I don't have any experiences on day homes. Here are some suggestions on picking daycares from a teacher in Child Education. Hope it helps a little bit. ' p9 u! M; L7 c; ^- Y' X8 `7 b8 D4 y- z
It will be important for you to go and visit any centre you are thinking of putting your child in – even a couple times - and stay for the morning to see what the program is like and what the routines (snack, getting dressed to go outside, lunch and nap time) look like. I would think twice about any centre that won’t let you do this. 2 F/ O8 H, k' d/ ^ 1 C d8 w6 j4 d8 _. s5 QWhile there: * V& O5 e. j! \$ S2 u- Listen to how staff speak to children (most staff will be on their best behavior when parents are visiting but it does give you a sense of who caregivers are). G v1 N2 E# ]5 S t3 f( ` m5 ^
- Do staff engage in play with children (positive) or do they just watch them, “supervise” (negative)? . V! T6 C7 o; N, x* u/ d- Do staff sit with children at snack and lunch and engage in conversation (positive) or do they stand most of the time and rush children to eat (negative and actually against licensing requirements – staff must sit with children during lunch time)?3 V* C: q. R7 u
- Do children wash their hands before and after eating? Do staff wash their hands before and after eating? Do staff wash their hands after blowing noses?0 l5 K) ^5 v3 t6 Z) ^. T5 N
- Do children get free play time to pick what they would like to do or are they “taught” in large groups with compulsory circle time (inappropriate especially for toddlers)?* L& L$ W1 X' F' E
- Do staff correct children’s artwork or complete it for children (negative)? Does all artwork look the same (negative)? & g8 Q; t0 s2 K: u- There should not be work sheets, colouring sheets or flash cards – young children need hands-on experiences and opportunities to manipulate toys and materials themselves – young children learn through play rather than by being taught to memorize letters and numbers by adults5 L# a0 ?& _$ i1 s" E8 @
- Do staff let children know the reasons for their concerns when a child is doing something staff do not want them to do (“When you flick sand, I’m worried it will get in children’s eyes.” - positive) or do they use “No, Stop and Don’t” or “I need you to…” to guide behaviour (negative) . e4 h; u' g/ F" T- Do staff offer children choices and attempt to problem solve (i.e. “What can we do so that you both get a chance to play with the truck?”)' B/ O. a1 l1 |: S" O
- A toddler or preschool room should not feel like, look like nor operate like an elementary classroom ( f! _1 Z; N4 h( m( P( y7 V8 h' j5 b+ ^+ Z
- See if the centre is Accredited or at least going through the Accreditation process – doesn’t necessarily mean that it is automatically a good centre but it is a start. : j c: A: I$ ?& ? v" P 8 C, N2 O6 Q2 m( M D6 U! O0 ^- Ask to take a look at the centre’s Child Guidance Policy or Discipline Policy – better centres will not include “time out” in their discipline methods " T0 @7 f1 [% v: h4 ?6 S! l p) t) B1 Z! L- Look at the walls for staff credentials – level 3 is the highest credential (usually a 2 year diploma in early childhood or equivalent), level 2 is one year of training in ECD and level 1 is 45 hours of ECD training) – although there are some quite wonderful level 1’s and 2’s working with children!2 Z+ M& b. c+ e- ~# u
) T+ H, B! ]: r) G- N7 i4 jThe important thing is that you feel comfortable and like the centre is somewhere that you want to leave you child.
) k' W. j# t! E; v去dayhome好,对三岁以内少得病,早晚接送也较灵活,接晚了不罚款,离家较近,价格较低,服务好,饮食好(中西餐结合),可学国语.而去daycare人太多,甚至有病的孩子也往那送,发病机会较高,接送时间太死,周末更别想(dayhome 可以如你有事在周末,或几小时都可以),大部分daycare离家较远,价格太贵,服务一般(因工作人员只是雇员不会象雇主一样的精心),小孩不爱吃饭也不会给你另做一些可口的给ta,甚至也不喂.只吃西餐很少有中餐,只讲英语不讲国语,觉得小孩还是学点国语好,英语将来上学自然又成为ta们的母语.daycare的最大的好处是设施齐全.
听说西南地区还有一家五证齐全dayhome特火,好多人在外面排队好几个月都进不去,很多走了去daycare又回去了.好象在Rutherford一带,离我太远搞不准. 2 T. J/ V: Y- R \' ~2 ] % N t" d' Q) r% {9 f, V! x8 a/ e 0 j# ^ n$ W, S* x/ a