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Archive for the ‘Quality Care’ Category

Tackling the Self Study

The Self- Study Process Assures the Best Practices In The Field. ~NAEYC

When I created the editorial theme for the childcare business owner blog, I created the theme with quality care in mind. A sure way to evaluate if you are providing quality practices or not is by evaluating your childcare program with a self-study.

What is a Self Study?

A Self study comes in the form of a manual that is an assessment tool that normally covers the following core areas of  your program:

  • Health/safety
  • Curriculum/program planning
  • Parent communication/family
  • Administration Practices
  • Physical Environment

The time that it takes to complete a self-study is up to you and your staff (if you are a center.) My suggestion is that you take each area of the study, dedicate a set amount of time to focus on that particular area, make the necessary improvements and move on to another area of the self study.

As you complete the self study, you may discover that you may already be implementing some of the Accreditation quality indicators and that is awesome. However, if you find that you are not, make the changes and keep moving forward.

Each area that you tackle, celebrate!!  This can be done with a pizza party for the kids; hang a banner that reads: “We have quality health & safety practices,etc.” To assure that you or your staff does not forget the quality practices, post reminders or issue weekly memos that cover the Accreditation quality practices.

What if you cannot afford to Purchase your self study?

As I was preparing for this blog post, I reviewed the fees to apply for NAFCC accreditation and it was quite expensive. Now I see why so, many providers are not accredited. I was one of the lucky ones, my home daycare accreditation was paid for with a grant back in 2002 and I had no idea that  the cost of the self study was (for non-members only).

I decided to do a little research for you and I found some agencies that provide financial assistance for providers that want to apply for accreditation for their childcare businesses. After an extensive Google search for one-hour, I discovered three states that provided financial assistance. I am quite sure that there are other agencies that provide financial assistance, however, I did not discover many of them online.

According to NAEYC, there are many states that provide Accreditation facilitation financial assistance. Visit the NAEYC link below and watch the video for more details.

If you do not see your state below, I do recommend that you contact your local, childcare association or United way to request financial assistance with your accreditation. My childcare business is in the state of Missouri and I must say that our state really supports home daycare and centers that seek to be accredited. In fact, we have our very own Accreditation agency (MO Accreditation of Program for children and youth).

In summary, after going through three Accreditation in my home and center, I recommend accreditation to assure quality practices. If you desire to be accredited, get started on seeking out financial assistance for your accreditation. If you have the funds to buy your self study, go ahead and order your self-study as soon as possible.

As you get started on your self-study, begin  implementing the changes that are recommended in the self study, you will be so glad that you applied for accreditation!

You are a click away from the self-study process

National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC)

National Association for the Education of Young Children  NAEYC

Financial help

For Providers living in New Jersey

http://www.pinj.org/upload/ASAP_2page_flyer_8-09.pdf

For Providers in Illinois

http://www.inccrra.org/financial-assistance

For Providers in Pennsylvania

http://www.pacca.org/quality.aspx

Need my help with Accreditation? Contact me today!

With Quality Care in Mind,

Shiketa Morgan, Owner of Learning Days Child Care Center (A Missouri Accredited Center)

http://www.learningdays.com

Category:

Accreditation, Child Care Center, daycare, Family Child Care, Quality Care

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Why Pursue Accreditation For Your Child Care Business?

According to the National Association of Childcare Resource and Referral Agency 2010 Child Care Facts report, “more than 11 million children under age 5 in the United States are in some type of child care arrangement every week. Furthermore, only 9% of America’s childcare centers are accredited and less than 1% of home day cares are accredited.

Wow! those stats alone have compelled me to promote Accreditation.  Pursuing Accreditation provides you with access to quality standards and practices for your home daycare or childcare center.

Now we all know that Licensing standards in most states focus on the health & safety practices of childcare facilities. My center is located in the state of Missouri and the Licensing and Accreditation Guidelines are very different in standards.

I must say that if Licensing alone was enough, then we would not need Accreditation. Accreditation simply validates that your program is high quality and that you have voluntarily selected to provide childcare that is over and above licensing standards.

Why are there so few Accredited Programs

There are many reasons why 10% of America’s childcare facility’s are accredited. I honestly believe that this is why we have a Quality Care Crisis! Here are the three  reasons why I  think that many programs are not accredited:

  1. Accreditation cost money
  2. The home provider or center may not think that it is necessary
  3. More states need to promote it

My Accreditation Journey…..

I was exposed to Accreditation through the Florissant valley community college childcare field base program. My college instructor (Jeanie Edwards) came to my home every week for 12 weeks so that  I could take early childhood classes  in 2001; to meet the NAFCC educational requirements.

After taking those classes and while completing the NAFCC self study to apply for Accreditation in my home daycare; my program was improving one week and a time. Most importantly, my enrollment was increasing.

As I made improvements to my program in order to be Accredited, the kids were more engaged in the environment, the parents noticed the transformation and they started telling other parents about my program.

I was also more fulfilled as a family home provider. Just knowing that my home daycare was going to be Nationally Accredited was an awesome feeling. The process took 6-12 months and once I received my certificate, I was ready to move out of my home into a center.

In 2005, I applied for Accreditation for my center. Getting Accredited in a center, was much more detailed, because I had to involve my team in the process. My center received it’s first Accreditation by (MOA) in 2006!

After going through three Accreditation’s I have been assured that Accreditation assures quality care. In fact, implementing Accreditation  standards in your home or center, assures that children are provided with the highest quality of care there is to offer.

If you are going to be in the business of childcare, you might as well go all the way. Why stop at being Licensed?

According to Child Care Aware, “Accreditation” is another way to judge the quality of a child care program. Family child care homes and child care centers can choose to get accredited by a child care accrediting organization. But, they have to meet higher standards than licensing rules. The program must offer the kind of care, attention, and educational activities parents look for in quality child care programs. It must offer activities and experiences that will aid in a child’s growth and development, and that will help them prepare for school.”

Accreditation Organizations

http://www.nafcc.org (for home providers)

http://www.naeyc.org

 

With Quality Care in Mind,

Shiketa

Category:

Accreditation, Leadership, Program Planning, Quality Care

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