An Overview of Indicators of High Quality Child Care

by Jose Malave I am an author.

It is important that your child is signed up at the highest quality care possible if you need to use child care as children who’ve spent time in quality child care environments have long-lasting benefits from the experience. Sadly, parents often have very few child care options and limited ways to really know the quality of care their child is receiving. Although, it’s easy to ascertain whether the basic needs of keeping the child safe, clean and well fed are met, what is difficult is if one’s child is engaging sufficiently and is participating in age-appropriate learning activities, and also parents often lack the necessary tools to evaluate program quality. The need for high-quality early childhood education has never been greater with the increase in the number of children growing up in families where all available parents are working. Moreover, there are short- and long-term benefits for children who participate in high-quality early learning programs.

Significance of Quality Care:

According to researchers, experiences and interactions children have in the early years significantly affects brain development and helps to set up the foundation for future learning. Brain development is at its peak during infancy, so crucial development must be supported from that time.

For child care providers to legally operate in the state, they must meet regulations or licensing standards (every state has regulations or licensing standards), which are primarily focused on protecting children from harm rather than on advancing child development and early learning. But, these regulations offer a baseline standard and do not address the comprehensive needs of younger children. What happens inside the classroom or the interactions that take place between the teacher and child is the key to a high-quality program.

A few indicators of high-quality child care (from acclaimed toddler care East Hanover, NJ providers):

1. Staff well-trained in early childhood development.

2. Low child/teacher ratios.

3. Small group size.

4. Child care programs following appropriate health and safety practices.

5. Age appropriate environments.

6. Positive teacher/child interactions.

7. Prior experience and education of the director.

8. Accreditation or higher than minimum licensing standards.

9. Good health & safety practices.

10. Curriculum, Observation and Individualized Programming.

11. Family involvement and cultural continuity.

These are some of the common characteristics of high quality child care programs that can prove to be highly beneficial for parents in making better child care choices for their children because they indicate a much greater likelihood of high quality care. Policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels should not only develop strategies to address the child care crisis, but must simultaneously focus on the importance of quality. The quality indicators that we have mentioned can serve as a roadmap for policymakers to ensure the key supports are in place to help programs achieve and maintain quality in order for families to access those high-quality programs.