I don't have any experiences on day homes. Here are some suggestions on picking daycares from a teacher in Child Education. Hope it helps a little bit. , N% H- @/ X3 s6 t z K8 E! h9 XIt will be important for you to go and visit any centre you are thinking of putting your child in – even a couple times - and stay for the morning to see what the program is like and what the routines (snack, getting dressed to go outside, lunch and nap time) look like. I would think twice about any centre that won’t let you do this. # U6 h: Q( P$ ~4 Y n) ]& @) L6 W6 h9 m& n4 l, ?$ p; c7 h
While there: " C* ~" z) E+ [$ u$ p6 b B+ |- Listen to how staff speak to children (most staff will be on their best behavior when parents are visiting but it does give you a sense of who caregivers are)+ s6 ]; l; f& a9 A& V
- Do staff engage in play with children (positive) or do they just watch them, “supervise” (negative)?* V4 r7 d0 }1 _$ }0 i- R) b
- Do staff sit with children at snack and lunch and engage in conversation (positive) or do they stand most of the time and rush children to eat (negative and actually against licensing requirements – staff must sit with children during lunch time)?6 Z9 a7 O2 {5 A' @/ n
- Do children wash their hands before and after eating? Do staff wash their hands before and after eating? Do staff wash their hands after blowing noses?1 F: m4 `( k+ D
- Do children get free play time to pick what they would like to do or are they “taught” in large groups with compulsory circle time (inappropriate especially for toddlers)?& C4 v$ W9 ^) N0 e: P* B! e, f
- Do staff correct children’s artwork or complete it for children (negative)? Does all artwork look the same (negative)? 2 {# {* r+ v4 h1 {0 ?9 S+ K7 h- There should not be work sheets, colouring sheets or flash cards – young children need hands-on experiences and opportunities to manipulate toys and materials themselves – young children learn through play rather than by being taught to memorize letters and numbers by adults! B5 j" P, x' c. q$ ^# t
- Do staff let children know the reasons for their concerns when a child is doing something staff do not want them to do (“When you flick sand, I’m worried it will get in children’s eyes.” - positive) or do they use “No, Stop and Don’t” or “I need you to…” to guide behaviour (negative) % P: @7 Y' \& n1 W2 J- Do staff offer children choices and attempt to problem solve (i.e. “What can we do so that you both get a chance to play with the truck?”)+ `4 Y+ a* H P- `+ e& p# G
- A toddler or preschool room should not feel like, look like nor operate like an elementary classroom# D& H# L1 Y: u
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- See if the centre is Accredited or at least going through the Accreditation process – doesn’t necessarily mean that it is automatically a good centre but it is a start. 3 M1 |2 J$ G: F. V& S N. O* y/ V q/ u
; a, H0 e$ m/ Z7 | ~- Ask to take a look at the centre’s Child Guidance Policy or Discipline Policy – better centres will not include “time out” in their discipline methods* |0 N5 B; b) T0 F' K
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- Look at the walls for staff credentials – level 3 is the highest credential (usually a 2 year diploma in early childhood or equivalent), level 2 is one year of training in ECD and level 1 is 45 hours of ECD training) – although there are some quite wonderful level 1’s and 2’s working with children!. E% y Y. N) z, l0 Z" k: x
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The important thing is that you feel comfortable and like the centre is somewhere that you want to leave you child.
6#钱小妹 8 |5 p) ?) _2 A5 a8 R0 B4 ^0 [: E ! }7 h0 C9 e9 q* |& Z6 D e8 OMy daughter's daycare let us stay if we want. So you just need to find the right daycare.