10 questions experts ask on a daycare tour
A license means a program meets legal minimums and gets inspected. It is not a quality guarantee — the tour is where quality shows. These are the ten questions that consistently separate strong programs from smooth marketing, with what to listen for in each answer. (This page prints cleanly — bring it with you.)
1. What’s your staff turnover — how long have the lead teachers been here?
Caregiver consistency predicts quality better than almost anything a brochure says. Young children attach to specific adults, and a room that re-staffs every few months can’t sustain that. Strong programs answer with names and years ("Maria has run this room for six years"); a vague answer is itself an answer.
2. Can I see your last licensing inspection report?
Every licensed program is inspected, and reports are public record in Washington — you can also pull them yourself through the state’s Child Care Check (see the license-check guide). A program that shares its report unprompted is telling you how it treats problems. Minor findings are normal; watch for repeated or unresolved ones.
3. What does a typical day look like, hour by hour?
You’re listening for a real rhythm — meals, naps, outdoor time, free play, group time — that the staff can recite without thinking, because the children live it daily. A day that’s "flexible" to the point of shapeless usually means TV and crowd control.
4. How do you handle discipline and conflicts between kids?
The answer should be concrete and calm: redirection, naming feelings, staying with the child — never shaming, isolation or withheld food. Ask for an example from last week. How adults handle a biting incident tells you more than any mission statement.
5. (Infants) Walk me through your safe-sleep practices.
The only acceptable answer: babies on their backs, one per crib, nothing in the crib — no blankets, bumpers or stuffed animals — with staff able to see sleeping infants. This is Washington licensing law, not preference. Ask to see the nap room.
6. How and when do you tell me about my child’s day?
Daily communication — an app, photos, or a paper daily sheet covering meals, naps, diapers and mood — is standard now. What you’re really asking: will I find out about a hard day from you, today, or discover it myself three weeks later?
7. What’s your sick-child policy — and your backup-staffing plan?
You want clear exclusion criteria (fever thresholds, return-to-care rules) applied consistently, and an honest answer about what happens when a teacher calls in sick. "We have floaters" beats "we make it work." A program with no backup plan closes on you without warning.
8. How much outdoor time daily, in what weather?
Washington licensing expects daily outdoor play, and good Seattle programs go out in the rain — ask what gear they expect you to send. "We stay in when it drizzles" means your child stays inside from October to May.
9. What are ALL the costs — registration, deposit, supplies, late pickup?
Tuition is not the whole number. Ask for every fee in writing: registration, waitlist deposit and whether it applies to tuition, annual supply fees, and the per-minute late-pickup rate. Surprises here are a sign of how billing disputes will go later.
10. How does the waitlist actually work, and what’s the real timeline?
Ask where you’d sit on the list today, how families are prioritized (siblings and staff usually jump the queue), and when they last called someone new off the list. An honest "probably next September" is worth more than a hopeful "soon" — see the waitlist guide for strategy.
Before you tour
Shortlist from real inventory, not ads: every licensed provider is on the map, filterable by age, rating and ownership. Check each candidate's license and inspection history first, know the ratio the room should be running so you can count heads, and go in with the going rates in mind.