CHILD CARE RESOURCE & REFERRAL (CCR&R)

Choosing Quality Child Care Educational Resources:

GENERAL TIPS FOR EVALUATING CHILD CARE PROGRAMS:

The overall elements of child care that are identified as critical to the well-being of children include the following:

• Health, safety, and good hygiene.
• Good nutrition.
• A well-maintained environment set up for children.
• An adequate number of staff who are sensitive and responsive to children.
• Opportunities for active play—especially outdoors.
• Opportunities for quiet play and rest.
• Opportunities for developing motor, social, language, and cognitive skills through play.
• Positive interactions with adults.
• Practices that support positive interaction amongst children.
• Facilitation of emotional growth.
• Participation of, support for, and communication with parents.
• Respect for diversity and difference, gender equality, and inclusion of children with disabilities.

High quality child care is generally understood to have:

• Broad learning and development goals for children, going beyond narrow academic aims like early literacy and numeracy to social, emotional, cultural, artistic, and physical goals.
• An approach that “lets children be children,” which means learning through play and experiencing a wide range of artistic, cultural, cognitive, social, and physical activities.

Click Here for the Preschool Quality Indicators

Some School Readiness child care providers are scored on the quality of their care using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). You can find more information about CLASS and scores in ENGLISH HERE or in SPANISH HERE.