Checklist for Child Care Centers – Preschool
Your visit to several child care programs is a crucial part of your selection process. What you observe during your visit will tell you many things about a program.
- Take along checklist and questions to ask during your visit to the program.
- Take notes on your observations and on answers given to your questions by the providers, teachers and/or directors. These notes will be helpful in determining further questions, and to differentiate between the programs you have observed.
- Allow plenty of time to tour the entire facility, both indoor and outdoor spaces.
- Schedule an initial visit by yourself, and then bring your child with you during your second visit if possible.
- Make sure to observe the group that your child would attend.
- Feel free to follow up your visit with further calls to the director or provider. Be sure that all your questions and concerns are addressed so that you can feel confident about the care your child will receive.
- Ask to meet all of the staff who will care for your child during the day.
Name of Center:
Classroom Visited:
Contact Person:
Date Visited:
| Question | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| The teachers seem nurturing and affectionate with the children. | Yes | No |
| The teachers take the children outside each day for fresh air. | Yes | No |
| Children are protected from power sources in all rooms (all electrical outlets are covered, all wires are out of reach, furnaces and space heaters are properly vented and used safely). | Yes | No |
| All breakable, sharp, or potential choking hazards are out of reach, and poison and medicine are in locked cupboards. There are no dangling curtain/blind cords that pose a choking hazard. | Yes | No |
| The floors are clean, stairs and doorways are protected with locked gates, and soft surfaces for sitting and lying on are available. | Yes | No |
| Question | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers respond to children's communications. | Yes | No |
| Are the children happily engaged in activities? | Yes | No |
| Would your child be comfortable here? | Yes | No |
| Are the teachers patient and good natured with the children? | Yes | No |
| Are the teachers experienced with care of young children? | Yes | No |
| Are children encouraged to learn and grow at their own pace? | Yes | No |
| Do the teachers show respect for the children? Is discipline handled in a calm, consistent way to encourage positive behavior? | Yes | No |
| Question | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Does the program have books, pictures, foods, dolls, and other materials that celebrate diverse ethnic and cultural groups? | Yes | No |
| Are the teachers encouraging to the children? | Yes | No |
| Do teachers get down on children's eye-level to talk with them? | Yes | No |
| Do the children go on field trips during the year? | Yes | No |
| Are the children encouraged to express themselves freely? | Yes | No |
NOTES:
