdoor space to move around and play. Look at the toys. Are there enough? Is there a variety? Are they clean, in good repair and suited to the ages and interests of the children? Check the equipment and furniture. Is it also clean and in good repair?
Making a Confident Choice
After you have visited the centres on your list, compare your notes and think about the centres in relation to your family's needs and the quality of care you want for your child.
If you choose your child care centre carefully, basing your decision on what is important to you, you are bound to make the best choice. The time and effort you put into the task will help to ensure an ongoing arrangement that benefits both you and your family.
Child Care in Ontario
The Ministry of Children and Youth Services licenses child care centres and home child care agencies under the Day Nurseries Act. Each child care centre and home child care agency is inspected at least once a year. A regular licence is issued when all licensing requirements are being met on the day of the licensing inspection. When one or more of the licensing requirements is not being met, the agency or centre is issued a provisional licence which gives the operator limited period of time to meet the requirements of the Act. A provisional licence does not mean that the children are unsafe or that the centre or agency is about to close. In fact, if the inspection reveals a threat to a child's health, safety or welfare, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services will take immediate action to ensure the well-being of the children in care.
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