Finding great childcare for your child is first about figuring out what you consider ‘great’ childcare. Do you and your partner agree on what childcare should look like for your child? Here’s a checklist of things that you may view as important for your child:
ÿ Individual attention
ÿ Academics
ÿ Nurturing
ÿ Help with toileting
ÿ Proximity to home and school
ÿ Behaviour management
ÿ Close friends
ÿ Daily walks
ÿ Park and community outings
ÿ Creative freedom
ÿ Nutritious meals
ÿ Home cooked meals
ÿ Cultural teachings
ÿ Cartoons and movies
ÿ Crafts
ÿ Story time
ÿ Home setting
ÿ Lots of other children to play with
ÿ Other: (many other qualities you may think of)
Once you have an idea of what is most important to you from the list above, you then need to start looking around at what is available in your area. You have a number of choices when it comes to childcare such as a daycare centers, preschools or Montessori schools, home daycares or a nanny or relative.
Daycare centers are located in most neighbourhoods and they provide fairly standard care at the going rate. They offer nutritious meals, activities and socialization with other children. There are benefits to going with a daycare center, there is structure and routines that are a good preparation for school and they are licenced and run by educated staff.
Daycare centers obviously vary in what they offer, from playgrounds and formalized curriculums to cameras that you can access online to check in on your child. Some of the newest daycares where I live are now connected to the new public schools and make for an even easier transition from ‘preschool’ to kindergarten. Montessori schools are centers whose philosophy is child development through independence and creativity. Children are given more choices and there are less rules imposed on them in order to stimulate their ability to explore.
Home daycares vary to greater degrees than daycare centers, which means parents must do more leg work initially to find a good fit. It could be worth it though. Home daycares are often more affordable, offer more individualized attention and can still provide the education piece that many parents are looking for. Home daycare providers can also be in your neighbourhood and offer before and after school care once your child is in school which provides them with consistency.
The last choice you have is you or your spouse. If after going through the process of looking for suitable childcare, you don’t find any, then perhaps you have overlooked the possibility of extending your parental leave, switching to a part time position or even quitting your job to stay home with your child. No one can really make this decision for you, it has nothing to do with how much you love your child, and it has everything to do with your own personal career and financial goals and how they fit with parenting. Whatever your decision, if you’ve done your homework, you can rest easy that it will be a good fit for your family and your child.
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