Finding Quality Early Childcare

Finding Quality Early Childcareis a tool for parents to use in selecting quality childcare that best meets the needs of their family. This book reviews foundational elements of childcare, such as health and safety features, while explaining educational strategies, including styles of teaching and daily classroom activities. Finding Quality Early Childcare also covers types of specialized childcare, such as infant care and childcare for children with special needs, reviews Transitional Kindergarten, and discusses when children are ready to transition from preschool to Kindergarten.

Sarah Taylor Vanover has been working in the field of early childhood education for over fifteen years and has had the opportunity to be a teacher, a director, and a trainer for other early childhood educators. For the past several years she has focused her work and research on assessing quality early childhood programs for health and safety requirements and school readiness skills.

Table of Contents Preface Why is it important to find quality childcare? What are the Benefits of Selecting High Quality Childcare? What Do I Need to Know about Childcare? Chapter 1: License, Accreditation, and Policies What Is Licensed Child Care? What Does a License Require? What is an Accreditation? How Does a Childcare Program Become Accredited? Early Childhood Accrediting Bodies Center Policies Chapter 2: Models of Learning Child-Centered vs. Teacher-Centered Styles of Learning Doing Your Research Chapter 3: Classroom Placement Moving Children by Age Milestones Year-long Classroom Placement Multi-Age Classroom Placement Additional Questions Chapter 4: Health and Safety Standards Ratios Supervision Reducing Injury Reducing the Spread of Illness Healthy Meals Safe Sleep Smoke-Free Campus Chapter 5: Quality Early Childhood Educators Quality Early Childhood Teachers Quality Administrators Teacher Turnover Does the Program Support the Staff? Chapter 6: Quality Curriculum & the Developmentally Appropriate Environment Areas of Content Quality Curriculum Language-Rich Environment Developmentally-Appropriate The Classroom Environment Chapter 7: Child Care for Children with Special Needs Staff Experience Support Services Adaptations to the Environment Adaptations to the Curriculum Schedules Policies Medication and Allergies Chapter 8: Infant Childcare Basic Care Compared to Infant Curriculum Safe Sleep Feeding Continuity of Care Compared to Rooms by Age Language-Rich Environment Parent Teacher Communication Chapter 9: The Kindergarten Controversy Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten? School Readiness Skills Kindergarten Expectations The Recommendation of the Preschool Teacher Transitional Kindergarten Making the Final Decision Appendix 1: Vocabulary Appendix 2: Resources Appendix 3: Questions for Touring a Childcare Facility About the Author