Quality Child
Care
Recognizing and Choosing the
Best for Your Children
Quality Child Care: Recognizing and Choosing the Best for Your
Children
With nearly 12 million children under age 5
spending almost 40 hours in child care each week, it is not surprising that
child care plays a huge role in many children's growth. The quality of care
children get in the first five years can affect them for the rest of their
lives. It can prepare them to enter school with the skills they need to succeed.
What does quality child care mean to you? You definitely want your children
in a safe place. You also want your children to be in the care of a "warm"
provider, where they will be happy and in a program where they are active and
learning. You consider all this when choosing child care.
What Is High-Quality Care?
To identify the quality of care a
child care program you'll need to examine the "process" and the "structure" of
the program. The process just means looking at what goes on in the child care
program. For instance, high-quality child care has planned activities for your
child that have a purpose. When looking at the program's structure, you are
considering the actual place: the number of providers and teachers, and the
number of children, the staff's training and experience, the safety features,
and so on.
Why Is High-Quality Care Important?
There are several items
that will help you detect the level of quality a program offers.
1.Quality Child Care:Health and safety
oProper equipment
will reduce safety or health risks.
oMonitoring of visitors reduces risk or
threats to children's safety.
oClean environments reduce illness and spread
of germs.
2.Quality Child Care:Learning Environment
oYoung
children need a lot of supervision and guidance.
oChildren need to develop
socially, emotionally, intellectually, and physically.
3.Quality Child
Care:Staff Training
oProviders and teachers know and understand
child development and how best to work with children.
oYour child will
receive care that is right for his age and skill levels.
oChildren need to
form a bond with their provider and feel safe and loved.
4.Quality Child
Care:Parent Policies
oIt's important for parents to be welcomed
and involved in the child care program.
oGood child care involves parents
and works with parents to meet specific needs.
5.Quality Child
Care:Program Administration
oPrograms with licenses have passed
standards for health and safety, ratios, and equipment.
oPrograms that are
accredited will have passed national standards for providing quality care.
Making Your Visit
Visiting the child care program before you sign up is
a crucial step. Here are some tips to make the most of that visit:
Speak
over the phone and get basic information. Talk by phone to help you to
decide if you want to visit the program. You may have to arrange a time to speak
because providers may be busy taking care of children.
Arrange for a
visit.
Take a checklist with you. Visit a program more than once,
and at different times of the day, so that you can get a sense of the flow of an
average day.
When visiting a center program, speak to providers who would
care for your child. Make sure you speak directly with the child care
provider who would be caring for your child.
Ask to speak to other
parents using the program. Get a different view point on the kind of care
provided, their experience and level of satisfaction
Quality Child Care:
Providers and Parents Working Together is Key to Quality
Care
One of the most important aspects of any child care program is the
relationship you form with your child's provider. When parents and child care
providers work together, everyone benefits. In a good partnership, parent and
provider work together to develop and achieve goals that are best for the child
within the program setting. Child care programs that support positive parent and
provider partnerships will have some of the following qualities:
Parents and
providers communicate on a daily basis.
Parents trust and feel at ease with
the child care program.
Parents have many opportunities to be involved.
Providers ask parents for their input and feedback.
Children in the
program are happy, well-adjusted and learning.
Choosing a high-quality child
care program for your child takes time and patience. No child care program is
more important than the care a parent gives. But, a good program can hep you to
make sure your child is getting care that provides a solid foundation to lead a
happy and successful life.
Quality Child Care:For More Information
Child Care
Aware, www.childcareaware.org
<http://www.childcareaware.org>, 1-800-424-2246. Child Care Aware
helps parents find quality child care and resources in their c ommunity. Their
website has information on what to look for when seeking quality child care, as
well as a checklist on evaluating programs and providers that parents can use.
American Academy of Pediatrics,The AAP web page has child care
related information, including information on high-quality care and a checklist
for parents.
National Association for the Education of Young
Children, www.naeyc.org <http://www.naeyc.org>,
1-800-424-2460. The site has information for parents and teachers about quality
child care, catalogs of early childhood books and posters, information about
conferences, and FAQs about program accreditation.
National Resource
Center, <http://nrc.uchsc.edu/parents.htm>. The NRC
promotes health and safety in out-of-home child care settings. Its web-based
resource, Healthy Kids Healthy Care, reviews all major areas of health and
safety for parents and child care providers. Also has resources on state
licensing regulations, and indicators of quality when choosing child care.
