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For
Families > Looking for Child Care >
Visiting and Evaluating Programs
- Checklist
for Child Care Centers -- Toddlers
Your visit to
several child care programs is a crucial part of your selection process. What
you observe during your visit will tell you many things about a program.
- Take along checklist and questions to ask during your visit to the
program.
- Take notes on your observations and on answers given to your questions by
the providers, teachers and/or directors. These notes will be helpful in
determining further questions, and to differentiate between the programs you
have observed.
- Allow plenty of time to tour the entire facility, both indoor and outdoor
spaces.
- Schedule an initial visit by yourself, and then bring your child with you
during your second visit if possible.
- Make sure to observe the group that your child would attend.
- Feel free to follow up your visit with further calls to the director or
provider. Be sure that all your questions and concerns are addressed so that
you can feel confident about the care your child will receive.
- Ask to meet all of the staff who will care for your child during the day.
Name of
Center:
Classroom
Visited:
Contact
Person:
Date Visited:
| Question |
Yes |
No |
| The teachers seem nurturing and affectionate with the children. |
Yes |
No |
| The teachers take the children outside each day for fresh air. |
Yes |
No |
| Children are protected from power sources in all rooms (all electrical
outlets are covered, all wires are out of reach, furnaces and space
heaters are properly vented and used safely). |
Yes |
No |
| All breakable, sharp, or potential choking hazards are out of reach,
and poison and medicine are in locked cupboards. There are no dangling
curtain/blind cords that pose a choking hazard. |
Yes |
No |
| The floors are clean, stairs and doorways are protected with locked
gates, and soft surfaces for sitting and lying on are available. |
Yes |
No |
| Question |
Yes |
No |
| Teachers respond to children’s communications. |
Yes |
No |
| Are the children happily engaged in activities? |
Yes |
No |
| Would your child be comfortable here? |
Yes |
No |
| Are the teachers patient and good natured with the children? |
Yes |
No |
| Are the teachers experienced with care of young children? |
Yes |
No |
| Are children encouraged to learn and grow at their own pace? |
Yes |
No |
| Do the teachers show respect for the children? Is discipline handled
in a calm, consistent way to encourage positive behavior? |
Yes |
No |
| Question |
Yes |
No |
| Does the program have books, pictures, foods, dolls, and other
materials that celebrate diverse ethnic and cultural groups? |
Yes |
No |
| Are there plenty of bright, colorful objects and toys at toddlers’
eye-level that they are allowed to choose? |
Yes |
No |
| Are sensory play activities included in the children’s day (e.g.,
sand, water, clay, Play-Doh, shaving cream “painting,” pudding
painting)? |
Yes |
No |
| Are the toddlers taken outside at least twice per day? What activities
are available for active play when the weather is bad? |
Yes |
No |
| Are toddlers encouraged to use words to resolve conflicts with other
children? |
Yes |
No |
NOTES:
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