This post is sponsored by Scottsdale Child Care & Learning Centers. SCCLC programs provide nurturing baby day care, as well as quality day care for two-, three- and four-year-olds and private kindergarten. Click to learn more about how all three SCCLC locations are dedicated to providing a safe, healthy, and happy learning environment for your child.
Hindsight is 20/20, right? When I looked for daycare options for my daughter when she was about a year old, I found a perfect solution for us with just a couple clicks of a mouse and a single phone call. It was close, it was affordable, and it ended up being a great fit for our family. But I will admit I got lucky with my search and didn’t have to look very long, hard or far from home.
Having talked to more moms about various child care experiences (nightmares in some cases) I realize now that I was extremely fortunate. There is nothing more heart-wrenching than leaving your little one in a situation that doesn’t feel 100% right. So while the HOW of my choosing SCCLC for our daughter was perhaps a happy accident, the end result was a blessing. And knowing what I know now I do have some suggestions for questions to ask when choosing a day care for your little one.
What are you paying for? Are diapers and wipes included? What about food and milk? If your child stays home sick or you take a family vacation, will you be charged tuition anyway? While the well-being of our kids is too precious to put a price tag on, let’s face it: child care is expensive and every dollar counts. Make sure when you compare tuition schedules that you’re asking what exactly is included. I appreciated the fact that at Scottsdale Learning Center we were charged only for the time our daughter was actually there, and also that diapers, wipes, food and milk were included for her age group.
What are the illness policies and protocols? Toddlers share germs a lot better than they share toys. While it’s no fun to have a sick kid at home, it’s way more stressful sending a healthy kid to school in the morning and finding out they have a runny nose at the end of the day. The sniffles are inevitable, but the way your day care handles them is important. How do they notify parents of cases of contagious bugs in the class (hint: I’d be suspicious if there was no mention that these things do get passed around)? How do they handle the administration of medicine to your child if needed? We were at SCCLC during the first H1N1 panic of 2009 and I was extremely impressed with the precautions taken and also the transparency and willingness to disclose important information when a case was diagnosed.
What does a day look like? It’s hard enough to be away from your little one – even harder if you have no idea what they’re up to all day and they’re not verbal enough yet to tell you. One of my favorite parts of being a SCCLC parent was the weekly lesson plans, the detailed schedule kept for every class, and the daily reports at the end of each day. It brought me peace of mind to know how long a nap my daughter had taken, what she’d had for lunch, and often a funny anecdote relayed by one of her teachers.
What about the ownership? When you look for daycare centers you quickly find that – at least in this area – there are a lot of large chain options and a good amount of very small, in-home options, but not a lot in the middle. There are perhaps pros and cons to each of these extremes, but I liked having a child care center that was large enough to have great resources and amenities for parents and kids – a website, blog, a library of parenting books and even parenting classes – but still locally- and family-owned. Don’t be afraid to ask a potential child care provider about their years in business, and how involved the owners are in the operations and philosophies playing out in the classroom.
There is nothing more important than your children’s heath, safety and well-being, within your care and outside of it. I hope this gives you a few things to think about when choosing child care for your little ones. Good luck!
Scottsdale Child Care & Learning Centers has generously offered SMB readers FREE registration and 50% your first week of tuition if you tell them you heard about them from Scottsdale Moms Blog. Visit their website or call any of their three locations – Kierland, Raintree or Carefree – for more information.
My 2 year old just started going to one of the SCCLC locations this Fall and I sent my twins there for their pre-school years. I also have nothing but positive experiences with the staff and teachers.
I also really like the flexibility in the drop off and pick up times and days. Last week my husband ended up in the hospital. I called in and was able to take Aubrey to school on a non-school day. This was such a life saver for us. I don’t know what I would have done without this option!
Yet another local business we have probably crossed paths at over the last few years, Angela! 🙂 Yes, the flexibility of scheduling (which days as well as how long each day) was a huge benefit to us when we were there. Thanks for the comment!
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