Questions to Ask Before Enrolling Your Child in a Class or Camp

Most programs look good on their website. The differences show up in the answers to a handful of plain questions about safety, money and communication.

Below are the questions worth asking any camp, class, team or after-school program, why each one matters, and what a solid answer sounds like. Rules differ by state and by activity, so where a law or license is involved, we point you to the authority that sets it.

What questions should I ask before enrolling my child in a program?

Ask about staff screening, supervision ratios, abuse prevention, injury and concussion response, licensing, refunds, trial options and communication. Those eight topics cover most of what separates a well-run program from a risky or frustrating one.

Topic	The question to ask	A good answer includes
Staff screening	How do you screen staff and volunteers?	Background checks, references and training, applied to volunteers too
Ratios	How many children does each adult supervise?	A specific number for your child's age group
Abuse prevention	What is your policy on one-on-one contact?	Interactions that are observable and interruptible
Injuries	What happens if my child hits their head?	Removal from play and a call to you the same day
Licensing	Are you licensed or accredited?	A license number, a legal exemption they can explain, or an accreditation you can verify
Refunds	What happens to my money if we withdraw or you cancel?	A written policy with dates and amounts
Trials	Can my child try a session first?	A trial class, a visit, or a short first session
Communication	How and when will you contact me?	One main channel, plus immediate calls for injuries and emergencies

If a program can't answer one of these clearly, that tells you something too.

Do kids' program staff need background checks?

Requirements depend on your state and the type of program, so ask each program exactly what it checks rather than assuming. A licensed child care program will follow state screening rules, while a private class or club may set its own.

For a benchmark, look at camp accreditation. The American Camp Association says its accreditation standards require an application, an interview, reference checks and a criminal background check at hire, an annual check of the National Sex Offender Public Website and an annual voluntary disclosure statement. Seasonal staff get a criminal background check every year, and year-round staff at least every three years.

Useful follow-up questions:

• What does the background check cover, and how often is it repeated?
• Do volunteers, assistant coaches and teen helpers go through the same screening?
• Do you check references from past jobs working with children?
• What training do staff get before working with kids?

What is a safe staff-to-child ratio?

There is no single national number. Ratios depend on the child's age, the activity and your state's rules for licensed programs, so ask for the program's actual ratio for your child's age group.

For camps, the American Camp Association's safety guidance for parents gives a useful benchmark. Its standards set different ratios by age and by day or overnight camp:

Camper age	Day camp (staff : campers)	Overnight camp (staff : campers)
4–5	1 : 6	1 : 5
6–8	1 : 8	1 : 6
9–14	1 : 10	1 : 8
15–17	1 : 12	1 : 10

Swimming, climbing and other higher-risk activities often call for tighter supervision. Ask who is watching the water and whether that person has any other job at the same time.

What abuse-prevention policies should a youth program have?

A good program limits private one-on-one time between adults and children and can explain how it does that. The U.S. Center for SafeSport's Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP) are a clear model.

MAAPP is required for adults in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement, and recommended but not required for other youth sports organizations. Even outside sports, its rules make a good checklist. Under MAAPP:

• One-on-one interactions between adults and minor athletes must be observable and interruptible.
• Parents must be allowed to watch their child's individual training sessions.
• A parent, another adult family member or another adult participant must be included on electronic communications such as texts, emails and social media.
• Locker rooms and changing areas must be monitored.
• The same one-on-one limits apply during program-sponsored travel and lodging.

Ask whether the program has a written policy like this, whether staff are trained on it, and who you report a concern to.

What should a program's concussion protocol be?

If a concussion is suspected, the child should be removed from play right away and kept out the rest of that day and until a healthcare provider clears them. That is the core of the CDC's HEADS UP guidance on responding to a sports-related concussion.

The CDC also says coaches should not try to judge how serious a concussion is themselves; only a healthcare provider should assess it. Signs can take hours or days to appear, according to the CDC's signs and symptoms page, so you need to hear about any head bump even if your child seemed fine.

Ask the program:

• Have coaches completed concussion training, such as the CDC's free HEADS UP online training for youth sports coaches?
• Who decides to pull a child from play, and will you call me the same day?
• Do you require written clearance from a healthcare provider before my child returns?

Concussion rules for school and club sports vary by state and by league, so also ask whether the program follows a state or governing-body policy.

What should I ask about refunds and cancellations?

Ask for the refund policy in writing before you pay, and read it for the specific situations you're most likely to face. Policies range from full refunds to no refunds at all, and the deposit is often treated differently from the rest of the fee.

Questions that cover the common cases:

• Is the deposit refundable, and until what date?
• What do I get back if we withdraw a week before, or after the program starts?
• What if my child is sick or injured and misses sessions? Are there make-ups?
• What happens if the program cancels a session for weather or low enrollment?
• Is a refund paid as cash back to my card, or only as credit toward a future program?
• Is there a fee to transfer to a different session?

If you are weighing several programs, the refund terms can matter as much as the price. Our guide to what kids' activities cost can help you compare.

Can my child try a class before enrolling?

Many classes and studios offer a trial class, a free first session or a visit, so it's always worth asking. A trial lets you see whether your child likes the instructor and the group before you commit to a full season.

Use the visit to watch, not just to check a box. ChildCare.gov's Look, Listen, and Ask tip sheets recommend visiting in person to see how the program runs, how staff interact with children and what the spaces look like, and to ask your questions while you're there.

After the trial, ask your child what they liked and didn't. Their answer is a better predictor of whether they'll stick with it than any brochure.

How will the program communicate with me?

A well-run program can tell you exactly how it will reach you for routine updates and for emergencies, and who your main contact is.

Things to pin down before the first day:

• Where do schedule changes and announcements go: email, text, an app?
• Who calls you if your child is hurt, sick or upset, and how fast?
• Who is allowed to pick your child up, and how does staff verify that person?
• How are medications stored and given, if your child needs them?
• Can you watch, and is there a regular time to talk with the instructor?

For sports, SafeSport's rule that a parent or another adult be included on electronic messages to minors is a good standard to ask about for any program.

Is the program licensed or accredited?

It depends on your state and the kind of program. Some school-age programs must hold a child care license, while others are legally license exempt because a school, health department or other agency oversees them, according to ChildCare.gov.

Ask the program which applies to it. If it is license exempt, ask how it meets health and safety rules instead. Your state's child care licensing office can confirm a license.

For camps, American Camp Association accreditation is a voluntary extra layer. ACA says accreditation means a camp has been reviewed against up to 266 standards covering staff qualifications and training, health and first aid, emergency preparedness, program safety and transportation. You can verify a camp's status by calling ACA at 1-800-428-CAMP. Day and overnight camps raise a few different questions; see our guide to day camp vs. sleepaway camp.

Where can I compare kids' programs near me?

Once you know the questions, the next step is finding programs worth asking. On Kaleto, families search camps, classes and enrichment programs that providers list there, and AI assistants connected to Kaleto can search those same listings. Find activities near you.