The Interview

[themoorethemerrier]

I was thinking of what I would expect from a dc that I had to leave my children at and what I as a provider expect of dc families.

Do most parents ask or assume that they should bring their child?

Do you ask the parent to bring their child?

If yes, how do you interact initially with the child? Do you offer toys or activities for the child to do while you talk to the parents?

If you have your own young children, do you introduce them to the potential family? How?

Any special tips?

I want to convey that it is an honor to be entrusted with these kids, but I also want to make it obvious that I am professional and not to be taken advantage of. Is that possible? ::

[Michael]

Maybe there is something in our older threads that will help you: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...ew+-+questions

[daycare]

I think everyone is different on this.

I usually talk to the parent on the phone and ask a few questions
Like days, hours, why they need care. Where do they work, Has the child been in DC before. The basics. If I think I can work with this family, I plan an interview at my home.

I do ask that the parents bring the child so that I can meet them when they come. My son is only 4 and he will demand my attention, so I don't have him present when I do interviews. I have my older son who is 15 take him to our HOA park. Or I ask my husband to take him somewhere if he is home.

I don't plan any activities with the children when they come, I just let them free play while I talk to the parents further.

Then I will sit and play a bit with the child and look to see how they interact with the parents... Like does the parent actually parent the child if the child is behaving poorly, how does the child respond to the parent?

I talk to the parents about what group care is, what they expect from DC for their child and then we go over my PHB. They take all of the paper work home if I like them. Otherwise, I keep it.

I will send a follow up email inviting them to ask any more questions or concerns. Some parents will sign up then or some will ask to come see my program. I can do this as long as my husband is home and I will only allow for it to be for about 20-30 minutes.

So far I have only had two families that I wanted to sign up not and then several that I had to hide from...Ok I had to tell them nicely that I didnt think we were a good fit.

One thing..If you know you are not going to take a child, be honest. I did the sorry I filled the spot hoping to not hurt the parents feelings, only to have it turn ugly when they were still seeing my ads for OPEN SPOTS...

interviews are something that are hard for me, as I don't do them enough to get good at them. I did create a check list to go over with the parents so that I do'nt forget to cover anything.

At the end of the day, I still hate interviews...

[DaisyMamma]

So it never occurred to me to ask the parent to bring the child until a parent showed up without a child. Its a daycare interview, why wouldn't you bring your child!

I'm not very good with the interview process and could use these tips as well.

[kendallina]

I ask the parent to bring the child and my own child (almost 3) is present. I introduce myself and my daughter to the family when they arrive. I talk to the parent first and welcome them to my home, then take everyone on a quickie tour of my main living area, where we spend a little bit of time. Then we go up to the playroom where I let the child know that they can play with the toys and usually say something like, whatever you play with today, we'll clean up together before you go home .