The choice of a day-care should be a thoughtful decision, but also a matter of trust. Both parents should like the chosen day-care, so that they transmit security to the child. Choosing a daycare means asking many questions and being an observer. Start looking for a centre about six months before enrolling your child (the best ones fill up quickly) and use this list to find one that meets some minimum requirements.

Find a daycare that has an outside play area. Children should play outdoors in the open air each day due to the fact that running and jumping is good for their physical, mental and social development. If the best day care do not have a large enough outdoor play area, make sure they have at least a lot of indoor play space.

A good day-care should offer a welcoming environment and their employees should have a patient and understanding attitude with the little ones. This is important mostly for the little ones that are the ones that are in an adapting process.

It is important that the centre is flexible and allow you to drop off and pick up your children at different times, but you must also have very clear rules about how it works, from what hours it is open until what their emergency plans are.

                             Skilled and motivated employees

Day-care employees should have a college degree of at least two years of college or community college, with training in child development, preschool education, and first aid training for young children.

Observe how employees interact with children. Caregivers should be always responsible, very enthusiastic and most important well prepared. Find people who share your philosophy and your same habits regarding baby’s routines such as sleep time, discipline, nutrition and other important aspects of child care. A good daycare will try to keep small groups to stimulate interaction and development.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if the centre offers good working conditions to its employees, they will remain in that place of work and your child will not have to change teachers frequently.

Stimulating and appropriate activities according to age

The best day care centres have structured hours that include a lot of time for physical activities, times for children to relax, group programs, individual activities, meals, snacks and free time.

It is not common, however you can find daycares that offers videos activities. Television and videos should have little room during that time. If the videos are part of the activities, make sure they are appropriate for the age of the children and they have something educational, such as teaching about other cultures, caring for the animals, etc. An excellent child care or kindergarten in North Lakes can make a substantial difference to their development. A good program should stimulate the development of your child and make your daily life easier.

Find a daycare that offers a wide variety of toys that are appropriate for your child’s age, that also stimulate their development and help them to be creative, inducing imaginative play as they grow.

If you have to prepare your child’s lunch at home, find out what standards that day-care has for food. Some day-cares ask that only nutritious foods be included and they do not allow sweets for the sake of the children. If the day-care provides meals, find out if they cover all food groups and encourage good nutritional habits. This is especially important if your child has an allergy to any food. See this website for further details.