Child Care Information

Overview

Whatever the age of your child, finding quality child care can be a challenging and emotional experience. You are looking for an arrangement that will work best for your family and one in which you will be confident that your child will receive love and good care.

The first step in this process of choosing child care is to know what your options are. To begin, the age of your child will impact what kinds of care are available to you. Children are not required to attend school of any kind until they are age six, although most children benefit by at least attending a kindergarten program at age five. Many families, though, require child care to meet their needs to balance family and work/school responsibilities. Your needs and those of your child will help determine the advantages and disadvantages of each option and will help you decide what is most appropriate for you and your family. You should look at different options and remember that the quality of care varies within each type of arrangement.

Looking at Needs

There are a number of parents' needs to consider in choosing child care:

Schedule and duration: Do you need full time or part time care? Do your hours of work change? Do you need a flexible schedule? Do you need care year around?

Cost: What can you afford to pay? (In-home providers tend to be the most expensive and family providers tend to be the most affordable option.) For how many children are you paying child care costs?

Location: Would you prefer child care near your home or near work? Where is your pediatrician located? Do you drive to work or do you need child care near public transportation?

Preference: With which type of program are you more comfortable — a small, informal group, or a larger, more organized program in an institutional setting?

Do you want your child to have one-to-one child care, or be with other children?
Is the child care you are considering consistent with your values? It is important to have a good match here. Parents should feel comfortable with whichever choice they make.

Of course, the most important factor is the physical and emotional well being of your child. Therefore, the child's needs are the other important consideration in your choice of child care. You may find that your child will require different types of care at different ages or developmental stages, or that your choice may reflect the differences in each child's temperament.

Infants need a calm, relaxed environment; to be held gently and talked to; soft warm materials; consistency in caregivers; and an opportunity for mobility. Young infants need to follow their own sleep and eating schedules.

Toddlers need close supervision and personal attention; consistent limit setting; opportunities for language development — to be talked to directly; to be encouraged to do things for themselves; space to move about; and appropriate materials.

Preschoolers need opportunities for choice; accessible materials; to be involved in appropriate activities; opportunities to increase language and other skills, as well as their understanding of the world; to learn to interact with peers; consistent and supportive responses from adults.

Note: The Massachusetts Department for Early Education and Care (EEC) considers infants to be aged 0–14 months, toddlers to be 15 months to 2 years, 8 months, and preschoolers to be 2 years, 9 months to 6 years.

Evaluating Options

Children of all ages need a clean, safe, nurturing environment; a balance between active and quiet activities; some outdoor time; and consistency and love. There are four types of child care arrangements from which to choose.

A child care center provides care in a group setting with planned activities. The children may be grouped according to age, or they may be placed in a mixed age grouping. The teachers are trained and supervised, and the center is open all weekdays, except in severe weather or pre-announced closings for holidays or vacation weeks. Most child care centers offer full and part-day enrollment, and a parent selects and pays for a specific time slot. When your child is sick, he or she may not attend.

A child care center is licensed by the state EEC and conforms to the EEC regulations for staff: child ratio, group size, staff qualifications, and the facilities. Centers will vary in philosophy, size, number of qualified staff in each classroom, the site and the facilities, whether they are for-profit or non-profit, and if there is parent participation.

To receive lists of child care centers in your community, contact the Office of Work and Family at 617 432-1615 or barbara_wolf@hms.harvard.edu

Nursery schools, or preschools, offer group programs and are for children who are in most cases at least two years nine months old. They usually run for three hours, from 9:00 a.m. to noon, although some have shorter and some have longer days. Extended days are often available, some running until 3:00. As with child care centers, if your child is sick, he or she usually cannot attend. Nursery and preschools usually run on an academic or public school schedule, sometimes offering a separate summer program, and are typically closed when the community's public schools are closed.

Nursery and preschools are also licensed by the EEC. The schools vary greatly as to philosophy, emphasis, and degree of parental involvement. In order to be assured of a space, it is advisable to apply at the beginning of October of the year before your child will enter.

To receive lists of nursery schools or preschools in your community, contact the Office of Work and Family at 617 432-1615 or barbara_wolf@hms.harvard.edu

A family child care provider offers care for children in the provider's own home. Family providers run their own businesses and set their own policies and rates; they also generally offer flexibility in enrollment and fee structure. Licensed by the EEC, family providers may care for up to six children without an assistant, provided no more than three of the children are under two years of age and at least one of the three is at least fifteen months old and can walk unassisted.

