Learn How to Evaluate the Quality of Child Care

Child care quality has many aspects and the easiest aspects to judge are the regulable standards such as: adult-to-child ratios, group size, and the child care provider's education and training. It is also good to find out whether the setting is accredited and by what organization. Accreditation from the government agency or some other well known organization is a good indicator of higher quality. Ask whether a child care setting is licensed, listed, or certified by the local government agency or organization responsible for child care regulations. Such a designation means that the setting met minimum standards for quality as defined by the government or organization in charge. You can get this information from your local government or organization.

One of the strongest and most consistent predictors of good children's development is positive caregiving. Positive caregiving is a measure of care quality that is based on direct observations of caregiver behavior. Positive caregiving will have caregiver that is, sensitive, encouraging, and with frequent interactions between the caregivers and the child.

Positive caregiving behaviors include:

  • SHOWING A POSITIVE ATTITUDE - The caregiver should be helpful, in good spirits, smiling and encouraging when interacting with the child.
  • HAVING POSITIVE PHYSICAL CONTACT - The caregiver should hold hands, pat the child on the back, hug the child, and comfort the child when needed.
  • RESPONDING TO VOCALIZATIONS - The caregiver should answer the child's questions, comment on what the child says or tries to say and repeat the child's words.
  • ASKING QUESTIONS - The caregiver should encourage the child to talk and communicate by asking questions that the child can answer easily, such as “yes” or “no” questions, or asking about a family member or toy.
  • TALKING IN OTHER WAYS -- SUCH AS:
    • Praising or encouraging -- The caregiver should respond to the child's positive actions with positive words, such as “You did it!” or “Well done!”
    • Teaching -- The caregiver should encourage the child to learn or have the child repeat learning phrases or items, such as saying the alphabet out loud, counting to 10, and naming shapes or objects. For older children, the caregiver can explain what words or names mean.
    • Telling and singing -- The caregiver should tell stories, describe objects, describe events, or sing songs.
  • ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENT - The caregiver should help the child to stand up and walk (for infants “tummy time” or encouraging crawling). For older children, helping kids to finish puzzles, stack blocks, or zip zippers.
  • ADVANCING BEHAVIOUR - The caregiver should encourage the child to smile, laugh, play with other children, support sharing between the child and other children, and give examples of good behaviors.
  • READING - The caregiver should read books and stories to the child and let the child touch the book and turn the page. For older children, pointing to pictures and words on the page.
  • ELIMINATING NEGATIVE INTERACTIONS - The caregiver should be positive, not negative, in the interactions with the child, and taking a positive approach to interacting with the child even in times of trouble. The caregiver should interact with the child and not ignoring him or her.

The Positive Caregiving Checklist (pdf) - You can print and use this checklist to help evaluate the quality of a child care setting you are considering, or at the setting in which your child is already enrolled.

little person

"A person's a person, no matter how small." ~ Dr. Seuss

Did You Know?

According to research, regulable features are important to quality of child care. Children in child care centers that met accreditation standards usually have slightly better school readiness and language comprehension outcomes and fewer behavior problems at age 3 than did children in centers that did not meet the standards. There was no “minimum” number of standards of regulable quality that was sufficient. Each standard was important to better cognitive and social development. Quite simply, the more standards the child care met, the better children did.

Research results showed that children who experienced higher quality child care consistently showed somewhat better cognitive function and language development across the first 3 years of life. The most important feature of quality for predicting cognitive and language development up to age 3 was the language used by the caregiver. More stimulation from the caregiver like asking questions, responding to vocalizations, and other forms of talking was linked to somewhat better cognitive and language development. Higher quality child care also predicted greater school readiness at 4½ years of age, as reflected in standardized tests of literacy and number skills.

What's the bottom line?
The quality of child care is modestly linked to the cognitive development of children across the infant, toddler, and preschool years. Quality is also modestly linked to social development during the infant and toddler years. Children who receive higher quality care show slightly more positive outcomes than do those in lower quality care.

For instance, for young children in care with smaller groups of children cared for by trained caregivers with higher levels of education in a setting with a low adult­ to-child ratio, the care provided tends to be warm, attentive, and intellectually stimulating. Children who receive such care are better off developmentally. In contrast, when groups are large, when there are many children to care for but few caregivers, and the training/ education of caregivers is limited, the care provided tends to be of lower quality, and children's development is less advanced.

The Positive Caregiving Checklist

Once you have found a few potential caregiver or centres, phone them and request a visit for the ones that fit your criteria. You can use The Positive Caregiving Checklist to help evaluate the quality of a child care setting you are considering. When you visit, observe how the caregivers interact with the children and pay attention to how comfortable the children seem to be in the environment. Check the spaces where the children eat, play, and sleep and look carefully to see if the centre or home is clean and safe. Check the outdoor play spaces. Before making your decision, check references and talk to parents whose children have been enrolled for a while. Once you've made a decision, clarify fees, method and frequency of payment, hours of care, vacation and illness policies, and all other issues that might be relevant. Also ask for a contract and receipts.

The more standards a child care setting meets,
the more positive the caregiving.

Did You Know?

breastfeeding

While breastfeeding may not seem the right choice for every parent, it is the best choice for every baby. ~ Amy Spangler

 

BENEFITS OF BREASTFEEDING

Mothers enjoy added benefit of the hormones prolactin and oxytocin. During the breast feeding you will be calm and more relax. Your brain will produce chemicals that will calm you, give you a feeling of well-being and promote maternal behavior.
Your baby's sucking stimulates nerve endings in the areolae, which send messages to hypothalamus and pituitary gland (in your brain), causing them to start releasing two breast feeding hormones; oxytocin and prolactin, that will begin to calm and relax you.

 

The more positive the caregiving, the higher the quality of care
and the better the children's outcomes.