A childcare, preschool, kindy, family daycare or other childcare service which is most likely to be good for your child is also one that is most likely to be stress-free and good for you.

When you leave your child with another person/s this is child care.  A good childcare service is one in which you can easily tell by looking at other children that a high standard of childcare is provided.  The children are: 

• Happy
• Safe
• Healthy
• Provided with a great learning environment for social and intellectual play
• Able to do and experience some things that are different to what they do at home as well as providing home and community based activities e.g. cooking, block play, singing, going for walks, visiting the supermarket etc.

Some people connect well with young children, and other people don't. 

Not everyone who works in childcare New Zealand (also called early childhood education) has the personal qualities of liking and being able to connect easily with young children because teacher training can't teach this. 

The adults or childcare teachers should show enthusiasm, warmth, energy, and  a genuine interest in your child's world. This is MOST important.

The adult(s) must be able to connect at a personal level with your child, and have the knack of knowing just what to say and do at the right moment to interest and make your child feel safe, cared about, and in-control (rather than being controlled).

Making Your Childcare Decision

For childcare to be good it  will not only suit your child but also meet your needs as a parent and family.  If it doesn't then problems and costs will show up sooner or later.  These may include:

• the emotional costs of worrying about your child,
• having your child learn that you put the feelings of those at the service ahead of his/her own,
• trying to undo some of the bad behaviours or language your child might have learnt,
• coping with an unfit and physically uncoordinated child,
• taking more time off work because your child is sick yet again,
• rushing around furiously in the weekends or evenings trying to do make-up activities and experiences that your child should have been getting if the service was good.

Take Time to Decide On Your Childcare Arrangement

Do not make a final decision too quickly. You may get a misleading impression if you base your decision on the interview with the New Zealand child care provider or on your initial visit to the childcare service.

Have a trial period. If you are considering enrolling at a centre or home-based service have some short visits with your child before officially starting and stay with your child to observe. Also have some spontaneous/unscheduled visits, “We were just passing and thought we would pop in to say hi”.

If you are employing a nanny or caregiver in your own home ask the person to come for an hour or two over three to five days or to do some childcare for you during the weekend. 

If the childcare arrangement or provider does not live up to your expectations or if you find it does not work out as well you had expected do not feel embarrassed or shy about withdrawing your child. If your hairdresser botched up your hair cut you would complain and not return again, would you not?  For your child’s sake and for your well-being and peace of mind, don’t succumb to advertising and pressure from service providers or friends – be a consumer!

If you think your child may be experiencing harm or is at risk discontinue using the childcare service immediately.  Put your child first and before any personal obligations to the teachers, to the management of the service, and to the service community.

Ongoing Monitoring of your New Zealand Childcare Arrangement

Ongoing monitoring of the childcare arrangement and how well it continues to meet your child and family’s needs is important, especially as your child gets older and as the peer-group and the adult(s) working in the service change. 

New Zealand Parents' and Teachers’ Stories

Over the years parents and teachers have submitted to ChildForum many stories of situations that have not been good for individual children. Examples of things going wrong include:

• A child hated going to kindergarten because he was often kicked and teased by another child.
• A parent was told that her child could not be given individual attention because the needs of the group had to come first
• A mother was told not to breastfeed her child at the centre because it was not in her child’s best interests as children are best left to develop independence.
• A child who felt ignored and unsupported by the adults in the service.
• A 3-yr-old child was left the centre unnoticed by teachers and waited at the gate on a main road for at least 30 minutes for his parent, until a stranger noticed and returned the child to the centre.
• A child was left in an inner city playground unnoticed by teachers who crossed the busy city intersection and returned to the centre. The child was helped to cross the road and return to the centre by a stranger. The teachers did not tell the parent when collecting her child what had happened, but later put responsibility onto the child, saying the child must have been hiding
• A toddler was left on a beach for several hours until found by a stranger .
• A nanny who stole food and other small items from the family.
• A nanny who with the parents gone, watched television soaps and talked to her boyfriends and others on her mobile phone.
• A child who engaged in sex play and knew adult language having learnt this from observing other children at a centre.
• A child who received injuries the caregiver could not explain including a broken limb.
• A child who received injuries the caregiver blamed on the child
• Teachers who talked to one another while children played unattended and unnoticed.
• The manager of a centre telling a student teacher not to give a child who was hurt and crying a cuddle because it would be unfair on other children who would then want personal attention ad staff did not have time to sit with one child only.
• A toddler left sitting in a highchair for an hour and a half while other children had their lunch, teachers ate their lunch and talked and then cleaned the area and put out new activities on the tables

These are not mentioned here to scare you, but so that you are aware that things can sometimes go wrong.  Have your mind and eyes open to the possibility that problems can arise as a good childcare/preschool service is only truly good if one is aware of and knows what possible problems could occur.

Read more 

Childforum Checklist of Childcare and Preschool Goodness 

Teachers Regard of Parents

Six Signs of Quality 

Your opinions on childcare and early education matters

Current issues and problems in childcare and early education

What to look for in a person you leave your child or baby with

The characteristics of quality teaching, click here ...