Daycare center infants: Drop-In Daycare: Flexible Part-Time Child Care Options

Опубликовано: January 12, 2023 в 12:48 am

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Категории: Miscellaneous

Signs of a good daycare center

Choosing a daycare center for your child involves asking plenty of questions and being observant. Start your search about six months before you’ll need childcare (the best centers fill up fast), and use the following list of criteria as a guide. If you find a center that scores a perfect ten, you’ve found childcare gold.

Of course, that goal is pretty lofty; only about 7,000 centers have been accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) – the highest standard around – so you’ll have to decide what’s most important to you and choose from among your best options. “For us it was location, location, location,” says BabyCenter mom Laura Mason of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “We wanted a daycare within walking distance of work, since our son is breastfed and won’t take a bottle.”

Look for:

A good reputation

A good daycare center should have a welcoming, friendly atmosphere and be known for its nurturing environment. Ask the center for names and numbers of current clients and call them for references, or stop by during afternoon pickup time and approach some other parents then. Also, be mindful of your first impression: In this case it counts a lot.

Bottom line: Unless parents you like and respect rave about it, the center’s probably not one you’ll like either.

Childcare that works for us

Grandma? Daycare? Real parents discuss finding childcare that works.

Established ground rules

It’s important for a center to be flexible – letting you pick up and drop off your child at different times, for instance – but it should also have clearly established regulations for everything from operating hours to how to handle emergencies. The center should be able to supply you with a written copy of its policies. That way you know it takes its responsibility – your baby – seriously.

Along the same lines, look for a center with a strict sick-child policy. Find out which illnesses will keep your child home, and for how long. A tough policy may inconvenience you if your child is ill, but keeping sick children (and staff) away from the center makes sense. Good centers help cut down on illness by requiring all children and employees to have current immunizations and regular checkups.

If the center neither has an open-door policy nor encourages parents to stop by unannounced, chances are it has something to hide. Keep looking. A great daycare center will go beyond merely letting you in and invite you to become part of the center’s community by helping with activities, accompanying the children on field trips, and so on.

Bottom line: If a center is poorly organized or has lax or nonexistent rules, it’s not likely to be right for you.

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A stimulating curriculum

The best daycare centers have structured schedules that include plenty of time for physical activity, quiet time (including daily reading sessions for groups and individuals), group programs, individual activities, meals, snacks, and free time.

TV and videos should play little or no part in what your child does all day; if videos are part of the curriculum, make sure they’re age-appropriate and, ideally, somewhat educational, teaching about animals, other cultures, and so on. A well-thought-out curriculum stimulates your child’s development and makes daily life more fun.

Look for a center with a wide range of age-appropriate toys that will encourage your child’s development and, as she gets older, stimulate creative, imaginative play. See our lists of the best toys for each age group.

Bottom line: Your child needs a place that offers a regular curriculum with a range of age-appropriate activities.

A qualified, caring staff

A trained, qualified staff is one advantage centers may have over nannies and home daycare providers, who don’t always have specialized education. Daycare center employees should be educated, with at least two years of college, a background in early childhood development (though many states don’t require this), and CPR and other emergency training. (In some states and counties home daycare providers can obtain a license as well, if they’re trained in CPR, pediatric first aid, and early childhood education.)

Note how the staff interacts with the children. Caregivers should be responsible, enthusiastic, and well prepared. Look for a staff that shares your philosophies on sleep, discipline, feeding, and other care issues. Good caregivers will ask detailed questions about your child’s health and care to help determine whether their center is right for you.

Make sure the center has plenty of staff so your child gets the attention and care she needs. The ratio of caregivers to children can vary, depending on group size. NAEYC has set these guidelines:

For babies, the ratio is one caregiver for every three children if a group has six infants, one for every four if a group has eight babies.

For toddlers (12 to 28 months), the ratio is 1:3 for six children and 1:4 for eight or more children.

For children between 21 and 36 months, the ratio should be 1:4 for a group of eight children, 1:5 for a group of ten, and 1:6 for a group of 12.

