Phone Interview at 2

[blamoms11]

I have my first phone interview at 2. What are some questions I should ask or what kind of questions do you think she will ask. She has a 4yr old and a 2yr old. Thanks

[playfelt]

First the basics if you don't already know them including hours, days, times.
What kind of group experiences have the children had before - you are trying to get out of her why she is moving daycares or is this going to be new them
Assume the 4 year old goes to JK is if full day/ part day, will you be doing the transportation or just taking to the bus stop - times if she knows although likely not yet
Kind of meals they are used to eating, favourite foods
Favourite activities for play - ie are they the dollies, trucks, active, quite puzzles type
Because her child is older - 4 years old it is like a role reverse in the sense of you want to question her on what she does. That will give you an idea of how well the kids will fit into your daycare - so mealtimes, discipline methods, what are the most common behaviour issues, naptime

[Momof4]

In a pre-interview phone call or email I ask the parents to tell me a little bit about their family. It makes them comfortable to talk about themselves a bit first. I ask all the questions playfelt mentioned, about food, naptimes, temperaments. I make sure they read my website and are looking for care within my business hours with a 9 hour day maximum or overtime fees apply. I ask them if they have family in the city so that they will have help when I'm on vacation. I also like to know approximately what areas of the city the live and work so I know if I'm on their way or out of their way.

Since these children are not babies they will have learned their habits from somebody else and I'm leery to take on children of that age, but sometimes it works out. I've only had one little 2.5 year old boy who was transferred here from centre care and within a couple of weeks he learned my rules and routines and was completely on our schedule. But ask questions about all of that as playfelt mentioned.