Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2005 > September > 27 > Entry
How to check out preschools and childcare centers
I spent a good portion of the summer trying to find the right pre-school for my 3 and 5 year olds. Its an arduous process. You want a place you’re sure is safe. That’s No. 1. You also want a place that’s enriching, where your sure the kids are challenged to grow and learn, not just spend the day watching television. And, a big one, you need a place you can afford.
It’s difficult to even get started. I began with the Yellow Pages.
But I recently discovered helpful resource. On the Internet, you can find a list of all the day cares and preschools in your zip code and read the last few year’s worth of inspection reports.
Bizarrely, its not the Ohio Department of Education that compiles this information. You’ll find it at the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services website. Family Services is charged with licensing day cares and pre schools, and they inspect them for compliance.
It’s a statement in itself that Ohio views early childhood care not as an educational process for children, but as a service for working parents. But on the plus side, the Family Services website is much easier to use than the nearly indecipherable education department site.
You can find out, for instance, about health violations, like lunches placed on a changing table, or safety concerns, like broken playground equipment. Usually, the centers take care of these small problems quickly. But if you see the same problems over and over in their inspection reports, or if the center you are looking at was cited for any big problems, those are red flags.
The department also has begun a pilot program in eight counties (none in the Miami Valley) through which it sends evaluation teams out to day cares and preschools and the teams rate them with one, two or three starts.
That rating system is a good idea. I hope they expand it to other counties.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: My Favorite Posts, Young Children
Comments
By karen
September 27, 2005 3:06 PM | Link to this
Does the information on the site include centers that are licensed by the Department of Education? Or do they not license preschools any more? I like that you can check to see exactly what they wrote for something that was out of compliance. Some things were definately red flags, while others were things that happen when you are dealing with 3-year- olds and they aren’t being real cooperative because there’s a stranger watching you.By wheels
September 27, 2005 12:49 PM | Link to this
I think a star system could be a good thing, but do they explain what the stars are given for? Is it only safety based, or do they include other criteria as well?