Every centre looks reasonable on a tour. Floors are clean, displays are up, and someone friendly walks you round. The difficulty is that the things that determine your child's day are mostly not visible in twenty minutes.
Here is what we would ask, including of ourselves.
Questions worth asking
- What are the ratios in the room my child would be in, and how are they maintained during breaks?
- How long have the educators in that room been here? Staff turnover is the most telling number in childcare and almost nobody asks for it.
- What happens when a child is having a hard day? Listen for whether the answer is about the child's needs or about compliance.
- How will I hear about my child's day? And then: what does that actually look like — an app, a conversation, a form?
- What is the illness policy, and how is it enforced? A vague answer here means an outbreak later.
- How do you handle biting, or hitting? Every centre has both. The answer tells you a great deal.
- What is your outdoor policy in winter? In Edmonton this matters enormously.
- Can I see the actual room at a busy time?
What to watch, which matters more
How adults speak to children. Not to you — to children, when they think you are looking at the display board. Tone, eye level, whether a crying child is attended to.
Whether children look at ease. Not necessarily quiet. At ease. Do they approach adults? Do they seem to know where things are?
Whether educators are on the floor. Down at child level and engaged, or standing and supervising?
What is on the walls. Twenty identical adult-directed crafts, or children's own varied work with their words recorded?
The transition. Ask to be there when the room moves from one activity to the next. Transitions are where the real quality of a room shows.
Trust the room, not the tour
Visit at 10 AM on a weekday when everything is running, not at 1 PM when children are asleep. Ask to stay a bit longer than the tour. Any centre confident in its rooms will let you.
If you would like to do exactly that here, book a visit — mornings are best.