Family providers vary in terms of experience with children, the nature of activities, physical environment, availability of materials/equipment, and number of children for whom they care. If the provider is ill, has a family emergency or is on vacation, you will need to find alternative care.

To receive lists of family child care providers in your community, contact the Office of Work and Family at 617 432-1615 or barbara_wolf@hms.harvard.edu

In-home care can be provided by a live-in nanny or au pair or by a caregiver that comes to your home on a daily basis. Generally this child care arrangement provides the parent with the most flexible hours and, if necessary, longer hours of care than group or family care. The care continues if your child is sick. However, if the in-home caregiver is sick, has a family emergency, or is on vacation, you will need to find alternative care. In-home providers may be willing to do household chores, pick up children at school, or do some cooking. An in-home caregiver is the least supervised of the child care options; it is also the most difficult to assess, requiring, as with all child care options, ongoing monitoring.

To receive a packet of information on choosing in-home child care and for an annotated list of the agencies in the greater Boston area, contact the Office of Work and Family at 617 432-1615 or barbara_wolf@hms.harvard.edu.

How, then, does a parent evaluate and screen for the best quality care? By visiting different settings and asking lots of questions, you can get a "feel" for each program or provider. Each one will have a unique style that will express the provider's or center's values and philosophy. Such observations will also help you define what you are looking for by what feels best to you.

When observing child care centers and family provider programs, look at the space: Is it a safe, clean environment; are the materials and equipment in good repair; is there an adequate amount of equipment for the number of children?

Watch the caregivers to see how they respond to the children. Do they show interest in each child? Is patience expressed? What about understanding, care, and love? How do the kids interact in the setting? Do they look involved, cared for, happy? What is the quality of their interactions, and the level of their interest and energy?

General questions to ask include:

• What are the hours and days of operation?
• What are the charges? (Hourly and weekly for in-home and family providers, weekly
  or monthly for centers or preschools.)
• What are the enrollment policies, including the contract period?
• What is the philosophy of education/child care?
• What is the staff to child ratio?
• What is the group size?
• What are the ages of the children?
• How is illness handled?
• How is discipline handled?
• Who provides snacks and meals?

For a group-based center: (Child Care Center, Preschool or Nursery School)

• How long have the teachers been at the center?
• Is there required parent participation or is parent involvement encouraged?
• How do staff and parents communicate?

For a family provider setting:

• What is the provider's experience with young children?
• Do the children watch television?
• Does anyone in the house smoke?
• Is the license posted?
• Are there pets in the house?
• Ask for and follow-up on references.
• Will the provider supply you with her tax ID number? (in order for you to use a Flexible Spending Account and/or claim the child care tax credit.)

For in-home care:

• What is the nanny's experience with caring for children? What ages?
• What is the person's philosophy of child rearing?
• How long a commitment will this person be willing to make?
• Observe how she interacts with your child.
• How does child care fit in with the caregiver's personal goals?

In addition, hiring a live-in person to care for your child in your own home will require that you have a suitable room for someone, either a student or otherwise, to live with your family. The expectations for these live-in helpers vary tremendously and should be negotiated carefully. Some families exchange room and board with a student for some hours of babysitting and no additional salary. On the other hand, some professionally trained nannies can make up to $500/week salary in addition to room and board. It is essential to carefully check references for in-home providers. Hiring either a live-in or live-out in home provider can be a time consuming process. Some people do it on their own by placing an ad in the Boston Globe or community newspapers. Others use the service of an agency that will charge a finder's fee of several weeks' salary.

Employers of in-home providers have legal obligations that include paying social security, unemployment and workers' compensation taxes, and reporting of wages to the IRS. (Request the handout entitled "Child Care Payment and Tax Considerations." From the Office of Work and Family.)

Be sure you are absolutely comfortable with your choice. Whichever child care arrangement you choose, we cannot stress enough the importance of communication between parent and provider, so that you will be able to receive and share information to benefit your child's well-being. Child care is a partnership between parents and the caregivers, and it is important to have the communication flowing both ways. In the final analysis, you should trust that the program or caregiver meets your needs and those of your child.