Questions and advice from childcare educator❤️

I am so worried because i am about to put my twins 3 years old in childcare and dindnt speak any single english word just speak their mother language do u think they will adapt to the new environment quickley

@Dina at my childcare we have lots of children who don’t speak any English, truthfully it does take a little bit longer for them to feel confident making friends but children do not care that they cannot speak the same language especially not at age 3, as long as you see educators speaking respectfully and are able to communicate with them using simple everyday hand signals that we all use!

How to spot red flags please and what documents I am entitled to 🙏

I’ve been really worried too. My baby will be 11 months when I need to send him to day care. How am I to spot red flags when he can’t communicate yet? My husband is so concerned that he’s considering being the full time carer while I work. This is a big lifestyle change for us financially.

I would love to know how often these awful things happen and is it more so at smaller/privately run daycares or the big names also? This was why I am a stay at home mum... my child cried for 5 months at daycare and he changed. I don't know if it was just him (he is a mummas boy) or if something upset him... I know others who send their kids there with no issues

@Katherine you are entitled to see all their policies and procedures whenever you would like and any documents in relation to your child/ren that aren’t related to any ongoing child protection case with information you can’t see but you can ask a case worker and they will be able to show you what is available to see (have not idea if that applies to you just thought I’d throw it out there incase it helps anyone who is reading this) ❤️ and a good way to spot red flags is by reading those policies and procedures especially child to educator ratio ( I will explain that at the end) to make sure your child is getting cared for correctly, nappy change procedure so you can observe what is happening as you are doing pick up or drop off and see if it is getting done on time and you are allowed to stay with your child for an for some of the day for an orientation for most places but if that don’t offer that you can just stay anyway and I would suggest staying for at least 2 meal times!

@Katherine *child to educator ratio* Educators under 18 or are working towards a certificate but do not hold one yet CAN NOT be alone in a room with children ever. 0-1years/1 educator to 4 children 1-2/ 1 educator to 4/5 children (5 for 2 year) 3-5/6/ 1 educator to 11 children

@Jade💃🏻 on baby’s first day stay with them and let the educators play with them see how they are but also watch all the other rooms to see how they are behaving with the children. If they are yelling or not paying attention to the children check child to educator ratios and if they aren’t meeting that leave and report! Remember your child will cry probably a lot. They will stop and they will have fun when they adjust sometimes it takes a bit longer I hope that makes you feel a bit more comfortable if you do decide to send baby to childcare

@Lily thanks for the advice!

@Alayne seems like you need to find a new center if your baby wasn’t adapting to it in those months, he may just need to find his educator that he feels a connection to! And no absolutely not it doesn’t happen very often but in family owned independent businesses it happens more than large companies. With my experience in an independent small company I’ve seen it happen once and the girl was out of the room in 2 minutes and out the door without a wwcc in 10! I love those kids almost like they were my own and would’ve done anything for them so there is people who will absolutely adore and care bubba 🩷

My girl is wild!!

@Tiffany my favourite

I love this, love your answers, and love that you have the confidence to answer all of these questions. However, I’d encourage any parent/caregiver to be asking these questions to the Centre Director, directly. All nation wide, and state based regulations can be found online, by visiting ACECQA. A copy of the centre’s policies and procedures should be given to families upon enrolment and to be honest, red flags can be difficult to spot so doing training such as a RRHAN-EC course may be beneficial for parents/caregivers.

@Courtney I agree with you completely and thank you for commenting about acecqa! I have worked at centre’s that do not provide parents with the policy’s and procedures upon enrolment and a lot of parents aren’t aware they are entitled to see them unfortunately and I’ve seen owners that encouraged staff to withhold information from parents sadly (former work place that has been reported). 🩷