WHAT IS QUALITY INFANT CARE? |
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The following recomendations were made by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (1986) They are based on a national consensus from child development experts and early childhood educators. It is extreamly important that parents meet the adults who are going to care for their children!
1. The Adult Caregivers
* The adults should enjoy working with the childreb. They should also be farmiliar with typical child development.
* There should be enough adults to adequetly care for all the children in their care. There should be no more than 4 infants or toddlers for each adult providing care, eight 2-3 year olds for each adult and ten 4-5 year olds for each adult.
2. The Program Activities and Equipment
* The enviornment should foster the growth and development of young children working and playing together.
* A good center should provide equipment and play materials that is readily avaliable to the children.
* Children should be helped to increase their language skills and to expand their understanding of the world.
3. The Relation of Staff to Families and Community
* A good program should consider and support the needs of the entire family. Parents should be welcome and should feel welcomed to make suggestions and be encouraged to participate in the activities of the center.
* The staff in a good center should be aware of and contribute to community resourses. The staff should share information about community recreation and learning opportunities with families.
4. The facility and the Program should be Designed to meet the varied demands of infants and young children, their families and the staff.
* The health of the children, staff, and parents should be protected and promomted. The staff should be alert to the health of the child.
* The facility should be safe for children and adults.
* The enviornment should be spacious enough to accomodate a variety of activities and equipment. There should be a minimum of 35 square feet of usable playroom floor space indoors for each child and 75 square feet of space outdoors per child.
QUALITY VS. LOW QUALITY CHILDCARE
*It is important to remember that quality does cost more!
One study discovered that children who entered low-quality childcare as infants were least likely to be socially competent in early childhood (less compliant, less self-controlled, less task-orientated, more hostile, having more problems in peer interaction.( Howes, 1988)
Another study conducted by (NICHD) shows;
The infants from low-income families were more likely to recieve low quality childcare than were their higher-income counter parts. Quality of care was based on such characteristics as group size, child-adult ratio, physical enviornment, caregiver characteristics, and caregiver behavior.
Childcare quality, especially sensitive and responsive attention from caregivers was linked with fewer child problems. The higher quality of childcare over the first three years of life, the greater the childs language and cognative abilities. No cognative benefits were found for the children in the exclusive care of their mother.