7 things to consider when choosing a childcare service provider.

There are hundreds of posts like this online. A quick search will yield a number of blogposts, the majority of which are likely associated with private businesses promoting their own service. What makes this post different, and quite possibly the most honest version out there? Simple, I do not own a childcare service.

7 things to consider when choosing a childcare service provider. (Image by Getty Images)

Choosing a childcare service is unquestionably one of the biggest decisions you will make in your parenting journey. Compared to two decades ago, when I began my career in the early childhood sector, New Zealand parents now have a multitude of choices when it comes to childcare providers. It’s been said that childcare centres have become ‘the new pub‘ - one in every corner, each one built bigger and flashier than the last. From publicly funded kindergartens and creches; to home-based carers; to small family-owned centres; and all the way to the conglomerate chains that dominate the childcare sphere. One way or another, I have worked for or with all kinds by now.

Public Kindergartens: For the average New Zealand family, both parents will be working, and full time. So I am going to assume that you are reading this because you are about to return to work and need care for your baby. This rules out kindergartens for a few reasons:

• Most kindergartens only accept enrolments from 2 or 3 years old.

• Public kindergartens usually operate shorter days, mimicking primary school hours.

• Public kindergartens are a service that seem to be more accessible to higher income families where one parent does not need to work or can afford to work shorter hours. The irony is that being publicly funded, it should be the more accessible option. Of course, as is true in most of the views I will be offering here, this is a generalisation; but reason enough to skip delving into this service further.

Home-based Services: this is the area of childcare I have the least knowledge in and will not pretend I know much of. Therefore, rather than offer any advice, I have genuine questions:

• Who is supervising the children when the carer needs to do No.1s or worse, No.2s?

• If the carer were to unexpectedly lose consciousness, what then?

• Who will vouch for the carer if the carer is accused of child neglect, abuse, or molestation? That is not to say these unthinkable things do not happen in other childcare settings. And if they can and do still happen in services where registered educators are more likely to be able to hold each other accountable, how do home-based services work around this? Dare I mention nanny-cams in every space of the home? Perhaps this is another post-worthy topic for another time?

Small Family-owned Centres: You might be attracted to a boutique type of service. The obvious pros: smaller group size; often market themselves as ‘family-orientated’; and that your child is ‘not just a number‘. There are many well-meaning small centre owners out there whose hearts are in the right place – I personally know a few. But to assume that they are any less profit-orientated than their large counterparts would be naive. It reminds me of a centre owner who had (and perhaps still has) her staff routinely count every ply of paper towel, wet wipes, and tissues. For the average centre owner, more than likely, the centre is their retirement plan or indeed their stepping stone to owning a chain of centres. Until then, the upside to this is that they will of course be more than likely willing to offer flexibility to maintain customer satisfaction.

Conglomerates / Corporates: The more commonly talked-about cons: ‘your child is just a number’, larger group sizes, profit-orientated, and oftentimes the apparent inconsistencies in quality across the member centres.

The less-commonly considered pros: transparency - in policies, procedures, and indeed in profits. Most corporate / chain centres will operate under a similar set of policies. Accountability can also be a standard feature in that internal and external auditing is a routine expectation; whereas in smaller independently owned centres, it may be easier for management to sweep things under the rug, so to speak.

So am I advocating for the conglomerates? Certainly not the intention here. Instead, I am advocating for prospective parents to cast a deeper glance at the childcare options available to them. Assuming you are choosing between centres within the private sector, let’s get a few things straight:

• Profit-orientatedness is part and parcel of our current sector model. After all, quality facilities, resources and staff do come at a high cost. For a privately owned centre to thrive, it must operate on healthy and sustainable financial practices.

• While their statements of philosophy, policies and procedures may look great in paper, not all centres live by their own written standards. It takes years for a centre’s leadership to align its vision with reality.

• In this post-covid milieu, no centre is immune to understaffing. Many services who promise better teacher-child ratios than others are not always going to deliver what they advertise, despite their good intentions.

