When it comes to choosing childcare, recommendations from friends and family often hold a lot of power. While feedback from trusted sources, like friends and family, plays a key role in the decision-making process, it’s important to consider a range of different factors and sources before making a decision on where to send your child for childcare.
Let’s take a look at the importance of recommendations from friends and family, along with several other factors to consider when choosing a childcare provider.
Why friends and family matter
The recommendations from friends, family and other acquaintances have a lot of influence on where parents decide to send their children to childcare, and now there’s evidence to back it up. Based on the Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority’s (ACECQA) Families Qualitative Research Project, many parents rely heavily on feedback from other parents, word-of-mouth and the views of their parents and other family members when deciding on childcare.
Friends and family are typically considered as trusted sources of information. They often share similar values, beliefs and standards when it comes to raising children. Their advice is likely to align with your own parenting philosophy, making it more relevant and applicable to your situation.
Friends and family who have had direct experience with certain childcare services or methods can provide valuable firsthand accounts. This practical information can be more useful than generalised advice found online or from strangers.
Based on the findings from the Families Qualitative Research Project, friends and family are often used to gather intel on the quality of the education and care services provided by specific childcare services. Not to mention, friends and family have a closer relationship with your family and understand you and your child’s individual needs, so they’re able to provide suggestions with your family’s best interests in mind.
While the recommendations of friends and family play a key role in the decision-making process, it’s also important to consider a range of other factors and sources before making a choice on which childcare provider to send your little one to.
How to choose a childcare centre
As a parent, choosing the best childcare provider for your child involves extensive research and careful planning. Here are a few points that are worth considering in your search for the best childcare.
Understand your family’s needs
First things first, it’s important to reflect on your family’s needs and understand your priorities so you can find a childcare centre that aligns with your needs. Consider the location of the childcare centre and whether it’s convenient to your home or workplace. While we’re on the topic of work, reflect on what days and hours you’d like to put your child in care, so you can find a centre that caters to you.
Popular childcare centres often have limited availability, so you may have to place your child on a waitlist before a spot at the centre becomes available. If you need care sooner rather than later, your child may have to attend a different childcare centre until a position opens up at your preferred service.
Finally, consider your budget in terms of what you can afford. Each childcare centre will have its own fees. It could also be worth checking to see if you’re eligible for the Child Care Subsidy (CCS).
Start researching
Once you have a good understanding of your family’s needs, you can start your hunt. We’ve already touched on the importance of recommendations from friends and family, so be sure to consult them for advice during your search.
It can also help to look for reviews and ratings on websites and social media platforms. This will help to provide you with a broader perspective on the options available to you. From here, you can start to make a shortlist of your top options that you’d like to learn more about.
Take a tour
Now that you’ve narrowed down your top childcare contenders, it’s time to take a closer look at each service. You can start by giving each centre a call and chatting with the staff. If you have a good feel about the centre based on your conversation, organise a visit to the childcare centre to observe the environment, cleanliness and safety measures.
Pay attention to how the staff interacts with children, each other and you as a parent. They should be warm, responsive and engaging. Check if the activities are age-appropriate and stimulating for the children.
It can be difficult to know what to look for and ask when you’re in the heat of the moment, so use our childcare centre tour checklist to make sure you stay focused during your visit.
Check their credentials
Early childhood education and care providers, including childcare centres, are regulated under the National Quality Framework (NQF). The NQF includes a quality rating system for each service, so you can see how they perform against the quality areas. Ratings must be displayed at the service at all times. You can also view the quality ratings on the national registers and StartingBlocks.gov.au. Ultimately, these results are intended to help parents make informed decisions about their child’s care and education.
While you’re checking out the centre’s quality rating, it can be worth inquiring about the qualifications and training of the staff while also verifying the child-to-staff ratio to ensure your child will receive adequate attention and care.
Educational approach
Childcare centres have their own learning philosophy that guides the educator's approach to education as well as all aspects relating to the service’s operations and practices. While you’re researching more about the different childcare centres, be sure to learn about the center’s educational philosophy and curriculum. It’s important to ensure it aligns with your child’s learning style and your educational goals.
Your centre of choice should offer programs that cater to the social, emotional, cognitive and physical development of your child.
Health and safety
As a parent, you want to know that your child’s health and safety are a priority at whatever childcare centre they attend. When doing the rounds at your shortlisted childcare centres, check the safety protocols, including secure entrances and exits, emergency procedures and cleanliness standards.
The staff should also be able to explain the centre’s policies on illness, vaccinations and medication.
Trust your instincts
Nothing beats a parent’s intuition, so be sure to trust your instincts about the childcare center. If something doesn’t feel right, it’s important to consider other options. You’ll have much more peace of mind knowing your child is attending a childcare that you’re confident in. In some cases, you may need to trial a few different centres before you settle on a service that your little one is comfortable with.
Use the Care for Kids childcare search tool
At Care for Kids, we’re here to help you make the best choice when it comes to childcare, which is why we created our very own childcare search tool. Use our search tool to search, compare and enquire from a range of childcare providers in your local area. Not only can you filter your search to find a specific type of care, but you can also view a range of information on each care provider, including the NQS rating, reviews from other parents and their current availability.