For children 30 to 48 months, the ratio should be 1:6 for a group of 12 children, 1:7 for a group of 14, 1:8 for a group of 16, and 1:9 for a group of 18.

For 4- and 5-year-olds, the ratio should be 1:8 for a group of 16 children, 1:9 for a group of 18 children, and 1:10 for a group of 20 children.

Note that centers aren’t required to follow NAEYC’s recommendations, so ask what each center’s ratio is and decide whether it’s okay for you. A good center will keep groups of children small no matter how many employees they have, to encourage interaction and development.

Look for a center with good staff benefits. Centers that pay their employees well and offer them vacation time, health insurance, and an education allowance, for example, are more likely to have caregivers who stick around. Low turnover is key to ensuring consistent, stable care for your child.

Bottom line: If staff training isn’t up to snuff, and they seem overworked or don’t stick around very long, the center isn’t for you.

Healthy food

If you have to bring your child’s food, find out the center’s guidelines. Some may require you to pack only nutritious foods and that’s okay. Centers that don’t restrict candy or other sweets may not have your child’s best interests at heart.

If the center does have a food plan, find out what it serves at meal and snack times (and make sure the staff is aware of your child’s food allergies, if any). Does it encourage healthy eating habits and cover all the food groups?

Bottom line: Healthy food habits start early. If the center doesn’t offer a variety of nutritious food choices for your child, look elsewhere.

Clean, safe facilities

A good center is clean and sanitary. Floors, walks, walls, and the kitchen area should be clean, food preparation areas should be far from toilets and diaper changing stations, trash shouldn’t be left sitting unemptied, and the building should be adequately heated, lit, and ventilated. Staff should wash their hands regularly, and after every diaper change.

Look for plenty of space, too. According to NAEYC, centers should have at least 35 square feet of indoor space per child and 75 square feet per child outside.

Make sure the center follows the basic rules of safety. Toys and play equipment should be in good repair, upstairs windows (if any) should have screens or bars, all medicines and other hazardous substances should be out of reach, bedding should be fresh and firm (to reduce the risk of SIDS for babies), and the outdoor play area should be level and secure.

Smoke detectors should be in place and working, radiators and heaters should be covered or otherwise protected, a first aid kit and fire extinguisher should be close at hand, and all standard childproofing techniques should be used (covered outlets, safety gates, door latches, etc.). The center should be secure, as well, so strangers can’t just walk in off the street.

Look for a facility with an outdoor play area. Children should have the chance to play outside every day – running, jumping, and skipping are good for them physically, mentally, and socially. If you live in a city, where even the best centers may not have enough space for a safe outdoor play yard, make sure the center has a spacious indoor area (the next best thing).

Bottom line: Spot a safety hazard? A missed hand wash? Keep looking.

A current license

Ask to see a center’s license and credentials, then double-check with a call to your local social services department. If possible, look for a facility that has also passed the stringent accreditation process required by NAEYC, a benchmark of quality. Search NAEYC’s database.

Centers must also meet state licensing regulations for health and safety. Of course, a current license isn’t a guarantee of quality care — that’s why you have to evaluate the caregivers themselves, especially in states that don’t require licenses.

Bottom line: A license isn’t everything, but if a center doesn’t have one, it’s not for you. Read more on signs of a bad daycare center.

Back to our Daycare Center area.

Infant-Toddler Child Care Fact Sheet

America’s future depends on quality child care. It not only fuels our country’s economic engine by allowing parents to work, but also builds the workforce of the future.

America’s future depends on quality child care. It not only fuels our country’s economic engine by allowing parents to work, but also builds the workforce of the future. Of the 12 million infants and toddlers in the United States, more than half spend some or all of their day being cared for by someone other than their parents. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed a fragile, underfunded child care system that falls short of what babies and families need to thrive and our economy needs to stay strong. As we build back, policymakers must recognize child care as an essential public good and ensure all families who need it have quality, affordable, and accessible care that supports their babies’ healthy development.

