Search online for questions to ask on a tour of a day care center and you’ll find more interview prompts than even Barbara Walters could muster. After all, is there anything more important the learning the sundry and meticulous details of the people and businesses we trust to look after our children? When taking in-person tours of the child care centers you are considering, it’s easy to forget to ask about things that are really important to you. Is the center accredited/licensed/qualified? If it’s on your list, you’ve probably already answered that question. Are the employees CPR certified? We know you’ll remember that one.
Parents are great at asking all of the business questions about school capacity, cost, billing, security and standard rules, just to name a few. But one of the most important questions parents forget to ask is simply: what is the daily schedule and how will I know what my child did all day? Unfortunately, it’s something you don’t understand the value in until you’re trying to decipher your child’s cryptic and spotty description of a day in the life of a 2- or 3-year old. Most times, you’ll be lucky if you get an accurate account of that day’s lunch menu.
Even if you’ve narrowed down your child care considerations to the highest accredited, certified and trustworthy center, how do they plan to communicate to you what your little one did while under their care? Should you expect to see posts about their activity on Facebook? Will you receive a report at the end of the day? If so, what does it detail?
Kiddie Academy offers individual electronic reports for each child maintained throughout the day and delivered to parents at pick-up. They include photos and videos of their children from throughout the day, each child’s portfolio of work, details about their lunch and snacks, and an account of all the lessons and activities the classroom worked on that day.
As a parent, it’s hard enough to trust someone else to watch your kids, but it gets easier when almost every minute of their day is recounted in a summary when you pick them up. You’ll know a lot more about their day than what the lunch (maybe) was.
