Early childhood education (ECE; also nursery education) is a branch of education theory which relates to the

teaching of young children (formally and informally) up until the age of about eight. Infant/toddler education, a
subset of early childhood education, denotes the education of children from birth to age two.[1] In recent years,
early childhood education has become a prevalent public policy issue, as municipal, state, and federal lawmakers
consider funding for preschool and pre-K.[2][3][4]

While the first two years of a child's life are spent in the creation of a child's first "sense of self", most children are
able to differentiate between themselves and others by their second year. This differentiation is crucial to the
child's ability to determine how they should function in relation to other people.[5] Parents can be seen as a child's
first teacher and therefore an integral part of the early learning process.[6]

Early childhood attachment processes that occurs during early childhood years 0–2 years of age, can be influential
to future education. With proper guidance and exploration children begin to become more comfortable with their
environment, if they have that steady relationship to guide them. Parents who are consistent with response times,
and emotions will properly make this attachment early on. If this attachment is not made, there can be detrimental
effects on the child in their future relationships and independence. There are proper techniques that parents and
caregivers can use to establish these relationships, which will in turn allow children to be more comfortable
exploring their environment.[1] Academic Journal Reference This provides experimental research on the emphasis
on caregiving effecting attachment.

Learning Through Play

A child exploring comfortably due to having a secure attachment with caregiver.

Early childhood education often focuses on learning through play, based on the research and philosophy of Jean
Piaget, which posits that play meets the physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social needs (PILES) of
children. Children's curiosity and imagination naturally evoke learning when unfettered. Thus, children learn more
efficiently and gain more knowledge through activities such as dramatic play, art, and social games.[7]

Tassoni suggests that "some play opportunities will develop specific individual areas of development, but many will
develop several areas."[8] Thus, It is important that practitioners promote children’s development through play by
using various types of play on a daily basis. Key guidelines for creating a play-based learning environment include
providing a safe space, correct supervision, and culturally aware, trained teachers who are knowledgeable about
the Early Years Foundation.

Davy states that the British Children's Act of 1989 links to play-work as the act works with play workers and sets
the standards for the setting such as security, quality and staff ratios.[9] Learning through play has been seen
regularly in practice as the most versatile way a child can learn. Margaret McMillan (1860-1931) suggested that
children should be given free school meals, fruit and milk, and plenty of exercise to keep them physically and
emotionally healthy. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) believed play allows children to talk, socially interact, use their
imagination and intellectual skills. Marie Montessori (1870-1952) believed that children learn through movement
and their senses and after doing an activity using their senses.

In a more contemporary approach, organizations such as the National Association of the Education of Young
Children (NAEYC) promote child-guided learning experiences, individualized learning, and developmentally
appropriate learning as tenets of early childhood education.[10]
Piaget provides explanation an for why learning through play is such a crucial aspect of learning as a child.
However, due to the advancement of technology the art of play has started to dissolve and has transformed into
"playing" through technology. Greenfield, quoted by the author, Stuart Wolpert in the article, "Is Technology
Producing a Decline in Critical Thinking and Analysis?", states, "No media is good for everything. If we want to
develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what
skills each develops." Technology is beginning to invade the art of play and a balance needs to be found.[11]

Many oppose the theory of learning through play because they think children are not gaining new knowledge. In
reality, play is the first way that children learn to make sense of the world at a young age. They are exploring
different roles, learning how things work, and learning to communicate and work with others. These things cannot
by taught by a standard curriculum, but have to be developed through the method of play. Many preschools
understand the importance of play and have designed their curriculum around that to allow children to have more
freedom. Once these basics are learned at a young age, it sets children up for success throughout their schooling
and their life.

Theories of child development

The Developmental Interaction Approach is based on the theories of Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, John Dewey and
Lucy Sprague Mitchell. The approach focuses on learning through discovery.[12] > Jean Jacques Rousseau
recommended that teachers should exploit individual children's interests in order to make sure each child obtains
the information most essential to his personal and individual development.[13] The five developmental domains of
childhood development include:[14]

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Physical: the way in which a child develops biological and physical functions, including eyesight and motor skills

Social: the way in which a child interacts with others[15] Children develop an understanding of their
responsibilities and rights as members of families and communities, as well as an ability to relate to and work with
others.[16]

Emotional: the way in which a child creates emotional connections and develops self-confidence. Emotional
connections develop when children relate to other people and share feelings.

