what are my child care options?

Center-based care  * interview checklist

• Center based care is generally convenient and the easiest to access of the potential child care options.
• It is also one of the more expensive options.
• The quality of care can vary widely. Spend at least an hour watching what goes on in the classroom; your child will be there for many more hours.
• Demand for center-based care is high.
• Centers are licensed by the State which means they have met there States licensing safety standard. Individual States Child Care Licensure Regulations

Family Daycare  * interview checklist

• Licensed family daycare is regulated and monitored by the state through safety audits, which increases the likelihood that the care is safe and that the individual doing the care is professional. Check your local States rules and regulations. Individual States Child Care Licensure Regulations
• Licensed family daycare homes typically consist of one adult and up to 6 children, only two of whom can be under 2.
• Family daycare providers often are mothers and/or teachers of young children who wish to care for their own child and/or others in their home.
• At their best, they provide convenient, flexible, relatively inexpensive, home-like environments with lots of individual attention, structure, and nurturance.
• These types of environments can be especially good at meeting the needs of children 0-3.
• There is a wide range in the quality of family daycare and it can be time consuming to find.

Au Pair

• Are typically young women from other parts of the country or the world who make a contract through an agency to live in your home for one year.
• Parents who choose this option will need to find new caregivers for their children every year.
• Agencies which handle au pairs are listed in the yellow pages under Child care Centers and Services.

Babysitters or Nannies  * interview checklist

• May live in your home or live out.
• Families may prefer this arrangement because of its flexibility and the personal attention to the child and family it provides.
• You can find babysitters and nannies through placing ads, screening, interviewing, and hiring them yourself.
  • Placing ads in large newspapers, can be helpful but it is often more fruitful to place an ad in the smaller, local weekly or bi-weekly papers for your community.
  • When writing your ad, be sure to include the information most important to you. For example, hours needed, experience with children, non-smoker, licensed driver, own transportation, etc. This will help to ease your screening process.
  • You may choose to have a phone answering machine pose further screening questions to help you to decide who to call back, i.e., “If you are calling regarding our childcare ad, please tell us something about your background and experience with children and how best to reach you”. You can then call back the candidates you consider to be the your favorites to ask further questions and, potentially, set up interviews.

What should I consider when observing and talking to the people at a child care program?

When you visit, watch how caregivers interact with your child and other children. They are an important part of your child's care. There should be enough adults to work with a group and to care for individual children. Child Caregivers should:

What should I look for in a child care facility?

Make sure you are comfortable with the look of the facility and the program. It should offer:

How can I tell if a program will benefit my young child?

A program should:

After I choose a child care program, what else should I keep in mind?

Keep on caring. Stay involved. Visit often and talk with the caregivers. Meet all the people who work and play with your child. Tell them about changes at home that may affect your child's behavior. Ask about your child's progress. Get involved in the program, and the parents' group for that program. If there isn't one, talk with other parents about starting one. Any time you see a condition or activity you don't like, tell your provider right away. If you are not satisfied, call your local state child care offices.