Quality child care feeds a baby’s growing brain, building the foundation for them to thrive as adults. But available research shows that 75% of toddlers in center care and 93% in home-based care are in low or mediocre quality care settings that can be detrimental to their development. Despite research that shows that over-burdened and under-resourced children benefit most from quality child care, low quality care is often the only care available to them. In particular, children of color lack equitable access to quality formal early care and learning experiences. Because quality is so closely associated with the relationships that child care providers build with young children, support and training of the child care workforce is critical.

Affordable child care allows families to work without devouring earnings, but it is in short supply. While most young children are in families with fairly modest incomes, in 30 states and Washington, D.C., center-based child care for infants and toddlers is more expensive than in-state tuition and fees at a public university. Only 4.2% of low- and moderate-income infants and toddlers are served by the child care assistance available through the Child Care and Development Fund. Additionally, many families do not benefit from the current child care tax credit because they have little or no federal income tax liability and the maximum tax benefit does not approach the actual cost of infant-toddler care.

Accessible child care means families have the safe quality care they need in their communities, during the hours they need to work. As the nation copes with the long-term impacts of COVID-19, families will need a broad array of options to meet their child care needs to return to the workforce. COVID-19 exacerbated the stress on the child care system. Many providers have been forced to close, unable to make the economics of providing child care work, or have limited enrollment in the interest of public health, further narrowing access to the care that families need. Programs are coping with under-enrollment and slow growth due to smaller classes, and fewer children returning because of continued high unemployment or parents’ concerns about putting their children back in group settings.

As we build toward the future, Congress and the Administration must commit to creating a robust child care system that supports the development of all children. Doing so will not only support our economic recovery, but will ensure our future workforce – today’s babies and toddlers – arrive at school ready to learn and prepared for future success.

Quick Facts

  • 6 million children under age 3 are in non-parental care.
  • High quality child care improves:
    • Cognitive and language development;
    • Social and emotional development; and
    • School achievement.
  • In 30 states and Washington, D.C., center-based child care for infants and toddlers is more expensive than in-state tuition and fees at a public university.
  • Only 4.2% of families with low or moderate income have access to child care assistance through the Child Care and Development Fund.
  • Only 10% of child care programs nationwide are rated as high-quality.
  • Overall, children of color live in neighborhoods with fewer high-quality child care options.
  • 7 in 10 voters support increased Congressional funding for child care, including 2/3 of voters without children under the age of 18.

Policy Recommendations

As the child care system rebuilds following the COVID-19 crisis, we cannot go back to what it was. Robust public funding is imperative for a system of high-quality programs and providers that are accessible to all families. Any policy solution must be built on principles that will ensure it serves the needs of the current and future workforce:

  • Quality — All children receive high-quality child care.
  • Affordability — Families get the financial support they need to afford high-quality child care.
  • Access — Families can access the high-quality child care setting that best meets their needs.
  • Workforce — Early childhood professionals in all settings can receive the support, resources, and compensation they need to provide high-quality care and support their own families.

Research

Quality child care readies babies for success.

Children in the Abecedarian Project, which provided quality child care starting at birth, had long-lasting positive impacts that led to higher IQ and achievement test scores, fewer grade retentions and placements in special education, higher levels of college graduation and job-holding, and healthier outcomes as adults. For virtually every developmental outcome that has been assessed, quality of care also shows positive associations with early social and emotional development, leading to more competent peer relationships during early childhood and into the school years.

The quality of the relationship between the child care provider and child matters.

The quality of child care ultimately boils down to the relationship between the child care provider and the child; skilled and stable providers promote positive development. Caregivers and teachers should have specialized knowledge and skill in early childhood development, with a focus on infants and toddlers, as well as receive support and compensation that reflect the critical nature of the work they do – yet currently child care workers make just $11. 42 per hour. To help children make connections that support their development, there should be a 1:4 caregiver to child ratio and no more than eight children per group. One primary, but not exclusive, caregiver for at least one year, and optimally until age three, is critical for an infant’s emotional development. Across the country, however, only 35 states require licensed providers to meet the recommended 1:4 staff-child ratio for infants, and even fewer states meet the minimum standard as children grow older. Only 12 states meet the standard for younger toddlers and only 2 states meet the standard for all children under age 3.