What then truly matters? Here we go!

Yes, it’s important to ask management and teachers about minimum ratios, staff retention, high standards of hygiene measures, policies, procedures and all the ‘right questions’ most blogs will tell you to ask. These should be stock standard in a sector that is heavily regulated by the Ministry of Education’s licensing criteria. However, in my experience, some of the best managers, team leaders or teachers out there are simply not as confident as their counterparts in articulating their practices. On the one hand, I am a big advocate for childcare workers up-skilling to gain their qualifications; on the other, and in reality, I have worked with many great carers who are not registered teachers. So, above and beyond asking the right questions, I urge you to pay attention to what is NOT being said.

7 things to consider when choosing a childcare service provider: Observe the teachers’ individual dispositions. (Image by Getty Images)

1.   Observe the teachers’ individual dispositions: you come into a room and you see chaos! Toys everywhere, children crying here and there; the manager tells you there are a couple of new children who started just this week and are rather unsettled. It’s an opportunity to observe the staff’s ability to stay calm through the chaos. After all, tough situations bring forth the human being’s true character.

7 things to consider when choosing a childcare service provider: Analyse the team dynamics. (Image by Getty Images)

2.   Analyse the team dynamics: while it can be easier to feel comfortable with an overtly friendly teacher, I hope you give the introverted teacher a chance too. I once had a seemingly socially-awkward staff member who said nothing much and shyly smirked as her way of relating to new people. She turned out to be the most conscientious, consistent, and empathetic teacher and team leader - I learned a great deal from her leadership and character; and to this day she’s up there ranking among the best teachers I have ever worked with. The point is, when it comes to childcare professionals who work in teams, their personalities are like cogs in a machine - each serve a purpose. And the diversity in their personalities will serve the children’s various temperaments and learning needs well.

7 things to consider when choosing a childcare service provider: Look for images of respect. (Image by Getty Images)

3.   Look for images of ‘Respect’: this word is quite possibly the single most overused word in the childcare sector. ‘We respect the child for who they are‘, ‘we respect the parents’ aspirations for their child‘, ‘we respect each child’s cultural identity‘… you will hear these phrases in spiels; you will read them in enrolment packs; and see them strewn all over childcare service websites. But what does respect look, sound and feel like from the child’s perspective?

·      Respect looks like teachers who get down on their knees to be at the children’s level; it looks like a teacher turning to face the child with arms extended as an invitation (rather than scooping them up from the back without prior queues).

·      Respect sounds like a teacher verbally seeking a child’s cooperation when he or she wants to wipe a snotty nose. It sounds like a teacher validating a child’s cry with ‘I can tell you are so sad about this,‘ or ‘you are safe, we’re here for you‘ (as opposed to ‘you’re ok’, ‘don’t cry’, or even ‘stop crying’). It sounds like a teacher leaning in to whisper instead of raising their voice to talk to another teacher from across the room.

·      Respect feels like a quiet redirection without blame when the child’s impulses result in another child being upset. It feels like a cuddle and the attentive presence and gaze of a carer when the child is taking a bottle (as opposed to being propped up on a pillow under the guise of independence).

7 things to consider when choosing a childcare service provider: Be nosey and listen-in to sounds coming from the nappy room or children’s toilets. (Image by Getty Images)

4.   Be nosey and listen-in to sounds coming from the nappy room or children’s toilets. I could write a whole essay on diapering and then another on toileting! In fact I most likely will, eventually. For now, I leave you with a few thoughts:

·      Do teachers invite and encourage the child to participate in and contribute to the process? Is the process done ‘with’ the child, as opposed to having it ‘done to’ the child? And yes, this should be the ideal regardless of the child’s age. Empowerment should begin from infancy.

·      Do the teachers promote positive bodily awareness? “Your nappy is full of wees! You must have drank so much water this morning. That’s healthy!” “You’ve done a big poo, that means your tummy is doing a good job. Let’s clean it up so you can feel more comfortable.”

