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Questions to Ask
There's nothing more important
to you as a parent than ensuring
that your child is being well
cared for while you are at work.
Beginning a search for child
care and early education can
often seem overwhelming. In
addition to some fundamentals
like hours of operation and the
areas discussed in
Assessing Your Needs, you
may find that you want to ask
some of the questions below --
and more!
Are you licensed?
Are you accredited?
How long have you been
in business?
How many children do you
have enrolled?
What are the age
groupings for each class?
What are the maximum and
minimum class sizes for each
age group?
What is the ratio of
caregivers to children in
each age group
What kind of education
do your teachers and
caregivers have? What is
their background in child
development? How do you
train your new staff
members? What kind of
ongoing education and
training do you provide for
or require of your staff?
What processes do you
use for ensuring the safety
and wellbeing of children in
your care? Do you do
background checks on all
your staff? Do you allow
visitors to come into your
facility and have contact
with the children? If so,
are they ever there alone
with them?
Tell me about your
programming. What kinds of
learning activities do you
provide for children at each
age level?
What is your philosophy
and approach to discipline?
Do you have a religious
focus at your center? If so,
which religion, and how do
the children in your care
experience it?
Do you celebrate or
acknowledge religious or
political holidays? If so,
how do you celebrate them?
Do you celebrate
children's birthdays?
How, and how often, do
you communicate with
parents?
How do you deal with
emergencies?
Are children allowed to
come to your center when
they're ill? If so, how do
you care for them, and how
do you protect the other
children from catching their
illness?
What are the primary
reasons that children are
absent from your center?
Do you routinely ask
parents to evaluate your
center? If so, may I see the
results of the most recent
evaluations?
What do you think are
the best aspects of your
center? What are you most
proud of?
Do you have any goals
for improving any aspect of
your center or the care you
provide?
