Finding the right daycare, kindergarten or preschool for your child

Outside the family home, children spend most of their time in school or early childhood education and care. In this episode we focus on early learning services (or early childhood services as mentioned throughout the episode), also known as preschool, early learning centres, daycare, kindergarten or childcare.  

This episode’s guest is Sally Braddy, the assistant director for children’s programs at Gowrie South Australia, who we talk to about finding the right early learning service for your child. Sally suggests questions you could ask when touring early learning services, and recommends strategies to help you and your child when it comes time for them to transition from home to an early learning setting.

In this episode you will learn:

• how to start your journey finding an early learning service for your child  [01:46]
• what signs to look for in an early learning service that could indicate it is the right or wrong place for your child  [04:15]
• questions you can ask with when touring an early childhood service [07:47]
• strategies to help your child transition to their early learning service and what you can do if they are finding the change difficult [09:59]
• the important role of environment in your child’s learning [18:34]

Further information and resources:

Starting Blocks

The importance of play in children’s learning and development

Settling in at child care: The early weeks

Parent–child play conversation guide – Emerging Minds

Emerging Minds Families Glossary

Anxiety in toddlers and pre–schoolers