Hellobee Boards

I would have your initial meeting after hours so you can really have her full attention for answering questions. If you are happy after the first meeting, ask to stop by another day during the day to observe.

Kids get CRAZY when other adults come around. My in-home daycare provider (who is also a really good friend) makes this same request, and gets a lot of push back from her potential parents. It's just that when there are new adults around, the kids go out of their way to 'show off' and are just wild and crazy and noisy. This not only prevents the provider from being able to give you their full attention, but kind of scares the new parent about what kind of daycare it is... haha.
The first meeting should be outside of daycare hours, and then you should be able to come visit the center in-action, but just be prepared to watch only, and for the kids' behavior to be a little crazier than is typical for them.

I would think that it's for both security reasons and so that she can give you her full attention.
I wouldn't have wanted my in home daycare provider to be conducting interviews and tours while she was caring for J.

We met with our daycare provider on a weekend, so there were no kids there. I had wanted to see them in action too, but now I understand how that would have be difficult. I actually haven't ever seen them in action really and DD has been there for 8+ months. I pick her up and see the other kids running around, but that's pretty much it. However, I knew a couple of the other moms and kids so that did make me less concerned.