http://www.babysafetyzone.com/child-care/safe-preschools.html Safe preschools are out there, but you might have to do a little research to find them. On this page, we'll tell you what to look for in safe preschools. en-us Tue, 17 Jan 2006 09:14:37 EST Tue, 17 Jan 2006 09:14:37 EST Weblog Editor 2.0 When choosing a preschool for your child, you're probably thinking about things like the curriculum and convenience. Safety may also be a concern, but there are some safety issues you might not think of immediately. Stating the Obvious... When it comes to safe preschools, the first thing you probably think of is how accessible your child will be to strangers. Some of the safest preschools have a code that parents must type in to even get in the building. Some might be locked, but have a receptionist or security person who makes you sign your name and a pre-arranged password before you can come inside. If the preschool you're considering for your child doesn't have those things, ask them what their procedures are for when your child leaves the building. Is there a "check-out" system? Are you able to leave a list of "approved adults" who are allowed to pick your child up? Are those adults required to show ID? ...and the Not-So-Obvious Something that might not stand out in your mind when you're looking at child care is the safety of any playground equipment and the cleanliness of the facility. It might stand out in your mind if it's very dirty or if you glance at the equipment and see that it's falling apart. Usually it's then and only then that a parent thinks of those things. If the playground equipment is in bad condition, your child could get hurt. Or, if there's not a sufficient amount of "shock-absorbing" material under the equipment, that could be cause for concern. In addition, ask what the policies are for playing on the equipment. For example: Children should only be allowed to climb on equipment with shoes on. Socks are too slippery and can cause a child to fall. And if some children are barefoot and others are wearing shoes, the barefoot children could get their toes stepped on. Make sure that there's a rule about going down slides feet first only. Children should never be allowed to go down a slide head-first. Sliding on their stomach or back is fine as long as their feet go down first. Make sure the playground is monitored when the children are playing and that the rules are enforced. Now on to cleanliness. Observe the hand washing rules. You want to make sure that hand washing is a common practice among teachers and students. In addition, you might want to ask if toys and desks are disinfected each night in addition to eating areas, floors and bathrooms. Otherwise, your child could catch colds from other children quite frequently. (On that note, you might want to ask what the sick child policy is too. Most safe preschools have one, and it's either not allowing sick children to come to school or keeping them in an area that's separate from the well children.) Tue, 17 Jan 2006 09:14:37 EST