why is it so difficult to find an excellent daycare provider?

Answer 1

Leaving your child in someone else's care is a tough decision. But for some people who have to work there really isnt a choice and for other people who dont necessarily have to work but want their children to have the chance to learn to get along with peers they make the choice to do so. For both groups - everyone wants the same thing... for their child to be well cared for. There are lots of good, responsible, dependable care providers and there are just as many if not more people who are not good care providers.

If you are having trouble finding someone you feel confortable with.... you need to ask yourself a few questions"
- are your expectations reasonable?
-are you looking at all the options, or taking the first person you can find because you are worried about money, keeping a job etc
- are you being an informed consumer?
- have you created a partnership with your provider so that they know what you expect and you are working together to create a psotive environment for your child?

Every state has a child care resource and referral office that provides information to families at no cost.

They can give you information about the rules and regulations in your state, quality indicators for good care, and lists of child care providers in your community that have met state and local regulations.

I have had both good and bad experiences with child care (I stayed at home until my children father left and we got divorced and I had to go back to work, but even when I was a stay at home mom they went to a playgroup twice a week for a couple of hours to socialize).

When I had to goto work, I used the CCR&R, got a list of providers and interviewed each of them and my children got to visit the two places I liked the most and I got to see how they interacted there before deciding. The info the R&R gave me was really helpful in helping me think of things to look for and questions to ask.

To find your R&R office goto www.naccrraware.com to www.NECTAS.unc.edu

Answer 2

Because parents who care about the type of person who will be watching their most precious possession, are picky. I don't want just anyone watching my child- I want the best. It is hard to find someone that meets those tough standards and will be able to satisfy the stringent requirements that I have for a potential caregiver. Daycare providers have a lot to live up to as the person who will be educating and caring for my child in my absence. I want someone who knows what they are doing, has had lots of education, as well as lots of experience, and loves their job. In the field of daycare providers, this is sometimes difficult to find, since providers are not often encouraged to further their education (if they had to have above a high school diploma to start with), usually don't have to have had any experience in the field, and aren't paid much. This lack of support and pay incentives fuel the massive turnaround rate that childcare centers experience, since educated, good preschool teachers leave to do something that pays more. That is why there is a lack of excellent providers out there.

Answer 3

Ask one of your co-workers ,or possibly even a friend that you trust and see if you like their daycare. It can be really difficult sometimes! Don't give up- there are some good ones out there! Alot of daycare workers are extremely underpaid so the care is not quite adequate at times-which is not good! Just be safe and listen to your children when they talk about their daycare...they are the best informants to let you know if things are not right at the sitter's!!! Good luck!

Answer 4

Because if you don't really know the perspective babysitter, you don't know what their backgrounds are. I am very protective of kids, because they are such innocent, precious little people. In our society, too many things happen to kids, even by people they trusted. I think if I had a child now, I couldn't have a babysitter for them other than family. Please check out "possibles" thoroughly, including if they have a criminal record, etc. I believe for a price you can get people's records on here, just look under "Criminal Records" and see if they have what you want. It's sad but that's how things are nowadays. Good luck!

Answer 5

Many reasons, here are 2 major ones and solutions to finding people who can solve them as daycare professionals:

1. One is, as other answerers have note, that they may likely not share your background and/or genes that allow you to relate to your child as closely.
This is best solved by hiring someone who has proven to have an excellent sense of mindfulness. In short, the ability to get out of their own heads and creatively and quickly learn about other people and think in those people's shoes rather than their own.
This mindfulness concept is far from conjured up; it is straight from Business Ethics theory and a course I aced last semester in graduate school.
For an example of a mindful darecare professional suppose you have a person providing daycare who loves art yet asks things like "So does your child like art? Now you say she does not could it be because it takes so long sometimes or another reason? I understand it does not for many and I'm just lucky I naturally have the patience for it."
Note you will probably have to invest the time to, say, have a few hours' dinner with potential daycare providers and ask about things your friends' kids, for example, have struggled with (and that you sense they don't particularly like). See if they ask questions about things like their background and give comments about things such as understanding why they do things even if they (the day care candidates) don't agree with them. If they seem short on ego and high on genuine curiousity and empathy (even where normally sympathy would be considered excellent), you likely have a match.


2. Daycare is a business:
That's the sad truth. Just a model for you: low-line retail business (such as Wal-Mart) or even a production line try dedicate staff to buying and selling as much low-profit-per-item inventory as possible (and skip on their service to get time and resources able do so).
In the same way often the goal of daycare professionals becomes to get as many kids in and out as possible to increase profits, especially when they are grossly underpaid per child (which is often the case) so all they can do to increase profits is hire more kids. Also many daycare workers can easily fall victim to making phone calls, tracking stocks, and otherwise doing things other then their jobs on the job figuring "hey, the parents/agency(s) give(s) me lousy pay they are going to get lousy work."
The solution to this is to find someone who loves working with kids for its own sake. If you run into someone who, say, volunteers no-pay at a Children's Hospital or a doctor or someone else with a higher paying job who chooses to spend his or her off-work time providing child care, or just someone who, forever reason, you feel in your gut has an unexaggerated and genuine yet strong sense of enthusiasm for kids, that is the kind of person you will probably want to hire.

Best luck!

Answer 6

There are only TWO excellent daycare providers.

They are called MOM and DAD!!

Answer 7

it takes time you have to visit ,ask for referrals really put i a lot of legwork in to make sure you will feel comfortable leaving your children there

Answer 8

it's best to go by someone's reccomendation. that way you know if another parent is happy you will be too.

Answer 9

Because your the mom and no one can do it better than you!