Going to kindergarten is difficult and quite stressful for a three-year-old child. The baby faces a new environment, the absence of parents nearby, and new, unfamiliar people. To ensure the most comfortable process of adaptation and stay in kindergarten, it is necessary to choose an institution based on essential criteria. The latter include licensing, location, mode of operation, as well as features of the internal organization.
First, it is necessary to get acquainted with the license for educational activities, the charter of the institution, and the contract. It is important to find out if the kindergarten has a document for its area. The contract should contain a range of services provided, payment terms, and the child’s schedule in the daycare center. All the parties rights and obligations must be detailed and entered into the contract. In order to save yourself from unexpected expenses, it is necessary to find a provision in the contract stating that the price paid under the contract may not change during the term of the child’s stay in the preschool.
The next step is to inspect the room, toys, and the area for walks, as well as to observe the behavior of the caregivers and their communication with the children. It is important to find the information about the program and the methods by which they work in the kindergarten (Berke, 2022). Parents can ask an additional question about the education of the person who runs the kindergarten and the qualifications of teachers, doctors, and educators, and the administration usually provides such information. It is necessary to pay attention to the territory of the kindergarten – how clean it is, is not cluttered with garbage, is not broken sandboxes and swings.
The area must be a playground, and the territory itself is fenced, and the gate leading to it is closed, but many kids are so inquisitive that they try to run away outside the kindergarten. It is necessary to pay attention to the number of children in the group and the number of teachers. In municipal kindergartens there are violations of the Standard Provisions for preschools (pre-school educational institutions), according to which the group should have no more than 20 children and 2 teachers, and an assistant teacher works with them. These are full-time employees. However, sometimes due to lack of funding there may not be such an assistant, and all the functions of the nanny are taken over by the teacher.
An important criterion is the duration of the kindergarten if it is a completely private institution. Five years of operation implies that the internal work is properly organized, and sanitary inspections and professional testing are successful. It is useful to talk to the parents of children who already go to this kindergarten to find out whether the interaction with employees is comfortable (Berke, 2022). These criteria are basic, as they allow you to assess the critical aspects of the educational institution. For this reason, kindergarten choice for children will be based on similar indicators, except for more emphasis on educational activities.
Parents need to understand which educational, private, or state-run preparatory work is aimed at. It will not be rational to send a child to a municipal or departmental kindergarten, knowing that later the baby will attend a private school. The contrast between the two systems is quite tangible at different stages of education, so this indicator is critical. If up to the age of 4-5 years, child-centered education is sufficient, at an older age, it is important to pay attention to educational programs that will allow the child to prepare for school.
Reference
Berke, K. C. A. (2022). The creative curriculum for preschool teaching guide featuring the buildings study. Teaching Strategies.