·      The message should be that urinating and defecating are healthy bodily processes that are not to be associated with shame. On the contrary, these are enjoyable and fascinating bodily functions that the infant or toddler is only just beginning to discover and gain mastery of.

7 things to consider when choosing a childcare service provider: Probe what happens when a child is hurt by another child. (Image by Getty Images)

5.   Probe what happens when a child is hurt by another child. It happens even in the best of teams. Quality has little to do with whether or not incidents of children hurting children occur. It has everything to do with how teachers respond when it does happen. Say in the case of biting incidents:

·      Will teachers also prioritise the biter’s needs for connection and support? Because one time or another, you may find your child in both sides of the story.  

·      Will they role model empathy and what a genuine apology looks like to the biter, as opposed to making the biter ‘say sorry’? Afterall, the biter is also still a child, and empathy is not an in-born trait.

·      What matters more for the child who was bitten is to know that his or her teachers are there to soothe the pain and provide comfort. As it is in life, our children will inevitably discover that pain and danger are realities of our human existence; but we hope they will also come to know and trust that they can count on people within their circle of care to be there for them, and to support them so they can regain their confidence and bounce back.

7 things to consider when choosing a childcare service provider: Check the pace. (Image by Getty Images)

6.   Check the pace. As compared to home life, group care is naturally busier and more stimulating. Some children can cope with a busier pace and more stimuli better than others. If you have doubts about whether or not the realities of group care are suited to your child’s natural pace, please listen to what your gut tells you.

·      For under twos, quite simply, the slower the pace the better. There should be room in the daily routine for care needs to be individualised. The rituals should be simple. For example: settle in, play time, morning tea, play time, lunch time, nap time, afternoon tea, play time, home time… with diapering or toilet breaks as needed. Apart from children in their settling period who may need the constant reassurance of a teacher’s physical presence, play times should be mostly independent and uninterrupted, with teachers setting and re-setting the environment and then staying nearby to support if needed, rather than meddling.

·      For over twos, I would be looking for some form of structure. Children thrive in an environment where they experience consistency and predictability. Routines and rituals make them feel safe. If they can anticipate, then they can participate. If you visit frequently and stay long enough during the settling period, these rituals and routines should become apparent; so will any inconsistencies.

7 things to consider when choosing a childcare service provider: Ponder on the promotional discounting. (Image by Getty Images.)

7.   Lastly, do ponder on the promotional discounting. In recent years, the apparent saturation of the childcare sector has resulted in centres becoming more creative and aggressive in marketing their services: 12 weeks free childcare; 50% discount for 6 months; and many more forms of discounting to attract and retain enrolments. With the living cost on a record high after COVID-19, it is understandable that families seek financial relief in every way possible, and for childcare services to respond to the challenge accordingly. But I am of the belief that quality childcare and education should never go on sale! Instead, I believe in rewarding loyalty. When managing centres, I preferred offering perks to long-standing families and families who my staff vouched for as genuinely needing financial support. These families in turn did the marketing for us through good old word of mouth; while services all around us offered heavy discounting on the daily. If a centre is constantly offering heavy discounts, I urge you to ask about their policy on pay parity for teachers. Keep in mind that quality childcare requires quality teachers; and quality teachers deserve quality wages.

7 things to consider when choosing a childcare service provider: quality childcare require quality teachers; quality teachers deserve quality wages. (Image by Getty Images)

This is a mammoth step for you and your family. Know that there are some great services out there whose owners and managers will endeavour to do the right thing by all their families; and teachers who are truly in the job for the right reasons. I hope that I have given you some useful guideposts to help you find them.

Let me know in the comment box below if you have any questions. I would also love to hear how your experience is in choosing your childcare service. If you live outside New Zealand, I would love to learn about your thought processes too and what factors impact on your choice of childcare service provider.

See you in the next post! Aroha nui, Joy.