Children of color lack equitable access to affordable, high-quality child care.

Quality child care is important for all families with young children, with positive long-term impact, but it is especially beneficial for children from over-burdened and under-resourced families. On average, families of color are two to three times more likely to be affected by poverty than their white counterparts, making them less able to afford the high cost of infant and toddler child care, and more likely to live in economically disadvantaged communities that lack high-quality early care providers. Furthermore, Black and Latinx families are also more likely to work the nontraditional hours that make accessing high quality care particularly difficult.

Child care is crucial to getting families back to work, but COVID-19 has further threatened access to the quality, affordable child care they need.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, child care providers operated on razor thin profit margins. At the same time, families could scarcely afford care. In no state does the cost of center-based infant or toddler child care meet the federal definition of affordable—no more than 7 percent of annual household income. On average, a family making the state median income would have to spend 18 percent of their income to cover the cost of child care for an infant, and 13 percent for a toddler. The pandemic has increased the stress on this already fragile system. Programs are coping with under-enrollment and slow growth due to smaller classes, and fewer children are returning to care because of continued high unemployment or parental concerns about putting their children back in group settings. Families and providers alone cannot make up the difference.

Which kindergartens are planned to be built in Nizhny Novgorod in 2022

It was planned to commission kindergartens last year

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Nine new kindergartens are planned to open in Nizhny Novgorod in 2022, NN reported .RU at the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. It was planned to complete the work last year, however, due to the increase in building material prices and shortage of construction workers dragged on.

New kindergartens are being built within the framework of the federal project “Promoting women’s employment – ​​creating conditions for preschool education for children under the age of three” of the national project “Demography”. Work is underway in six districts of the city – Sovetsky, Leninsky, Prioksky, Kanavinsky, Moscow and Avtozavodsky.

The following preschool institutions are planned to open this year:

  • Kindergarten on Esenina Street in the Kanavinsky District;
  • kindergarten on Verkhovaya street in Prioksky district;
  • Kindergarten No. 9 (according to the general plan) on Gleb Uspensky Street in the Leninsky District;
  • Kindergarten No. 38 (according to the master plan) in the Novaya Kuznechikha residential complex in Sovetsky District;
  • Kindergarten No. 37 (according to the master plan) in the Novaya Kuznechikha residential complex in Sovetsky District;
  • Kindergarten on Kuibyshev Street in Moskovsky District;
  • Kindergarten on General Zimin Street, near house No. 40, in the Kanavinsky District;
  • Kindergarten on Molitovskaya street in the Leninsky district;
  • kindergarten on Krasnouralskaya street in the Avtozavodsky district.

Permits for the commissioning of three kindergartens on the streets of Gleb Uspensky in the Leninsky district, Verkhovaya in the Prioksky district and General Zimin in Kanavinsky must be received before March 30 this year, the department of construction and overhaul of the administration reported.

As far back as last summer, the Department for Construction and Overhaul of the Administration of Nizhny Novgorod told that work was being carried out with a delay due to rising prices for building materials and a shortage of workers. At the same time, according to representatives of the department, regulations were adopted to increase the cost of contracts. It was planned that kindergartens would be commissioned by December 2021.

In addition, this year it is planned to open two annexes: to school No. 117 in the Sormovsky district for 400 children and to school No. 168 for 250 children in the Sortirovochny microdistrict of the Kanavinsky district.

Earlier, we reported that in Nizhny Novgorod, kindergarten fees were increased by 22%.

Related

  • March 18, 2022, 14:10

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  • February 25, 2022, 16:40

    A school, a kindergarten and a marina are planned to be built on Chernihivska Street. We look at the sketches of the development of the embankment

  • January 19, 2022, 12:28

    4% of schools and kindergartens are quarantined in the Nizhny Novgorod Region

  • January 13, 2022, 17:24

    Kindergarten fees increased by 22% in Nizhny Novgorod

  • July 13, 2022, 18:10

    Kindergarten and The school is planned to be built on Meshchera

Irina Kolobova

NN.ru

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