Inspirational and Empowering Child Care Business Owners To Build Successful Child Care Businesses

Posts tagged ‘NAFCC’

EarlyChildhood Education Helps to Improve the Quality of Care

In recent news, a school-age boy in a Mississippi Child Care Center was left alone with some infant/toddlers. During the time that the 9-year old was left alone with the toddlers, he repeatedly hit and kicked the toddlers.

As I watched the video, I felt sick to my stomach. In fact, after watching the video, I became angry at the fact that this abuse happened  in a childcare facility. Then I thought about the qualifications of the caregiver that was responsible for those infant/toddlers.

In  my years of working with children, I have discovered that hiring qualified early childhood professionals assures that the children will receive high quality care and education.

In most states, the requirements for teachers are very minimal. For example, in the state of Missouri where my childcare center is located, the bureau of childcare only requires the following for childcare workers to work in a childcare center: (not including directors)

  • 12 training hours a year
  • Hepatitis A
  • PPD Skin Test
  • Back Ground Screening
  • Physical

You may have already noticed that college education is not a requirement to work with children. However, in the public school system, the teachers must have a Bachelor’s Degree along with continued professional development hours.

Studies have shown that the most crucial ages of brain development is between the ages of 0-5; however, our young children are in the hands of under educated professionals everyday.

When I started my home daycare in November 1998, it took me a little over a year to realize that I must go to school to be educated on how to effectively care for young children. In 2000, I enrolled in a Child Care field based program through a Local Community college, which paid for my early childhood education. After completing nine college credit hours in early childhood education, the quality of my program improved dramatically. Furthermore, after only completing 12 college credit hours in early childhood education, I was ready to move my preschool out of my home to provide quality care to more children.

I shared my story with you to say, that I believe that having formal early childhood education improves the quality of care that children receive.

If you own a childcare center, I want to challenge you to reflect on the educational requirements of the staff. If you are not happy with the quality of care that your staff provides; raise your educational standards.

Are you a home provider? If so, I challenge you to consider taking some early childhood classes or work toward receiving a CDA Credential. As you further your education, you will feel more like a Preschool teacher and the quality of care that you provide will begin to improve as you begin to implement the knowledge that you receive for a formal education.

If you are worried about the cost of  a formal college education, I suggest that you check with your local Child Care Resource and referral agency for some financial assistance . **Be sure to inquire about a T.E.A.C.H Scholarship.

Also, the United States Government offers Pell Grants to help pay for college and you or your staff members just may qualify.

Finally, I want to leave you with this formula that I developed about 6-years ago and I strongly believe it is the key to quality care:

Educated+ Trained Early Childhood Professionals =Quality Child Care

I look forward to reading your thoughts about this blog post. Feel free to share your goals to improve the quality of care in your childcare business. Thanks for all that you do for young children!

Shiketa Morgan

Resources to Improve the Quality of Care

Naeyc

NAFCC

Quality Child Care Center eClub

7 Steps to High Quality Care eCourse (Free )

Family Home Child Care Empowerment eClub

Early Childhood Investigations (Free Webinars)

Category:

Professional Development, 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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