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Looking for tips for finding great child care? When I searched for daycare and preschool for my daughters, I spent days searching online, calling, and visiting child care providers.  I visited 16 daycare centers before choosing the one that felt right for us. In this post, I’ll share 10 practical tips that helped me (and that hopefully can help you!) find safe, affordable, high-quality child care.

1. Start your child care search early.

Begin your daycare search as early as a year in advance, especially if you live in a densely populated city like Washington D.C. or San Francisco. This is even more important if you will be looking for infant care. It’s usually more difficult to find space for an infant than for a 3- or 4-year-old because of the teacher-to-child ratio: for infants, you must have 1 teacher for 2-4 infants (depending on the State) but for 4-year-olds, it can be around 8-10. 

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In honor of the Week of the Young Child, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with the DC Public Library in support of the Sing, Talk, and Read early literacy campaign!

It’s never too early to give your child a smart start. The Sing, Talk & Read DC initiative, led by the DC Public Library, shows parents how to make singing, talking and reading to their very young children a part of their day, every day.

By using surprisingly simple daily practices, you can put your child on the path to success! Learn how singing, talking and reading with your little one now, will help them later in school.

You can watch us discuss the campaign on Let’s Talk Live (NewsChannel8) and offer examples of how you can turn your everyday routine into a fun learning opportunity.

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his weekend as I cleared out the basement in hope of making some room, I found a box full of baby clothes. I was too attached to give it all away, but didn’t really want to continue to have it sit in the basement collecting dust. A brilliant idea came to mind: I decided to give my daughters, Eva (4) and Maya (2), some of the newborn clothes to play with and dress up their dolls. Seeing those sweet items around the house once again reminded me of when they were oh so tiny! It turned out to be a big success, the newborn onesies fit their Ikea dolls perfectly and were the highlight of the day!

What your child will learn:
– Fine motor skills: practicing to put on shoes, tying laces, buttoning onesies, buckling overalls, etc.
– Pretend play, which builds skills in many essential developmental areas.

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