You looked up some daycares near you and finally made an appointment to go tour the places you’ve narrowed down from your search.
Now, you just need to know what questions to ask at the daycare tour to really know if that particular center will be the best fit for your family. It’s already overwhelming looking for a daycare, and now you got to be prepared with questions too.
Don’t worry friend, I got you!
In this post, I have a comprehensive list of daycare questions for parents to ask when visiting. You don’t have to ask all of the questions I have listed below. Simply skim through the list and choose the ones that work for you and leave the rest. Okay, let’s get to the questions!
Safety questions to ask a daycare center director
1 Is this center up to date on licensing? Can I see your licensing certificates?
You want to choose a center that is up to date with licensing because this means they are following state regulations to ensure kids are safe and healthy. To see if a center is licensed, click here and choose the state you live in and search for the name of the daycare center.
2 Do all staff members undergo a background check?
This should be an easy yes. This makes sure all staffs have no prior history or criminal record before having children in their care.
3 What are your emergency procedures for events like tornados, storms, fire etc.?
They should be able to tell you what plan they have in place for such events. You want a center that is prepared for these types of situations.
4 How and when are parents notified of such emergencies?
5 Do you have a nurse on staff for medical care?
Not all daycares are going to have a nurse on staff and that’s fine. You do however need staffs that are trained to provide urgent medical care when needed.
6 Are all staff members trained on CPR?
7 Are children always supervised?
Children should always be supervised
8 Do you follow safe sleep practices according to the AAP for babies? Where will baby be sleeping? Will baby be monitored while sleeping?
Babies should always be monitored even when sleeping.
9 What happens if a kid sustains an injury? What are the daycares policies in the event of an injury?
10 How will I be notified of an injury?
11 Are classrooms equipped with cameras? Are there cameras outside? Are there cameras on the playground area?
12 Do parents have access to the cameras during daycare hours?
Some daycares have live cameras for parents to see their kid’s classrooms while some daycares keep access to cameras strictly to their management staff. There are also daycares that don’t have cameras in classrooms.
13 How do parents get in and out of the center? Are there gate codes or locks in place to keep building secured?
You want a daycare that has security measures in place to prevent anyone from entering the building.
Questions to ask about the daycare Staff
1 How long have the current teachers been working at the center for? Can I speak with some of the teachers?
When you talk to the teachers, pay attention to how they connect with the kids in their care. Does it feel natural and genuine? Do the kids love the teacher? When kids love their teachers, they tend to thrive well.
Are staff members kind? Do they communicate well with the kids? Do they seem to have genuine care for the kids?
2 What is the teacher to child ratio?
You want a daycare that has enough caregivers per child to ensure that the kids are properly supervised. Low ratios provide the space for kids to have more one-on-one interaction with teachers, which is vital for their development.
3 What kind of childcare experience do you look for when hiring a new staff member?
4 What kind of training do staff members undergo before having kids in their care?
5 Are teachers trained to work with developmental delayed kids?
6 Is the staff responsible for cleaning or do they have a janitor?
Questions to ask on daycare curriculum/activities
1 What does the daily schedule look like for my kid? Do you have a copy I can look at?
You want a center that provides activity filled days so the children can learn, explore and grow. Centers that have a lot of free time/ free play do not provide this type of opportunity for kids.
2 What educational activities do you provide?
3 How often do kids go outside to play and for how long?
Children need to run and play on a regular basis so going outside should be a daily thing unless the weather is bad. Even infants need to be taken outside, even if it’s just for 15 minutes on a stroller.
4 What alternative activities are there when the weather is bad?
5 Do you provide meals for the kids? Can I see a copy of the menu?
Breakfast, lunch and snacks provided? and take a look at the menu to see what types of food they serve.
6 Is the food prepared in the center or brought from somewhere else? Who prepares the meals?
7 What is the policy on food allergies/dietary requests?
8 How do you keep parents up to date on how child is doing?
Daily pictures? videos? reports? etc.,
Questions to ask on daycare policies
1 What is your sick policy for children?
Can u still drop off your kid if they have a runny nose? how long do you have to wait if a child has a fever before going back to daycare?
2 What is the pickup and drop off procedures?
3 Are parents allowed in classrooms for pick up and drop offs?
4 Are parental visits allowed at all times?
5 What is the discipline policy for children?
Do they have time outs? or a calm down area? you want to avoid any center that encourages pulling, yanking, spanking and yelling.
6 Are toys sanitized? How often? what product is used for sanitizing?
7 What is the handwashing policy for kids?
8 How far in advance is a notice required before withdrawing child out of daycare?
9 What is the policy on late pickups?
Is there a fee? how much? are there exceptions for emergencies/ uncontrollable situations leading to late pickups?
10 How do you focus on building a sense of belonging for the kids and parents?
This is one of my favorite questions to ask at the end of the daycare interview. We all want a day care that promotes a sense of community for both parents and kids. We want to know our children are valued individually and they belong to the center they attend.
Do they have events parents can join? Does the staff know most of the kids by name? Do they have calendars in classrooms of all the kid’s birthday etc.
11 What are parents expected to provide for kids and what does the daycare provide?
Final thoughts
Okay, so now that you have all the daycare tour checklist questions you want to ask at your upcoming tour, you can print this page and highlight only the questions you plan on asking, and remember we are not searching for the perfect daycare, we are looking for the best fit for your family.
Try to chat with the director and several of the teachers, particularly the teacher who will be caring for your child. Before enrolling your child at that center, you should feel confident that they will thrive there.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading this post. It means a lot to me, and I sincerely appreciate your time. I hope you found it helpful.
Before you go, check out this post on how to choose the right daycare and I will see you, my friend, in my next post.
