What Quality Childcare Looks Like - Emily Rogan

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The playground at AdeLphi University's Chitd Activity Center in Garden City bustLes with preschooters throwing batts, climbing equipment and ptaying in the sand. Inside during circte time, four- and five-year-olds [isten and respond as the'ir teacher guides them through a book ' about the alphabet and its meaning in sign [anguage. This is just one snapshot of child care on Long Island, but there are thousands more like them. Here 46 percent of chitdren under five years old - 74,000 chjldren - are jn preschoo[ or child care, according to a survey conducted by the Rauch Foundation in May 2003. Chitd care includes centers, Head Start programs. pre-K programs and fami[y chitd-care homes, where neighbors are licensed to care for up to six chitdren. The search for care can be daunting for parents; the decision-making process often overwhetms them. But perhaps the biggest chattenge facing parents, ' and one they might not always 64 iTEWSDAPS PAFEIVI',IS & CHtt-OnEN www.liparent.com nay gssg
,,,li.i f 1..;,. fltu{&d consider, is whether the situation they choose provides quality care. But parents may not know exactly what quatity means when it comes to entrusting their children to someonetse - or how 'imoorlant it is. Early chil.dhood education experts agree that quatity is much more than simpl.y meeting state health and safety regulations. "Early brain development sets the pace for the rest of [ife," says Dana Friedman, Ed.D.. project director of Early Care and Education-Long Istand (ECEU), a collaboration of experts on parenting and chitd devetopment dedicated to improving the qual.ity of earty chitdhood services on Long Istand. Over the last five years, Friedman says, researchers have confirmed that. "you cannot separate intellectual. social and emotional devetopment and that relationships in the early years are the most critical for later schooI success." In fact, 85 to 90 percent of brain capacity in terms of that deve[- opment is formed by age five. Yet 95 percent of our investment in public education doesn't begin untit after that age. says Diane Cohen. executive director of the Long Istand Fund for Women and Girts, which atong with the Long Istand Women's Agenda. is giving $50,000 annuat- [y to parent education and advocacy groups for a new awareness campaign. The Earty Years Matter: <strong>What</strong> Every Parent Needs to Know. "Thafs why ifs crucia[ that parents selecthe type of chitd care programs that witl best promote their chi[d's devetopment." Ifs easy to understand why parents and chitd-care providers are confused by the word "quatity." Pressure for students to perform we[[ in schooL and on state assessments, to be admitted to highly competitive cotleges and the emphasis from the media on how American students compare to their internationaI peers, has led parents and care givers to beUeve that highty structured, academic earty care wi[[ make chjLdren better prepared for the future. Parents are swayed by centers that promise to teach reading, writing and math. But says, Friedman, 'You don't need an academic program for children to succeed acaderirically later in schoot." Instead, chitdren need adutts to speak to them and ask them questions and encourage them to ask questions. Childre need safe, accessiblequipment to satisfy their curiosity. And most importantly, they need to have their feelings validated and feel loved. To address the issue of quatity care on Long Island, Friedman, a nationatty renowned researcher and poticy analyst, created a study with ECELI to anatyze the current state of chitd care on Long Island and determine where improvements are needed and how those changes might be imptemented. While there are no avaitabte [oca|' statistjcs as to the number of quatity care centers here, ECELI is trying to establish basic standards that are understood and recognized by providers - and parents - across the area. These standards include educated staff, age-appropriate curricutum, facitity, parentat support and ctear discio[ine orocedures. Here's what you should see in a day care or private chitd care setting that indicates the program is of good quatity: I There should be low staff turn-over to support consistency in care. I There should be a high ratio of adutts to chitdren. r Children in atl-day child care need a ptace to curt up and relax. Is there batance between active and peaceful time I Are staff members really tatking to chiLdren, rather than giving directions Are they asking open-ended questions to eticit thoughtfuI responses I Chitdren aren't quiet peopte, so if the facitity is too quiet, something is making them that way - it couLd be fear. I The caregiver should be at the chitdren's tevet. If the kids are sitting on the ftoor, their caregiver should be as welt. I Caregivers shoutd be engaged with the chitdren. The chitdren shouldn't be ptaying on one side of the room while the teachers are in a group on the other. I Is the director accessibte and visible throughout the day Doe she make hersetf avaitable to parents when they have questions and concerns I Overa[[, there should be music, singing, laughter and a general lightness of spirit throughout the center. - <strong>Rogan</strong> 66 ,VEWSDAy'S PARE TTS & CH,LDREN www.liDarent.com
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What Quality Childcare Looks Like - Emily Rogan

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