Crucial Concerns when Enrolling Your Child in a Care Centre

After months of searching, you have finally found the child care centre that meets your standards. The caregivers are friendly and appear knowledgeable, their goals match yours, and most importantly, your child seems to be settling in well. However, despite all this, it is inevitable that you will encounter problems at some point, and therefore it is necessary to iron out any concerns that you might have. It will not only ensure a satisfactory outcome for you, but also your child as well as the care provider. This article highlights subtle issues that most parents tend to ignore when enrolling a child in a care centre.

Written Reports

How was your child's day at the care centre? Did they learn how to use the potty for the first time or help another child put on their jacket? These are essential questions whose answers cannot be obtained from a child. Most parents thus rely on verbal information that care providers give when they pick up their child from the care centre. However, this is not the best way to get such information. The best approach is to insist on daily written reports. The reports will raise any concerns the caregiver has with regards to your child's activities at the centre. Moreover, it is easy to keep track of your child's progress with written rather than verbal reports.

Food Friction

In most cases, it can be difficult to verify what your child eats at the child care centre.  While you can ask the care provider for a sample of the menu, it is reasonable to have concerns about how certain foods are prepared at the centre. However, you can only be sure of the food status by physically inspecting the kitchen. Most parents tend to skimp on this section, especially when the care provider takes them for a tour of the facility. Therefore, if you are concerned about the quality of food that your child is eating at the centre, you can insist on being present during food preparation. It will give a rough idea of how the centre goes about, ensuring that healthy food is served to the children. You should never assume that a healthy looking menu translates to a healthy-looking plate.  

Contact Play Supervision

The increase in superhero TV programs is a significant concern for most child care providers. It is because some children bring such kind of play to the centre, and this poses a risk to other children. With this in mind, correctly managed child care centres put in place measures to control contact play. However, as a parent, you should not assume that this happens everywhere. It is especially the case if you notice that your child loves imitating their favourite superhero or villain, or if your child doesn't look forward to going to the day centre. Therefore, ensure that you ask how the centre supervises contact play. It will give a general idea of how safe your child is at the centre.


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