What Quality Childcare Looks Like - Emily Rogan

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Long Island Swim School From Be$inner to 0lYmPian Your child's first activirY should be one that can save their life. .-., i Swrng$f*-#flrf# Lons Island Swim School is the teaching arm"of the Lons lsland Aquatic Club' a USA Swimmine National Program of Excellence' Classes are held year round at the: CMS Vellnest Center Omni Building 35Earle Ovington Blvd., Uniondale CALL US AT 516.378.8467 email: longislandswimming@hotmail'com or register on the-web: longislandswimming'com Nurturing a chjl.d's development begins with a know[edgeabte and wel,l"-trained caregiver who knovrrs whafs appropriate for chil.dren at each stage. Parents need to understand that just because a [icensed program has met some basic heatth and safety standards it isn't necessarity a high-quatity educational program, says Nancy 0Lsen-Harbich, human development speciatist at the Cornetl Cooperative Extension in Riverhead. "High-quality programs happen only if you have high qual.ity staff," she saYs- That comes when the staff understands the difference between devetopmentaL milestones on paper and developmental mitestones of an individuat chitd, says Joann Bousquet' executjve director of Hi-Hetto Childcare Centelin Freeport and founder of the Hi-Hel.to Training Institute' "Ifs our chaltenge to educate our staff as to what these milestones are so that they can recognize when the child is going through it and guide him to that goat," she saYs. The staff shoul.d al,so understand that chitdren need good experiences from which to draw as they grow, as they p[ay' through their contacts with adutts, through nurturing and caring and feel.ing safe and secure. says Janet Walerstein' executive director of the Chil'd Care CounciI of Suffotk' In addition to staffing, curriculum and how the staff imptements it is an important element for parents to consider. As far as infants are concerned, lVaterstejn says children shouLdn't be teft for long penods of time' "Even during diapering there should be conversation. Reading books even to infants is crucia[ to brain devetopment," she says' 0tsen-Harb'ich says that a good teacher uses the interests. curiosity and needs of the chi[dren to determine how she's going to ptan for the chitdren. "So jf a chitd has a sib- Ling who's sick," she says, "the teacher might set up a littte hospital. for the child to act out how he feets"' Dai[y routines must inctude physicat activity' "Chitdren shoutd go outside in al't kinds of weather," says Walerstein' "Its on the playground where chitdren learn to give and take with their peers, as we[[ as devetop their gross-motor ski[ts"' Hand-in-hand with curricutum is the room set-up ano equipment. According to Walerstein the room should jnctude: I a good btock area for chitdren to integrate story-tetting with btock buil"ding; I a famity-center/housekeeping corner with dress-up ctothes; I easets with lots of Paints and
fl*re .Llh€A# jii! t a lot of good literature. Atice Brown. director of AdeLphi's Chitdhood Activity Center says children need to have access to these materials and good equipment to stimutate their senses and develop thinking on a very organic levet. Par**ta l .:,: I ;:: *qj;' r In a quality setting, parents wjtl have access to the program - whenever they want. Jan Barbieri, executive director of the Chitd Care CounciI of Nassau. says that a child-care program should have an open-door policy for parents to come in any time, whether announced or unannounced. In addition, the provider should offer as much parental supporto strengthen the learning and growth happening in chitd care each day. Conferences. newstetters and [ending fibrariestocked with child-devetopment books are alt importantoots to help parents. Parentshoutd atso ask providers about their discipLine phitosophies. "There should be a certain tone of mutual respect between chitdren and their caregiver," says Barbieri. "With preschooters you shouldn't heat You have to say you're sorryj but rather questions that witl. prompt probtem sotving and elicit a so[ution from the children." Walerstein adds, "The caregiver shoutd know what to expect from a two-year-otd. You shoutdn't hear, You're a big boy, don't cry'or'Be a good boyl" Teachers need to have realistic expectations of chitdren at each devetopmental stage. "A high-quatity teacher needs to know ways to re-direct a pre-verbal toddler to keep him from biting," says Bousquet. A quat'ity program hetps to prepare children for their schoot years. But schoo[ readiness doesn't come from flash cards and math driLLs. and in fact, when an earty-care program is too academic, children may actuatly devetop behavioral problems because they're not capabte of listening for long periods of time. "Many parents are lured by high-tech, computer-driven curriculum at new, state-of-the-art chitd care centers," says Walerstein. "They're so scared that their kids aren't going to achieve, that they're attracted to anything that pushes cognitive development. They don't understand what real tearning is. It comes through experiences, reading, going to museums, going to the park and just hanging out." Research supports the fact that when chitdren have positive experiences in quatity earty care, the benefits are clear. In a recent potl sponsored by the organization Fight Crime: Invest jn Kids, 78 to 93 percent of 800 kindergarten teachersurveyed nationwide said that children who had attended quality pre-kindergarten programs were more tikety to: I get atong with others and be sensitive to their feelings; I count; I possess problem-solving skj[ts; I know letters of the atphabet; t foltow directions and I be less disruptive in class. i i:;le i *1., f-il::,t;lci Friedman says that what kids need in their child-carexperience is the same across a[[ different kinds of programs. Through her efforts. ECELI is working on innovationsuch as a Quality Rating System. a kind of Zagat guide to quality chitd care. Advocates and professionals have their work cut out for them, but most are optimistic; increasingly the chil.d care industry js becoming recognized as a significant component of our economy. Thafs important for chitdren like Tycho Ati of Huntington, who recites the names of his daycare friends and teachers before fatling asteep. And for El.j Bank of Green[awn, whose caregiver knows everything about him: what he likes and doesn't fike and when to give him space if he's in a bad mood. And for a[[ the other chjldren on Long Island. who. says Walerstein, "are going to be our next generation of good thinkers and inventors, peopte who use their imagination." 6 Emily S. Rogon is a freelance writer who lives in Huntington with her husband and two children. 70 NEWSDAYS PABENTS & CHiI-DREN wwwliparentcom ,']i-ti' .l{.ii:'l
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What Quality Childcare Looks Like - Emily Rogan

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