Questions to ask on a daycare tour
Twenty questions worth asking, in the order they matter, plus five things to watch that no answer can fake.
Ask about the people, then the day, then what happens when things go wrong, then money, in that order. The room, the toys and the name of the approach tell you less than who is in the room and how long they have been there. And ask the teachers, not only the director; the tour is a sales pitch, and the teachers are the product.
About the people
- How long have you worked here? Ask the teacher in your child's room, then ask the director the same thing.
- What is your favorite thing about working here? A real answer comes fast. A pause tells you something too.
- Who covers lunch breaks, bathroom breaks and sick days: a regular floater the children know, or whoever is free?
- At what time of day do you combine rooms, and how many children are in the room at 5:15?
- Is every adult in the building background-checked before their first day, including whoever cleans?
About the day
- Talk me through a Tuesday, hour by hour.
- How much time do the children spend outside, and what keeps them in?
- Is there a television or a tablet in the room, and when is it on?
- What happens at rest time if my child does not sleep?
- What do you do when a child bites, or hits, or will not join in?
About safety and what goes wrong
- How does my child get signed out, and what stops the wrong adult from taking them?
- Tell me about the last time something went wrong here, and what changed afterward.
- When would you call me during the day, and what would you save for pickup?
- What sends a child home sick, and what does not? A center that sends children home for a runny nose will have you leaving work every other week.
- May I see your most recent inspection report? It is public on checkccmd.org anyway; what you are testing is whether they hand it over.
About money and the calendar
- What is the total I would pay in a year, including registration, supplies, activity fees and the summer?
- When did prices last go up, and by how much? When is the next increase?
- Which days are you closed? Can I have the list?
- What happens on a Frederick County Public Schools snow day, a two-hour delay, and a professional day?
- If we start in the twos room, do we move up automatically, or do we go back on a list?
Five things to watch instead of ask
- How adults speak to children when the tour is not the point. Down at their height and by name, or across the room in a raised voice?
- Whether the children are absorbed or drifting. A room of engaged children is loud in a particular, contented way.
- What the walls hold. Children's own work at children's height, or a display bought as a set?
- Whether the staff look at each other. People who like working together run a calmer room than people who do not.
- What it smells like. A place that is cleaned properly does not smell of the diaper pail, and parents who ignored that regretted it.
One last thing. Ask to walk into a room, not past a window, and ask whether you would be welcome to sit in the corner for the first few mornings once your child starts. A program confident in an ordinary Tuesday says yes to both.
Rules change, and so do programs. Before you rely on anything here, check it with the Maryland State Department of Education's Office of Child Care, or ask the center to show you.
We are opening a full-day Christian center in Frederick County. We are not licensed yet and cannot offer a place, but you can join our list and hear first.