Finding Quality Before and After School Childcare Options

In-Home Daycare Centers

An in-home daycare center is a great choice if you want your child to have some one on one attention and a primary caregiver.  Daycare centers often have a high turn over rate and your child’s teacher might change frequently.  With an in-home daycare center, your child will always have the same primary caregiver.  Before choosing a home daycare center, ensure that they are licensed by the state.  A state run home daycare center receives annual inspections similar to a daycare center and is constantly monitored by the state.  Some in-home providers are more flexible with their pricing and often times they are cheaper than a traditional daycare center.  However, if your daycare provider is sick they may not have a back up plan for your child and you might have to stay home with your child or leave work early depending on the situation.  Before deciding on an in-home provider get all of the details before making a commitment.  You will want to find out what their policy is on sick children, discipline, if they are able to pick up your child from daycare, is their a bus route that drops off near the providers home, vacation policy, early dismissal, and school holiday care.  The hours of care are typically set in stone but your provider might be a bit more flexible with drop off and pick up times if you make prior arrangements before hand.

Aftercare Options

Check with your child’s school and see if they offer an after care program.  These programs are great if you have school age children who only need care before and after school.  Depending on the program, some schools offer additional care on school holidays and on days when there is an early dismissal.  Before enrolling your child in the program, make sure that you get the program rules and determine how they handle care on school holidays, during the summer months, long breaks from school, and early dismissal.  These programs are convenient because your child stays at the school.  The program usually provides your child with snacks, homework assistance, and time to play.  After school programs are great but they have strict pick up times and parents must pick up their child by a certain time.

Alternative Care Ideas

If the following types of daycare options aren’t for you and your family, I would highly recommend checking out SitterCity.  Sittercity is a great way for parents to find child care, full-time nannies, pet care, homework helpers, snack makers, and they even offer care for the elderly.  Sittercity allows parents to connect with local baby sitters or nannies in their area and pick the right person to care for your children either in your home or the sitter’s home.  Sittercity takes the guess work out of finding the right person to care for your child, you can browse the caregiver’s profile, read other reviews that are posted about the caregiver, and run a full background check on a potential caregiver.  Once you narrow down your results, you can set up phone and in-person interview.  This is a great way to find a babysitter or nanny if you need flexible child care hours including overnight care.  Find a caregiver that meets your needs and can work as much or a little as you need them.  This is also a great back up plan so that you have a back up baby sitter or nanny for special nights out or when your normal baby sitter is sick.

Have you ever used Sittercity to find a babysitter or nanny for your children?  If not, what type of care do you and your family use?