What constitutes quality child care?

What constitutes quality child care? Daycares that produce positive outcomes use 10
essential components. Child care programs that endeavor to improve often begin with
tangible changes, such as physical layouts, equipment, and materials, and advance toward
changing practices that promote relationship-based care between the children and their
families and the caregivers. Continuing improvement in program quality is another important
factor.

Component Descriptions
The following component descriptions are adapted from Developmentally Appropriate
Practices in Early Childhood Programs, by Sue Bredekamp and Carol Copple. A quality child
care program includes all of the following components

1. Licensed programs follow appropriate health and safety practices.
Licensing ensures that the child care center meets basic health and safety
requirements. Quality child care settings for young children have separate areas for food
preparation and diapering and toileting, detailed procedures for emergencies, policies
for addressing illnesses, nutritious meals and snacks, collaboration with community
health and safety resources, and frequent hand-washing by caregivers and children to
minimize the transfer of infections. All healthy infants are placed on their backs to sleep
to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

2. The staff is well trained in early childhood development.
The strongest indicators for long-term success tied to early education and care are
related to the caregiver’s education and level of participation in ongoing training in the
field of early childhood development and care. The most critical factor is competent staff
who contribute to the social environment in which children learn best. Caregivers should
apply their knowledge of early childhood and use curricula and materials to plan
appropriate activities and provide responsive caregiving. Caregivers should also use
routines to promote learning and look for opportunities to have meaningful conversations
and interactions with children.

3. The center’s environments are age-appropriate.
Learning is an interactive process that involves continuous opportunities for exploration
and interactions. Infants and toddlers should have age-appropriate equipment and both
inside and outside spaces that are separate from older children. Room arrangements
should allow for quiet and active play, dramatic and messy play, large-group activities,
and individual care. Multiple sets of the same toys help prevent conflicts. Toys and
books should be available for access at the child’s level to promote independent choosing and use. High-quality programs arrange their classrooms based on the
facilitation of learning by young children, rather than on the preferences of caregivers.

4. Small groups with optimal ratios promote learning.
Group size and ratios determine the amount of time and attention that each caregiver
can devote to each child. Small groups create a sense of intimacy and safety. A rich
dialogue between caregivers and infants is possible in small groups because there are
fewer individuals, less noise, and less activity to interfere with a child’s ability to learn.
Small groups and more staff enable caregivers to build strong relationships with each
child and to adapt activities to meet the changing interests and needs of the group. The
recommended group size for infants is six to eight. The best adult-to-child ratio is one
adult for every three or four infants.

5. Primary caregivers offer continuity of care.
Relationships between caregivers and children are crucial in quality child care. It’s
through close relationships with caring adults (including caregivers) that children
flourish, discover their world, and learn who they are. Each child enrolled in group care
should be assigned a primary caregiver. A primary caregiver has the principal
responsibility for that child and helps build a positive, constant, intimate relationship with
the child. The primary caregiver also offers family members a consistent contact who
knows the child well. Having one primary caregiver for more than a year (optimally, from
entry into child care until the child is three years of age or older) is important to a child’s
emotional development. Each change from one caregiver to another takes a toll on the
child. When young children are repeatedly changed from one caregiver to another, the
process of grieving the loss of the previous caregiver and learning the new caregiver’s
ways may slow their overall development and leave them reluctant to form new
relationships.

6. Active and responsive care supports children’s development.
The active and responsive caregiver takes cues from each child to know when to
expand on the child’s initiative, when to guide, when to teach, and when to intervene.
Responsive caregivers are alert to signs of stress in each child’s behavior and respond
with appropriate stress-reducing activities and techniques. The responsive caregiver
continuously facilitates the development of self-esteem by respecting and accepting
children, regardless of their behavior.

7. Caregivers support emerging language development and literacy.
The path to literacy begins with verbal interactions between caregivers and young children. Caregivers expand on the sounds made by infants and toddlers and add words
and ideas to what very young children express, feel, or say. They promote the
development of language through the use of simple words and maintain a balance
between listening and talking with the child. Staff members create a learning
environment that includes books and other print material throughout the center.
Opportunities for shared reading time are a part of each day and children are
encouraged to enjoy books independently. The use of songs, nursery rhymes, and
fingerplays provide a context to promote the development of language and literacy.

8. Curriculum, observation, and individualized programming support choice,
preferences, and developmental needs.
Learning is an interactive process with activities, materials, and opportunities for
exploration and interaction. Quality programs use curricular resources to plan and
prepare an environment where children can choose from a variety of activities.
Caregivers also understand the temperaments, moods, and preferences of each child
and adapt their care to meet individual needs. This kind of care means that young
children play, eat, and sleep according to predictable routines, rather than a forced, rigid
schedule. Special abilities, as well as disabilities, are continuously discovered as
caregivers routinely observe and assess each child. Based on curriculum and
observations, caregivers develop an overall plan for each day, individualizing activities,
materials, and schedules according to the developmental stage of each child.

9. Caregivers encourage family involvement and cultural continuity.
High-quality programs incorporate practices reflecting the values and beliefs of the
families and the cultures of their communities. Using the child’s home language,
following cultural norms related to daily routines, and celebrating diverse cultures are
examples of such practices. Caregivers should communicate each day with families,
welcome parents into their child’s classroom, and organize special events that include
the child’s family members.

10. The center offers comprehensive support services with multidisciplinary teams.
High-quality child care serves as a protective environment for the child and a source of
support for the child’s family. Because child care can’t meet all the varied needs of
young children and their families, linkages with community agencies are essential to
provide a medical home, mental health and social services, and therapeutic
interventions. Ongoing communication can ensure continuity of care across multiple
services and promote holistic support services and treatment.

There are multiple checklists and tools available to evaluate the quality of child care
programs. Based on the ten components reviewed in this lesson, create a checklist that you
could use as the director of a program to ensure it meets quality standards.

For each section on the checklist, you will develop 3 criteria that would represent quality
indicators in an ECE program. In the Evidence column, share a brief description of what you
would expect to see that demonstrates the criteria. For example, if your first criteria is
“Program is licensed,” the evidence could be “License is displayed in front hallway for
everyone to see.

1.) Health and Safety Practices.
(A)Criteria (B) Evidence:
2.) Educators are Knowledgeable in Child Development
(A)Criteria (B) Evidence:
3.) Classrooms and Outdoor areas are Age and Developmentally Appropriate
(A)Criteria (B) Evidence:
4.) Child/Teacher Ratio, Small Group Learning
(A)Criteria (B) Evidence:
5.) Continuity of Care
(A)Criteria (B) Evidence:
6.) Responsive Care
(A)Criteria (B) Evidence:
7.) Emerging language and literacy development
(A)Criteria (B) Evidence:
8.) Curriculum (individual, choice, interests, and needs)
(A)Criteria (B) Evidence:
9.) Family Engagement
(A)Criteria (B) Evidence:
10.) Comprehensive Services
(A)Criteria (B) Evidence:

Grading Criteria
Your instructor will use this rubric to evaluate your submission. Your project will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
Your completed checklist
Correct grammar, punctuation, and format
Licensed programs follow appropriate health and safety practices.
The staff is well trained in early childhood development.
The center’s environments are age-appropriate.
Small groups with optimal ratios to promote learning
Primary caregivers offer continuity of care.
Active nd responsive care supports children’s development.
Caregivers support emerging language development and literacy.
Curriculum, observation, and individualized programming support
choice, preferences, and developmental needs.
Caregivers encourage family involvement and cultural continuity.
The center offers comprehensive support services with multidisciplinary teams.

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