A daycare facility is established essentially to provide a caring environment for children while their parents or guardians are away at work or for some reason cannot take care of them fulltime, but are open to leaving them with qualified staff and helpers for a certain period every day where they are confident the child will be safe and happy.
However, this is only the very basic outline of what a daycare should provide children: with state licensing now mandatory for daycares to operate and regular staff training credits being an important part of maintaining the daycare's credibility on an annual basis, there is a lot more than basis meals, play equipment and sleeping space that children must be given at a daycare center. We take a look at some of these essential daycare factors that parents must look out for when choosing a daycare for the first time:
- Check for a known and licensed daycare facility that can prove the service quality it will offer your child to ensure happiness, healthy environment and all-round development of your precious child. Meet with the director of the daycare center and learn about his or her credentials; check for background of staff and other volunteer/helper workers who will be working closely with your child and the number of children they have enrolled in the group to determine their capability and dedication to proper early childhood development and education of children.
- Find out about the kind of play equipment being used, the amount of space available to the children for games and other activities, the hygiene and sanitation levels of the daycare as well as the kind of meals being given to the children and whether there is facility for any dietary supplements/changes for your child. Inform about allergies your child may have and confirm the ability of the staff to deal with these or other medical issues; daycare staff needs to be properly trained in administering First-aid and CPR.
- Learn about the daycare center's emergency plan and fire safety program for children's safety and health should any such situation arise; this is very important to establish before admitting your child in a daycare that they have adequate knowledge and training for dealing with all types of emergencies.
- Do not hesitate to ask questions about the daycare facility program's child-care attendants who will be ensuring the child adapts and learns to follow the center's routine according to a set schedule and what disciplinary action is taken for children that do not follow this; from learning structured activities to new rules and good habits, these features must be provided by the service to your satisfaction. Check for potty training techniques and measures followed by the daycare if your child is out of diapers or ready for that as some centers do not allow for children before being properly toilet trained or have extra fees for this or even changing nappies.
- Check for safety of the daycare rooms – latches, window-bars, covered electrical outlets, no broken furniture or jagged ends protruding from play equipment should be in sight in a quality daycare. Proper play, sleep, learning and outdoor activity zone should exist in the daycare, so don't miss out on these!
What extra training is necessary to become a licensed day care provider?
Apart from a good basic education and a love for teaching, handling children requires a lot of endurance and patience on the part of a daycare provider; besides, with new-age theories being brought in daily about child-rearing and teaching methods, there is bound to be controversy over what is a good measure of deciding facilities beneficial for childcare.
This is why it is important for any aspiring daycare provider to know about the fundamentals of caring for different age groups of children and also about special needs any particular child may have, be it a baby or toddler or a pre-schooler.
Every state has a licensing board that outlines the basic training that a daycare provider (director and teaching staff) needs to complete in order to get the required license to practice as a childcare facility support.
They also must get and maintain a national certification in First-Aid and pediatric CPR to ensure safety and emergency medical aid for children in their care at all times; this cannot be emphasized enough in the case of the daycare provider practicing away from a healthcare facility where ambulance may take time to reach, therefore swift, capable action is necessary on their part to keep children safe and healthy.
The Red Cross holds training sessions in emergency medical aid besides local hospitals and healthcare centers apart from the fire dept. so check with these if you are keen to become a daycare provider and get the necessary minimum training for better chances at getting employed as one.
Other qualifications for becoming a daycare provider include secondary education degree in either child development or psychology (education as a subject will also do in some cases) besides an ability to handle different types of children, even those with behavioral problems that require astute knowledge of child psychology and maturity to deal with a variety of situations.
Colleges and universities also offer daycare teacher and support staff programs besides specialization opportunities in various subjects that come in handy when applying to a daycare center for a job; however, it is important for any licensed daycare unit to show a certain degree of continuing education credits every year in order to hold on to their licensure.
These are proof of their interest in keeping abreast with latest developments in childcare and advanced techniques in handling all types of children; this can be a combination of attending subject specific classes, conferences, seminars and activities – and since there is no dearth of challenges in this line, there is also immense scope for job satisfaction, travel and growth, for this is one need that just won't go away, you agree?
Excerpted from the book Understanding Daycare Inside Out by Wings Of Success.
This excerpt has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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