How to Find
the Right Daycare
The Gazette,
Montreal, July 29, 1991
Feature, 1500 words
Summer panic has set in, and the phone is ringing
off the hook at daycare centers all over Montreal.
John, a CEGEP teacher, and Liane, a data manager,
have just decided to remove their son David, 3 1/2, from his regulated
family home daycare. Theyve been dissatisfied ever since David's
best friend left and his caregiver replaced him with a baby.
Missing a child his own age, David watches too
much television. When I picked him up on a beautiful day last
week I could tell he was chomping at the bit, John says. I
asked the caregiver, Were they outside today? and she
looked really sheepish and said, No, the baby wasnt
feeling too well.
David has outgrown her. Although shes
very loving, well be shortchanging him if we dont put
him in a more stimulating environment. Hes ready for more
contact with other children, and we want him to have some exposure
to French.
Psychologists Diane and Ian lost their sitter
when she got a call from the Philippines reporting a death in the
family. Hours later she was on a plane. We were devastated,
Diane says. We all loved her.
They coped as best they could, staggering their
working hours and hiring temporary help to look after 18-month-old
Elizabeth while they waited the sitters return. Then they
received a letter saying she wouldn't be back.
Though they tried daycare-center care last year
and rejected it because Elizabeth was sick too often, they want
to try it again. An older Elizabeth should be better able to resist
the germs, they reason, and they like the reliability a daycare
center offers.
They also like the rich environment. For nurturing
an infant, one-on-one care was excellent, but now Elizabeth needs
more social stimulation, her psychologist parents believe. We
want her to learn sharing, interacting in a group, the rules of
society. She is cognitively ready.
Theyre currently putting their names on
waiting lists.
In Quebec, with approximately 130,000 mothers
of children under the age of 6 in the labor force and only about
45,000 licensed daycare spaces available, parents who need daycare
for the fall are desperate.
Experts advise them to start looking early—during
pregnancy for an infant and more than a year ahead for an older
child—but this year latecomers are in luck: daycare centers may
still have some spaces. (University and college centers like McGill—which
had a waiting list of 143 early in July—are the exception. Theyre
crammed with the offspring of parents returning to school to fight
the recession.)
But finding a space is only half the battle,
warns Barbara Kaiser, director and founder of Garderie Narnia, a
non-profit parent-incorporated center in Westmount. Parents must
be sure that it provides high quality care, she says.
In recent weeks television has bombarded us
with American daycare horror stories. Closer to home, a daycare
child nearly drowned in a city park last year; and the owners of
an Otterburn Park pre-school were charged with child abuse.
Every parents nightmare, these incidents
are actually extremely rare. But just plain bad daycare is not so
unusual, and its impact on children can also be substantial, studies
show.
To be licensed, Quebec daycare centers must
meet requirements enforced by the provincial child care office.
But even with inspectors visits, rules can't guarantee quality.
“Parents who know what to look for will find better daycare,” Kaiser
says. She urges them to inform themselves about quality care and
then to visit several centers, observing for at least an hour or
two.
Filled with toys, puzzles, games, books, art
supplies, science materials, sand and water tables, fish, moving
vehicles, climbing equipment and small children constantly on the
move, daycare classrooms may intimidate parents at first.
It is easy to miss subtle but important elements,
Kaiser says. Daycare is not mere babysitting. It should make children
feel loved and special, and it ought to nourish and stimulate them
to grow physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually.
John and Liane checked out three centers before
settling on Narnia, which they liked because of its Westmount Park
location and because it offers the children a lot of creative
choice.
What should parents look for? See if you know
whats wrong with these pictures drawn from actual observations
of Montreal daycare centers.
Thirteen 3-year-olds sit in a circle playing
an animal-identification game. Hugh, a blond in blue shorts, is
crying, but his teacher ignores him.
When an educator has too many children to care
for, she cant give them the attention they deserve. She needs
time to talk and listen to each child, to help, to smile, to comfort.
