Calling all Mothers!!

TXcatcher · Mar 25, 2010

That sounds frustrating! I used to be a child care inspector for the state and I've worked in several child care centers. I can tell you things to look for in a good center.

The most important factor, in my opinion, is group size. The state ratios are too high, and many centers try to maximize group size while minimizing staff in order to make more profit. A good center will always have at least two teachers in each room, but will also not allow the group size to reach the maximum. For instance, I recently worked at a center and was assigned to a class where the kids were approx 18mo to 2.5 years. At some points we would have 18 children in there! That is just too many children of that age in one group, but the state does allow it. The teachers become overwhelmed and frustrated, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to supervise all of those children. We had several biters and biting victims a day because it was just too much. Parents complained and I secretly wanted to tell them to take their kids to a better center...though this one parades itself as the best.

Also, I would look for a center that doesn't try to make the children what I call "little adults," which is to say, doesn't require them to potty train too early or sit in a group for long amounts of time that are not age appropriate. I would say most child under 2.5 really cannot sit in "circle time" very well. This, again, causes frustration with the teachers because they are required to make every child pay attention, and must interrupt the whole group because one child will not sit still.

Both above issues cause frustration. When teachers are overwhelmed and frustrated, they cannot work effectively. The children can also sense it, and they begin to act out more. This causes the teachers to become more frustrated.

Check to make sure the director is present. I've had centers with assistant directors, but the director is not actually there. This is against Minimum Standards. Even if cameras are present, the director must be at the center, not just watching from home.

Cameras are usually a good thing. The staff know they are being watched, but also sometimes things look worse on the camera than they really are.

The center I most recently worked at had bathrooms in the toddler classrooms, and the changing tables were in the bathrooms. The teachers would take all of the children to the bathroom at one time. So you'd have multiple children and a teacher (or two) in a small space for way too long! Minimum Standards requires staff to wash their hands and the children's hands after each diaper change/potty assist. That arrangement made it impossible to wash hands. Needless to say, no one ever washed their hands, and as medical professionals (and/or future ones) we understand that that is gross and unacceptable.

You can also log on to the DFPS website and check the compliance history of every child care center and home in the state...at least the legal ones. If they are not listed on that site, they are illegal and that is never a good thing.

Those a few things to keep in mind. Feel free to ask me any questions!

TXcatcher · Mar 25, 2010

Also, just wanted to mention that sometimes there are kids that act out and hit/kick/bite/scratch other kids. Sometimes even the best and most attentive teachers won't catch it. And then also, some children antagonize the more aggressive children so that they will get bitten/scratched/etc because they want the attention. Unless it's an ongoing problem, don't let it completely ruin your opinion of the place. Often, if the incident happened in the morning, the afternoon teacher may not have been present, so they did not see it. I had this problem, and parents would complain about me not supervising the kids...but I wasn't even there in the morning when the incident occurred!

vcurrin02 · Mar 25, 2010

Thank you, I spoke with the director this morning, and she said that she would get down to the bottom of it. There are 2 teachers in the class room, and I love them, they are really good with my girls. I started looking at other daycares today just in case this happens again.