Question for parents!?

[Josiegirl]

What are your first and foremost priorities when looking for childcare? What is important to you as far as what is offered to your child?

I'm really curious because I'll basically be starting over this fall(have lost 6 kids in the past 2 years to school Eeks!) and need to place ads.

Is it proximity? price? Curriculum? Food offered?
Thanks for any input you can offer!

[littlemissmuffet]

As a parent the things I would want for my child in daycare are the same things I hear as a daycare provider from other parents:

-Healthy home-made meals mostly from scratch (no KD, no processed chicken nuggets, not a ton of bread)
-Routine (daily nap and meals provided at the same time, daily outdoor play)
-Well supervised play-based environment (not interested in strict or scheduled preschool activities)
-A happy, strict provider (one who enforces the house rules to both the childre AND parents)
-NO TV!
-Regular arts and crafts
-Clean, organized environment (within reason of course - kids are messy!)

For me (and may of my daycare parents over the years) cost and proximity have never been issues. I would happily pay top dollar and drive across town several times a day if I had peace of mind that my child was being well taken care of... these are the kinds of daycare parents I try and attract!

[Blackcat31]

Here area couple other threads about parent questions

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=parent+questions