Fine the Closest Daycare Near You

The quality of care and education in a daycare provider is the number one factor families look at when making a decision. But this also needs to be considered alongside the location of that daycare. Convenience is so important when it comes to choosing the best daycare for your child.

Most families who access childcare are working parents, so it’s important to ask yourself which day care centres are near work as well as which are near home. If your daycare is conveniently located near home or your workplace your life logistics will be a lot easier to navigate. And happy, less stressed parents, mean happier children!

Opening hours are also a big convenience factor. That’s one of the major benefits about long day care Centres – they are open for a lot longer than community-based or school run daycares, which means you have more time to get things done. If you choose a centre near home versus the office, how will this impact your ability to drop off and pick up your child on time?

Knowing your child is nearby can be reassuring and makes life easier if you need to factor in appointments during the day, or traffic delays to and from work. Trusting someone to care for your child is an important decision and it needs to be the overall best option for you and your family. You might like to consider practical considerations, like:

• Is there any? Is it dedicated, timed, all day or hard to find? Struggling for a park to do drop off and pick up each day will soon become an issue.
• Pram access and storage. For those who prefer to travel on foot, make sure you find out whether you can safely store your pram on the premises during the day.
• Proximity to Public transport. If you’re traveling by bus, train or tram, find out how far the day care centre is to your closest stop.
• Availability of casual care bookings. These are worth their weight on gold if your schedule has a tendency to shift a little. Some daycare centres offer casual bookings, others do not So make sure you do your homework.
• What communication do they offer for families? If you want to know what your child is doing throughout the day, and follow their learning journey, make sure you find out what is offered in this department.
• Can you claim the Child Care Subsidy (CCS)? What will your fees be after your claim the CCS?

There are also some less obvious, but equally important, things to consider when weighing up the best daycare Centre for your family:

• Is there a Pre School or Kindergarten program? Helping prepare your child for primary school is a huge advantage of attending a high-quality daycare. Guardian run incredible Moving On Up To School programs for children aged three and up.
• What kind of learning opportunities will your child have? And is this something that’s important to you?
• Will the Centre keep you up to date during the day with what your child is doing?
• What will your child be eating on a daily basis? Some daycares offer on-site cooks and all meals and snacks are included. Others require you to pack food and formula/milk for your child. Make sure you find out what your chosen daycare centre provides as this is a big factor when it comes to day-to-day planning.
• Does the Centre include nappies, bibs, bedding and other such items?

Here are some other questions to ask when choosing the best daycare centre for you.

Making the decision to leave your child in the care of anyone else is tough enough. At the end of the day, finding the right setting for your child can make a huge difference to the way they feel about learning and how they engage with the people around them.

There are significant learning milestones for children between birth and five years – many of them not obvious to the untrained eye. Our Teachers and Educators are trained to identify and encourage those natural instincts in your child at each stage of their learning journey – from birth to school and beyond.

A child’s brain develops faster in the first five years than at any other time in their life. Yet children do not learn how to read or write overnight. Nor do they simply begin the year before formal schooling commences. The foundations for literacy and numeracy are there from the moment a child is born. That’s why it’s imperative to provide babies and children with the right support and stimulus from the get-go.

Children – no matter their age – learn best when they feel secure and happy. When they are in a stimulating environment, with a supportive network.

So, while convenience is a key factor in choosing the best daycare for your child, there are a number of other factors that come into it.

With more than 120 Centres across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide, there’s likely a suitable daycare near you.

Browse the map below to see which Guardian Centres are near you and click through to read more about what they offer for families and children.