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Yesterday I noticed an ad in the paper with a ton of daycare facilities calling for kiddies to join the class of 2016 (and here I thought back-to-school season was over) this reminded me how stressful it is to find a place you are comfortable with especially with all the options out there (I literally went from school to school in my area before settling on one) Everyone has different views on how to choose so I decided to ask a few of my friends how they chose and hopefully help parents who are searching, refine their categories 🙂
Aidan has been at his daycare centre since just after he turned one and I love the place…
Everyone has a different set of criteria for choosing a daycare for their child. For me, apart from safety and proximity, I wanted diversity.
I wanted him to interact with people from different racial, cultural and religious backgrounds and hopefully make him aware of the beauty of differences. (Seems obvious, but we live in a small town and although our friends are pretty diverse, I needed it to be part of his everyday)
The area I grew up in as a child was very, lets say, one dimensional and I didn’t really like how the smallest difference was frowned upon. I didn’t want that for him, I didn’t want him to be shocked that someone looked different to him or had different beliefs so wanted him to be integrated from a young age – Because although this is South Africa in 2016, people can still be very closed minded.
It worked out amazing, like I mentioned yesterday his teachers are different races and religions and his classmates look like a tiny UN meeting – You know like the real world.
That was what I wanted, I also went searching for a “vibe” some place my heart was okay with because I’m a hippie like that.
That was my criteria…here is what some moms I know (whose kids go to different play schools) had to say, hopefully some of this will help you find a loving home away from home for your littlies.
Yongama’s mommy Vuyo looked for
– Proximity to work and home and whether traffic would be an issue with drop off and pick up
– Cleanliness – especially bathrooms
– And do the teachers look happy
(Loved the last point, because if someone loves what they do it shows)
– Operating hours
– The layout of the facility
– How the teachers interact with parents and children
(I would hate to leave my child at a place where I did not have a good relationship with the teacher)
Lili’s mommy Busi wanted
– A beautiful and safe play ground
– Quality food and emphasis on nutrition
(Good point as Aidan eats much better with teacher Linda than with me, much)
Blake and Riley’s mommy Robyn checked on
– Age and developmentally appropriate activities
(she’s a teacher can you tell)
– Safety
– Gut instinct when checking out the place
