Choosing a Quality Preschool

Let's get this out of the way: life is full of difficult decisions. As adults we have to commit to payments on vehicles, decide if we want to rent or get a mortgage, and, we are even tasked with handling the responsibility of what's for dinner. The responsibilities become even greater with the decision to become a parent. You then have insurance hassles, diaper duty, sleepless nights, and more love than you ever thought was possible. If you are a working parent, chances are you have thought about or even had nightmares about child care. The cost, the center itself, the idea of handing over your most precious gift in the entire world to essentially to a stranger daily, and trusting that they will love your baby in every way your baby deserves is overwhelming; believe me, I know.

When I was about 15 weeks pregnant and I realized that I was really going to have a baby, I knew that I had to look for child care. There was no other option for me, and, even as an early childhood veteran, the thought of leaving my infant for a day broke my heart. Through the help of coworkers, friends, and family, we made a decision on a wonderful childcare center and I never felt uneasy about leaving my baby with his caretakers. Did I miss him? Yes. Did I cry sometimes while I pumped in our break room? Of course.

I was definitely at an advantage when it came to choosing a quality child care center. I have been in early childhood since 2008, so I know what quality looks like. I also have a reliable group of early childhood experts surrounding me that could help me with any questions or concerns that I had (and still have.) While giving a tour to a potential family a while back, I noticed that a lot of families do not know what questions to ask or what to expect when they take a tour. Placing your child in child care is a brand new world. We are not babysitters that spend our days watching Disney and PBS, but, you also will not find student desks in any of our classrooms. So, what is quality? How do you know if you should enroll immediately or run away; how in the world does anything get accomplished with sixty preschoolers running through your hall every day?

Be sure you know what you need

I know you want child care, but, what do you really expect from the experience? Are you needing full-time, part-time, mother's day out, or drop-in care? Do you want a home setting, a faith-based center, or a more traditional school experience? Also, how important is the location? Do you want a place that is close to your work or your home, or is travel not a sticking point as long as the center is exactly what you are looking for? Make sure that the center is open for the entire time that you need care. Before you explore what is out there, make a list of what you are needing. This will narrow down your search and give you far less work to do when it comes to visiting centers.

Determine Budget

Child care is expensive and it always will be. Privately owned centers pay their teachers from tuition and donations that come in. There is no federal support with the exception of subsidy programs such as Workforce Solutions and NACCRRA, and very few programs qualify for grant money. Teachers are grossly underpaid and it is unfortunate because, in my opinion, early childcare teachers should be granted sainthood. If early child care professionals were paid what they were worth, staff would be driving Teslas to work every day. Now off of my soapbox and back into the real world. Make sure that you are realistic when determining what you can pay. Quality exists at most budget levels, but, you will find that there is a breaking point. If you qualify, Workforce Solutions and NACCRRA are amazing resources that help with tuition costs. There are a few other programs that also offer scholarships, so make sure that you ask to see if you qualify.

Clean and Safe

For me, this is crucial. FYI: clutter and small messes are normal and in my opinion, you want to see this when visiting centers. This means that active learning is going on and that the classroom is engaged. What you do not want to see are unsafe materials down within children's reach, personal bags or purses in the open, or dirty surfaces.

Materials

This is the Goldilocks check. Is there too much, too little, or just right? You want shelves to have plenty of activities for children and choices in all centers; but, you do not want to see shelves stuffed with mismatched games or empty shelves. The room should be inviting, not chaotic, and certainly not sterile.

Happy and Friendly

If you call a center and ask when you can come by for a tour, be weary if they make you only come at a certain time on a certain day. They may have office hours and this is understandable. There is a lot that is involved with running a center and many directors have a portion of their day blocked out to complete these tasks. They should, however, give you a variety of choices when you can stop by. A major red flag is being told that you must call before you come by and that you are never allowed to drop in without notice.

Accreditations

All centers in the state of Texas must follow the Texas Minimum Standards. This is the bare minimum of rules that must be followed in order to operate a child care center. Some centers strive to go above and beyond the minimum standards and receive state and national accreditations. A few accreditations to keep an eye out for are Texas Rising Star which goes from 2-4 star and NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children).

Visit https://texasrisingstar.org/ and https://www.naeyc.org/ for more information.

Ratios

Ratios are measured by the number of children in relation to the number of teachers. If you have a classroom with 10 children and 1 teacher, it will be 10:1. The state has set minimum ratios and when you hear them, you may be a little appalled. For instance, in an 18-month room, one teacher may have nine children. Can you imagine taking care of nine toddlers on a daily basis? I can and it is utter chaos.

Caregiver Qualifications

Quality, accredited centers are always going to always be striving to hire candidates with degrees because if they are accredited, this is a requirement. However, higher education is not the only basis of qualification. Make sure you ask how long the teacher in your child's potential room has been involved in early childhood. Also, make a point to ask how the turnover rate is at the center. Early childhood has a high turnover, but if you find a center with a stable workforce, you are on the right track.

For more info

Now that you are an expert on all things child care, pop on over to http://www.dfps.state.tx.us and get an idea of what is out there. All licensing visits for the past three years are on here for every center, along with any deficiencies that the centers may have received. Good luck on your journey and know that the perfect fit is out there for you and your family. Here at Vinson Morris Children's Center, we do everything that we can to make sure every family feels at home and that your early childhood experience is the absolute best it can be. Oh, and the answer to the question about how anything gets accomplished with sixty children running through the hallway every day, when I figure it out, you will be the first to know!