Working parents looking for day care can get advice on choosing carefully and finding a safe, healthy environment for their child at a workshop this week offered by Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center.
Kathy Kern, Ravenswood Hospital`s day-care manager, will give a two-hour talk on how parents can assess the quality of day-care centers in one or two visits. Kern has 10 years` experience in day care.
Kern says parents should check first for cleanliness. Clutter is OK but dirt is a good sign that a day-care center is substandard.
Parents also should check for safety features, such as covered wall outlets. Extension cords, especially near infants, are a bad sign, she says.
Facilities need not appear bright or brand-new, Kern says; sometimes the brightest-looking day-care centers are not as good as those with worn but safe facilities.
Also, parents should try to assess whether the day-care room is exciting or boring. If the atmosphere seems sterile to parents, it also could seem that way to children, she says.
Parents should try to discern whether the director is on the site at most times. If he or she is difficult to reach by phone or cancels appointments, that`s a good indication that the director is not supervising the center carefully.
Parents also should ask to observe the child-care situation outside the presence of the director and observe how the staff looks and acts.
Kern says staff should be dressed casually, without being slovenly. Well- dressed staff members are a bad sign, she says; that means they are not prepared to play at the children`s level.
”The body language of the staff says a lot,” Kern says. ”Are they sitting, or slouched or leaning against the walls? Or are they interacting with the children? Do they touch the children or make eye contact with them?” A day-care center that is quiet or children who appear to have been forced to sit still for long periods may be another sign of what Kern calls
”soft abuse.” In a well-run day-care center, Kern says children should feel some freedom.
”One danger sign to me is if there is very little noise at the center,” Kern says.
”If it`s very quiet, I would wonder why, unless it`s nap time. You should see lots of action. Happy children are loud.”
Kern`s workshop will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the hospital, 4550 N. Winchester Ave. Cost is $3, $2 for seniors and students. To pre-register call 312-878-4300, ext. 1455.
