The Most Important Thing to Have in a Home Day Care

I can tell you why I just disliked a daycare center and refused to put my children there that may help you.

The director didn't know squat, the rooms were clean but grungy,old,worn out looking including the toys. Their enrollment was hurting big time so I figured they must not be to good, looked like both my kids 7yrs. and 6mos. would be bored and my 7year old made a comment in the car when we left about the toys were broken and icky looking. The outside appearance wasn't good either. I want a place that shines with personality, and physically shine as well. A nice place with green nicely cut grass, a playground that looks like it's in working order and clean and bright, and the inside as well. A bright fun happy place. The day I went to was dreadful. I think it's all about the atmosphere, what are my children going to be doing, who is going to be supervising their play, who's going to kiss their boo-boo's when their hurt. That's what I look for.

Feeling your child will be well cared for, safe and not neglected, Having a very clean and organized house, having a safe environment, having a good connection with the daycare provider, having quiet areas for your child to nap, having a smoke free, pet free home, having a planned safe yard and scheduled time for outside play.

Contact your county and ask for the list of questions they recommend to ask a daycare provider and that will help you know what is important to the majority of families.

I may be the odd person out in responding to you but......

I think the previous things mentioned are great and are good things to offer and to look for, but I get frustrated by these "lists" of what makes a good daycare.

I tell everyone that anybody can accomplish those things. I can make sure my house if gorgeous, and spend money on having the best toys, and make sure my lawn is lush and green, but that does NOT mean in any way that I provide great childcare.

If I work 11-12 hour days with kids and spend the remainder of my "time-off" cleaning and doing lawn care I will not be well rested to take care of your kids.

Would you rather I be playing with and taking care of your kids or cleaning my house? Because most day I can't do both. I have actually had Childcare Social Workers say that something to be wary of is a perfectly clean house because that means something is being sacrificed in order for the provider to have the means to keep her house "perfect"

Now that I have gotten that off my chest. I do think it is important that you keep things nice looking and organized, but I think it is more important that you figure out what you want to offer. What is important to you? If you are someone that thinks that it is important to provide a "preshool" like environment then you aren't going to do well with a family that just wants their kids to play and be kids. And the opposite is true, if you are the type that doesn't think kids need to be formally schooled so early on in life, then you aren't going to do well providing that service.

Find out what you want to offer to families and expand on that. You will get parents that agree with your philosophy and the families that don't will find another daycare that fits them better, and everyone will be the better for it.

Once you get established, find out what each parent/family expects. I have some families that do want a daily "report" and I will email them or give them a verbal run-down of the day. Other parents don't really care what they ate on a day-to-day basis, or how many times they pooped, they just want to know anything non-typical (time-out, strange behavior, a new word, started to take steps, etc.)

You will never be able to please and offer everything everyone wants, so that is why I think it is best to find out what you want to offer and do that. You will be much happier and so will your daycare parents.

This is what I look for-

1)Things to do besides t.v. (crafts, educational materials, games, etc.)
2)Dedicated outside time as much as possible- a fenced in yard is a HUGE plus, and something I always look for- safety issue. Some type of play structure or park nearby, or something for the kids to play on.
3)A variety of different toys that are developmentally appropriate for a wide variety of ages (ie. not all stuff for 0-2 year olds)
4)Has to be clean, and have regular cleaning of toys.
5) A "report card" of the kid's day is really helpful- what/how much they ate, any problems, do they need to bring more diapers, mood, how long was their nap, when did they go to the bathroom last, etc.
6) Healthy food that the kids will eat.
7)A routine- some semblance of order.
8) Discipline- for me, that means willing to put my daughter in time out if necessary (so she doesn't pick up bad habits)

Hope that helps. These aren't in any particular order- it's just the order I thought of them in.

Ditto to everything Caryn said. She summarized it really well. I just switched daycares and here is what I looked for...sorry if it repeats some of Caryn's comments.

1) Organized play area - places for things, variety of toys for different age levels
2) Discipline / Manenrs - I looked for how the kids at the daycare treated the provider - this tells a lot about the respect they have for her/him. I made sure that the place I choose had a plan for discipline as well as teaching manners
3) Outside area to play - this is important, when it is nice out I want my kids outside playing - I insisted on a fenced yard and someone who had lots of toys for outdoor play
4) Healthy food/snacks - I am not a huge nut (don't insist on everything being super healthy, but don't want tons of processed food either).
5) Education - While I don't expect the daycare to be a preschool, I do want to make sure there is an activity that lends to learning...letter of the week, color of the week (Etc)
6) Notes - I don't care if I get a sheet sent home with me every day, but I do appreciate a "notes" board that covers everything (what food was served, what was special about the day)

Good luck - It takes someone special to have the patience to do daycare and enjoy it.