One question we get from friends and relatives outside of our geographic area is “what should I look for when looking for childcare?”. We might normally admit to being a tad biased about some things, but when it comes to choosing early childhood education, we are pretty open and honest. Beyond geographic challenges there are good reasons why we tend to not simply say “us”. Ultimately, we love the choice that comes from a free market. Market forces develop niches and businesses that succeed by finding which niche they best occupy. Put another way, we know we aren’t for everyone and we also know that not everyone is for us – and that is okay. Finding the families that fit us and that we match up well with them makes everyone happy. This outlook as well as our results over the past 35+ years allow us to be pretty forthcoming about things to consider when choosing childcare, even if we aren’t the final choice.
The best thing you can do as a parent prior to selecting a school or childcare is to seriously consider and reflect on your personal priorities. Where do you rank things like free versus structured play, education and curiosity, environmental design, environmental stability, nutrition, convenience, specialized programs, onsite ownership, integrity and values, and of course – value for the money. You will not get everything you want in any childcare center and if someone tells you that you will we would suggest caution. Trying to be all things to all people tends to lead to being of not much value to anyone. We are pretty clear on this website about where we stand on all of the above. We lay out our values as well as the values we teach, provide links to what Montessori is and why we embrace it, discuss the extended length of our staff’s tenure as well as their independently earned education credentials, highlight our nutrition program as well as our curriculum, and we provide some clear reasons as to why to choose us. If you want to know more, set up a tour. Otherwise, lets quickly cover some things to consider on the list above.
Free play vs. structured play – Free play requires children to work as a part of a group/community and find their roles. It also requires them to experiment with conflict resolution and other leadership skills. Structured play promotes order through a figurehead that has authority over the group. It focuses on the team mindset rather than the role of the individual within the team. Ask about how play is structured as well as how much time is set aside for play. Young children benefit from a lot of outdoor time and lack the focus required for extended activities, so take this into account. Take a look at the playground as well. It can tell you a lot.
We can’t ask parents to be education experts (though some are). But we will assume that education is important to every one of you. With regard to this the question is really what is it you value in education? Are you a lifelong learner or do you see the world as set in stone? Do you intuit everything or do you study and question? Do you look at a sandbox and see shoes filled with sand or do you see an opportunity to dig in and explore textures that you wouldn’t normally run across? Do you value self-guided learning or do you think that a classroom with a figurehead is best? There is of course no guarantee that your child will value and benefit from your learning styles nor accept your goals, but knowing what you are getting up front can help you adjust if something isn’t working out.
What is the environment like where your children will be? Do you want an environment that encourages exploration or do you want structure? Does the school have an open classroom design or are children blocked into rooms? Which of those matters to you and why? The stability of the environment is an area to think about as well. Young children will struggle with excessive change. Who leads the classroom and how long have they been at the school? What are their education credentials and who issued them? This plays huge into environmental stability.
Nutrition is another area to consider and in some ways this goes along with convenience. Do you want to pack a lunch every day or does the school provide food? Are nutrition and good eating habits a priority for you? If they are, what does the school serve and how does that foster good habits? Location is a part of convenience as well. Are you willing to drive an extra 15 minutes for the right school or is it more important to be close to home or work? If your child is sick and needs to be picked up – is the location convenient for more than just you or your spouse?
Where do you stand when it comes to specialized programs? Do you want onsite yoga or dance? Do you want your children to learn another language? We will offer some advice here. If a school says they offer these things – ask to meet the instructors and find out more. With regards to teaching second languages, once Texas is back to allowing tours with children present, we strongly suggest you learn a few conversational phrases in the language you are interested in and ask the children at the school questions in that language. Generally speaking you will just get funny looks. Maintaining second language programs in early childhood is incredibly difficult. Even in our schools where we have staff members who are fluent in many languages, we have found it a challenge to carry out meaningful and consistent secondary language programs while still providing top notch education in other, more important areas.
How important is it for you to have direct contact with the owner of the school? If it is important to you then ask if they are on-premises during the day playing an active role? Can you have their phone number and feel free to call whenever – weekends and evenings included? If the owner is not onsite, who will deal with issues that arise and make sure they are dealt with according to the school policies? On that note – are the school policies laid out clearly and do they adhere to them – or do they flex them back and forth as needed? If integrity matters to you then perhaps it is best to avoid the flexible ones (see earlier note around trying to be all things to all people).
What are your personal values and does the school align to them? Beyond just sticking to policy, does the school employ experienced people who take their roles seriously? What values does the school teach and how do they teach them? What are the expectations of you as a parent when it comes to reinforcing those values? Are you partnering with the school to raise your child or just dropping them off and trying to undo what they learned at school later?
The final area is less about parenting and more about what you receive for what you pay. You may find three schools you are okay with and all appear to have different prices. We find that it is rare in a small geographic area for schools to differ substantially in what it actually costs you every month. Be sure to understand the fine print. Is a school $150 less a month but they don’t provide breakfast and lunch and you have to provide diapers and wipes? Is there a large registration fee up front that repeats annually? That can add $20 or more per month onto your average monthly tuition over the course of a year. More if you move on before that time is up. Make a chart of what your child will need throughout the day and then find out who is covering it. If there are small differences, look at your other priorities.
To close out we will offer a couple of quick answers to the question of “what shouldn’t I do when looking?”. Generally speaking our first response is look for a focus on early childhood education and not just daycare. Maybe it is the Montessorian in us speaking out, but we firmly believe that children should be in an environment where they are intellectually stimulated and challenged to master tasks. In our experience, basic daycare does little to fuel the natural curiosity of children. It is one of the reasons we do what we do. The second “not to do” is more of a caution. Our friends, co-workers, family members and even strangers are generally happy to share both their happy tales and horror stories around childcare. Some people seek validation of their own choices by recruiting others to join their club. Others are far more critically minded and will share as many reasons as they can as to why to avoid certain types of schools. Our advice here is to question them about their values and priorities with regard to their children and then ask how the school they use aligns to those values. If their values align well with yours then you may be getting good advice. If however they seem a bit foreign, perhaps it is best to just say thank you and take the input with a grain of salt.
We hope this has been of some help. Ultimately we find that our most satisfied families are those that chose us based on how we aligned with their priorities and values. Some of our families have had children in the schools continuously for over a decade (not one child, but rather siblings separated by age gaps). We get to know them well and they get to know and trust us. We grow as educators by interacting with people we trust to care about us just as we grow as human beings by interacting with people who fit the same description. Ultimately a real partnership is a satisfying relationship for everyone.
