Lots of parents begin to hunt for child care this time of year. Mom or dad is going back to work or the family is moving, or perhaps a child is not doing as well as parents expected.
What parents are really looking for is a packaged environment. This environment must meet their parental and pocketbook expectations while serving their child's basic and educational needs. That's a tall order.But a packaged environment really is exactly what parents should be looking for -- the whole show -- primary needs, social needs, intellectual needs, and spiritual needs, which makes for a very enriched spirit -- that's good.
First impressions are first impressions. Hospital or play arena? How many doors must open to get to the play room? Safety, you say? What's safe about miles of hallway during a fire? In a child-first designed place, children should have easy access to outdoors -- one step away -- unless outdoor play is an afterthought.
Where's the staff? A staff member should always be available to greet any and all guests with the utmost affection. Too busy? It should never happen.
That means a place is understaffed. If a teacher or provider can't leave a classroom for a few minutes because the ratio will soar, there's a serious problem.
And staff members should always smile, be willing to talk to parents, guests, workmen, and anyone interested in what the children are doing. It's child care, remember. It's fun. If it's not fun, it's not child care; it's a play prison.
An interested staff member who introduces herself is a sign that the administration is on the ball.
A staff member who knows the answers to questions and can take any parent on a tour is a staff member who has been well-chosen. Staff members who lurk in corners waiting for the
"strangers" to take off is a sign that this facility is poorly run from the top.
The whole place should be happy and make your child want to stay. Lights on, please. Decorations up, please -- especially children's art work.
Children's things should be on the walls. It's a children's place, remember? Sometimes the noise level will be high, and the din of children playing might be toxic to visitors. Parents should look at faces. Are they happy? Happy children can be very loud, but it's a productive loud -- things are happening that are good.
Sometimes it's a quiet time when children are looking and listening. They might not be sitting upright, but the learning is still going on.
Sometimes they will be collected in a group. They might be reciting, singing or listening. Whatever they are doing, they should be doing with all their hearts -- because they want to.
No matter the activity, teachers should be working with or tending or just having fun with the children, because that's what good teachers do best.
That always includes meals. A good teacher has lunch with her children, because lunch is a bonding time. Meals should be made well enough that both teachers and children want to eat them.
Parents looking for the whole environment will know they found it when they see love between providers and kids. Looking for child care is like looking for a happy elephant. It's right there and obvious, or it's not.
Judy Lyden operates and teaches at a preschool in Evansville, Ind. Write to her c/o The Evansville Courier, P.O. Box 268, Evansville, IN 47702, or e-mail her at (jlyden@evansville.net).