Most families looking for childcare understand the importance of identifying and securing a spot in a high quality early childhood education and care.
Is it the shiny new purpose built centre with all the latest gadgets? Is it the lovely family day carer down the road? Or is it the well-worn community centre with staff who have been there forever?
Chances are high quality childcare can look like any combination of these things and you and your child will be the best judge of what high quality is for your particular family. As a rule of thumb, remember that no matter what type of service you choose, in a high-quality setting your child will feel happy, safe and secure and have the opportunity to engage in a wide range of play based learning experiences.
As a parent, you should feel comfortable approaching the staff and confident that your child’s well-being is a priority and welcomed to visit and observe.
Defining high-quality childcare
Our definition of quality mixes what researchers, childcare providers, and other parents have learned together with a solid dose of common sense, drawn from our many years of personal and professional experience in both child development and childcare. Searching for the best way to explain the meaning of quality, we found ourselves coming back to four basic words and phrases: caring, tuned in, respectful, and safe and secure.
How do I identify a high-quality childcare service?
The National Quality Framework and National Quality Standards offer a useful way of measuring a child care service's performance against minimum standards set by the government. All services which have been assessed against the new standard are required to display their rating somewhere that is easily accessible to families, and this is certainly a great starting place.
Having said that usually the best way to judge a service, is to go along and spend some time there. Choosing High-Quality Child Care, by Eva Cochran, Mon Cochran and Nancy Torp from Cornell University, College of Human Ecology, offers some valuable pointers on what to look out for when you visit a service.
High quality educators are respectful caring and tuned in
The tuned-in, caring provider is not afraid to show physical and verbal affection but is not overly effusive. They can simultaneously hold one child in their arms, listen carefully to a second who is tugging at their sleeve with a question, and watch a third struggle to accomplish a task, ready to assist if the child gets too frustrated. This person does not need to say she likes children because their feelings are clear. Their warmth is obvious, and they spend most of their time directly interacting with the children.
A respectful educator values children's ideas and is considerate of their feelings and demonstrates a high regard for them through their warm and affectionate manner. Teachers and educators who can appreciate children in these ways often show the same respect toward the parents and co-workers they interact with.
High-quality care makes children feel safe and secure
Everyone agrees that safety and security are the foundations of high-quality care. Your child has to be safe both physically and emotionally with the educator or teacher and in the child care environment.
All rooms must be clean and uncluttered and free of hazards. Furniture, materials, and toys should be age-appropriate.
The outdoor environment must be inviting and secure, safe, easily accessible, with age-appropriate outdoor equipment and lots of space for running and other large motor activities.
The play area must be enclosed, either by a fence or a natural border. The outdoor space should be designed so that the supervising educator can observe all the children at all times.
Emotional safety is more difficult to evaluate during a short visit. Emotionally safe children dare to explore and try out new things. They are spontaneously affectionate with their educator and each other. If they have done something they were not sure they were allowed to do, they don't hesitate to admit it and accept the consequences. These are ways children show trust and confidence that their educator's or teachers are really concerned about them and will help them through the day in a caring, affectionate fashion.
A good way to ensure the safety and well-being of your child is to make unannounced visits to the service he or she attends. A high-quality service will encourage you to visit unannounced at any time.
How do I identify a high-quality educator?
For Infants
Although the qualifications and experience of childcare staff are important for all age groups, they are particularly important for the care of infants. Your infant needs lots of love and attention in order to develop optimally. Consistency and emotional support are essential, along with good physical care and a safe, healthy environment. Before you even visit the infant room for the first time to observe the staff in action, spend some time with the director learning about the educational backgrounds of the staff and how long they have been working there.
Ideally, staff should have a background in early childhood and practical experience in working with young children. Providers who work with infants also need knowledge of infant development, health, and nutrition.
Plan to set aside at least two hours the first time you visit a centre just to observe the work of the educators who would be responsible for your child.
For Toddlers
An educator of toddlers has to be an exceptional person because the toddler time is such a special period in a child's life. Toddlers want to be ‘big’ and independent, but they're easily emotional, needing love and comfort.
This is the time of biting and temper tantrums, the age when ‘mine’ and ‘no’ are the two most prominent words in a child's vocabulary. Toddlers have very little control over their emotions and actions. They try very hard to follow your instructions but are often frustrated when they fall short of even their own expectations.
Toddlers are growing rapidly in every way. Their bodies are learning to do many new things, like running, hopping, and throwing. Their language development is amazing. New words are added every day. Yet at the same time, they often cannot find the words they need in an emotional moment.
As they grow and learn, toddlers test everyone and everything. Educators of toddlers have to know all this, and more, to be exceptional in their role.
To learn more about the educators of toddlers in a centre you must watch them at work. It is a good idea to observe an educator for at least two hours, longer if possible.
For Preschool Children
Preschoolers learn through play. Good early childhood professionals understand that children are not ‘just playing’; play is their 'job' and the way they learn.
Educators are important in this process because they help children get access to the materials and toys that they need for playing and learning. Educators also guide the children when they don't know what to do next, help them resolve interpersonal conflicts, and teach them how to get along with one another.
Preschool educators should have both a qualification and considerable training in early childhood education and experience working with children this age. This preparation and experience provide educators with a solid understanding of what 3 - 5 year old children are capable of and why they think and behave as they do.
Preschool-aged children should be following a predictable daily routine. A written schedule should be posted in the classroom. This schedule can contain some flexibility, but children this age like the feeling of being able to predict what will happen next. Serving snacks and meals at a regular time and having a regular nap time helps them feel secure in their environment.
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