Inspired Learning Center
Early Care & Education for Children Birth - 12 Years Old
Best Practices For Choosing A Preschool
September 5, 2018
It’s that time of year again: the weather is turning cooler, maybe some of your kids are returning to school, and you need daycare for your littlest one. Lil’ Rascals Academy is your Top Rated Local® daycare in Pembroke Pines, and we’re excited to make this a successful year for you and your child.
To be successful, though, you need to ensure you’re choosing the right daycare center for your family — and there’s so much to consider! In today’s blog, we’ll share tips and advice on choosing a licensed daycare in Pembroke Pines and the surrounding areas, such as Davie, Cooper City, and Weston.
Research
Before you sign up with the nearest daycare provider and even before you head out to investigate centers for yourself, it’s important to do your research. This research will encompass both online work and in-person work.
Talk to other parents at work or in your social circle, or talk to your pediatrician. All will have first-hand experience and will tell you what they think is the best daycare center in Pembroke Pines. Not all of your research should be by word-of-mouth, though. Also check online resources, daycare sites, and forums; this will give you a good idea of what daycare provider near you will be right for your needs and expectations.
Interview
You might be ready to visit a few centers to find out daycare prices, if they’re licensed, and meet the staff, but it’s not that time yet! Call a few of the daycare centers you were interested in from your initial research and do an impromptu interview of sorts over the phone. Find out the hours, if they offer after-school daycare, and get a feel for how the staff treats you.
If the daycare staff isn’t friendly or helpful over the phone, if the hours are inconvenient for you, or if they don’t offer the programs you’re interested in, then you just saved yourself a visit to a daycare that wouldn’t work.
Visit
You’ve been building up to this moment and it’s finally here! It’s time to visit daycares in Pembroke Pines and find the one you’ll entrust with your little one. Sometimes it’s good to drop by unannounced, but many daycare centers will offer tours for you to come and check it out. Either way, there are certain things you should look out for:
- Watch how they interact – Are the teachers on the same level as the kids? Do they seem to have a good relationship?
- Find out policies – How many children will they have at once? What’s the cost and schedule? What are policies regarding immunizations or regarding a sick child?
- Look around – Is it clean? What’s the food like? Do you see safety measures in practice?
- Trust your intuition – You’re ultimately the only one who can make this decision. Look at the facts and your research, but don’t forget to trust your gut.
Lil’ Rascals Academy offers excellent child care programs for many ages, and we would love to help care for your child. Schedule a tour today at one of our four locations.