No child should ever be left to cry.
For preschoolers aged 3 to 5, experts recommend
a ratio of one teacher for every eight children and a maximum group
size of 16. For toddlers one teacher to five children, with 10 in
a group, is appropriate. And three or four babies are all any caregiver
can handle at once, with no more than eight altogether.
Because provincial norms allow a teacher to
care for up to five babies, these infant ratios are hard to find
in Quebec. A nanny, a sitter like Elizabeths, or a supervised
family caregiver like Davids—who may look after five children
in her own home, but only two babies—usually offers infants more
adult contact.
Leaving four older babies to play, the caregiver
takes Charlene to the bathroom next door to change her diaper.
The cuteness of playing babies disguises the
fact that this caregiver is breaking a basic safety rule: children
should never be left alone. Another caregiver ought to help out
in the bathroom, or the playroom should be visible from the diaper
area.
Other important safety features to note: emergency
numbers should be posted, cleaning supplies
and medicines locked up, kitchens and stairs blocked off, furniture
sturdy, and toys and equipment made of safe materials.
In preparation for nap, an efficient teacher
rapidly changes the diapers of seven two-year-olds in succession.
Preventing illness should be a top daycare priority.
As Diane and Ian discovered during Elizabeths daycare center
stay, having a sick child brings heartache, guilt, and lost work
days. Proper handwashing can cut respiratory illness and reduce
diarrhea by 50 percent.
Teachers should scrub their hands in hot running
water and liquid soap after each diaper change, before handling
food, and after wiping a runny nose. Diapers and food should always
be in separate areas, and all rooms should be spic and span.
It is free play time for the 4-year-olds.
Music blares from a ghetto blaster, and most of the children play
with blocks, legos or games. Though their hands are busy, their
faces are blank. The teachers lean against the walls, watching.
These children do not show any affect—meaning
they are not actively engaged in what they're doing but are merely
going through the motions.
Affect is a sign of high quality care. When
teachers love being with kids, their faces, posture, tone of voice,
words and actions all reflect their interest in them as individuals,
and the children respond with chatter, giggles, enthusiasm, and
intense involvement. This is how real learning takes place.
A varied schedule helps. Each day children need
both quiet and active play indoors and out, the opportunity to be
in a large group, a small group, and alone, and a mix of free play
with structured activity. Skilled caregivers make the transitions
between activities (as well as bathroom time and mealtime) just
as exciting as the activities themselves. Trust your
gut feelings, advises Wally Weng-Garrety, a Dawson professor
of early childhood education. If you dont feel
comfortable, keep looking.
Seek
centre where staff members have been trained
The director of a first-rate
center will welcome questions from parents, says Barbara Kaiser.
In addition to hours and fees, the conversation should cover
at least these points:
- Staff training.
Research shows that teachers trained in early childhood
education or child development provide better care.
- Turnover.
Low staff turnover is another sign of high quality. When
more than a quarter of the teachers are new, a center could
be in trouble.
- Profit or non-profit.
Though high quality care can occur anywhere and parents
should visit each center theyre considering, studies
indicate that care is usually better in non-profit centers.
- Parent involvement.
Daycare is a partnership, Kaiser says. At
a bare minimum, parents must have access to their children
at all times. In Otterburn Park, the caregivers didnt
permit parents to enter. Parents should touch base with
their child's teachers every day. If they sit on the board
of directors, they can help make crucial decisions about
policy and money.
- License.
Is it up to date and unconditional? Because Quebec doesnt
regulate preschools except to limit a childs stay
to four hours a day, a family that needs more time may prefer
a licensed center where rules about ratio, group size, staff
qualifications, safety, and health apply.
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Copyright © 1991 by Judy Sklar
Rasminsky. This material may not be reproduced in any manner or
medium without written permission. For information, contact judy@challengingbehavior.com.
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