I had the pleasure of being able to work in an industry that allowed me to bring my little ones with me to work each day. I often thought about how lucky I was to know how loved and cared for my boys were by my peers at the preschool I worked at. I have been working in Early Education for over 14 years now and have come to know really what parents are looking for in child care.
A welcoming environment – no matter the colors on the walls or the songs playing in the classroom; if their child is not greeted warmly and kindly by any adult they come in contact with – it’s almost always automatically not the place for their kiddo. As it shouldn’t be. Children need and desire to feel included and noticed. This first impression is vital when touring a center.
Teachers engaging with students – What does engagement look like? It is a teacher helping a child wash their hands. It is a teacher putting a toddlers shoe after they have taken it off the umpteenth time and doing it with a smile. It is a teacher chasing children on the playground – pretending to be a dinosaur! Engagement is where children learn and create a sense of imagination and inclusiveness.
A clean school – not a toy free, paint free “clean” – they want a clean classroom that has clean cabinets, fresh smell, floors without spaghetti and yogurt spilt and dried on them. Parents know what their homes look like when their toddler plays with toys and then ditches them for the dog to chew. Toys are not a deal breaker. Food caked on the floor, walls and faces are.
Finally, Parents want security. They want quality care givers that treat their child as if this sweet baby was their own. 90% of families that are seeking quality early education know that toddlers bump their heads sometimes and preschoolers run into each other at lightning speed on a playground. Safety means preventing injury through supervision of all activities and mindfulness when developing them. Safety means selecting staff carefully while following all background checks and consistently training your staff on best practices.
A quality curriculum like we offer at Little Sunshine’s Playhouse and Preschool is great. Warm and welcoming classrooms add a wow factor and both serve a purpose, but you have to have a welcoming, engaging, clean and safe environment for early education to be successful!
To learn more about Little Sunshine’s Playhouse and Preschool visit https://www.littlesunshine.com/gilbert-arizona-higley/.