Language: the way in which a child communicates, including how they present their feelings and emotions, both
to other people and to themselves. At 3 months, children employ different cries for different needs. At 6 months
they can recognize and imitate the basic sounds of spoken language. In the first 3 years, children need to be
exposed to communication with others in order to pick up language. "Normal" language development is measured
by the rate of vocabulary acquisition.[17]

Cognitive skills: the way in which a child organizes information. Cognitive skills include problem solving,
creativity, imagination and memory.[18] They embody the way in which children make sense of the world. Piaget
believed that children exhibit prominent differences in their thought patterns as they move through the stages of
cognitive development: sensorimotor period, the pre-operational period, and the operational period.[19]
Adults often describe children as invaluable, as their “pride and joy” or “the future of this nation.” Many parents
would sacrifice anything for their children to ensure that they have bright futures, especially young children, for
whom development is crucial. Now, allow me to introduce you to one of the great American paradoxes: The
United States spends less per student on pre-primary education than it does for primary or secondary education,
according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

For the U.S., it is not simply a question of expenditure, but a question of focus, and it is clear that the emphasis is
not placed on early childhood education, despite the fact that this is one of the most rapid stages of development
in children. According to UNICEF, this is when children begin to learn language quickly, ask questions, enjoy social
interactions with friends and become more independent and imaginative. Yet not every child in the U.S. has access
to preschool during these crucial years from age three to five. In fact, only 51 percent of three-year-olds and 69
percent of four-year-olds were enrolled in early childhood education in the U.S. in 2012, according to the OECD.
This ranks the U.S. as 25th out of 36 countries for three-year-olds and 28th out of 38 countries for four-year-olds,
placing it well below the OECD average.

The results of this shortcoming are clear: children who do not have access to preschool education will likely not
perform as well as children who do, even much later in life. A HighScope study performed on Perry Preschool
studied the lives of 123 children over the course of 40 years. Some of the children had access to high quality
preschool while the others attended no preschool program. The study concluded that those who attended
preschool were 39 percent more likely to score an IQ over 90 at age five, 17 percent more likely to graduate high
school and 20 percent more likely to earn over $20,000 by age 40. On the other hand, students without preschool
were 19 percent more likely to be arrested five or more times by age 40.
The question now lies with what can be done about this issue. One of the most significant factors in preschool
attendance is affordability, which is why poorer families often struggle to send their children to preschool.
However, the United Kingdom has addressed this problem by giving all children access to universal preschool paid
for by the British government. Since 2010, every child age three or four has the right to 15 hours of free childcare
or preschool each week for 38 weeks of the year, according to a report from The Atlantic. This total of 570 hours of
early childhood education, which is available to children of all socioeconomic backgrounds, could serve as a
possible model for the U.S. While the British system may be more of a treatment than a cure, as some families can
afford to send their families to private programs for a longer duration of time, it does more of a service to its
children that its American counterparts.

This is not to say that there is no program for free public preschool in the U.S. Currently, a program known as Head
Start provides early childhood education to families below the federal poverty limit, which is $24,300 for a family
of four, according to a report from The Atlantic. However, only 41 percent of the children in this bracket have been
served by Head Start. Additionally, families whose incomes fall just above the poverty limit but are still not
sufficient to afford preschool are not served by the program. These families would be best served by a universal
preschool program.

It is understandable that there is concern regarding the funding that such a program would require. Right now,
however, the U.S. needs to look not at additional resources, but at a reallocation of resources. Throughout the
recent election, focus has been placed upon the merits of free public universities, and attention has traditionally
been directed toward how to improve students’ performance in secondary school. To truly address the problem,
however, the focus must be directed toward the roots, when education can have the greatest effect on
development.

The purpose of early childhood education

There have been many names used to describe early childhood education programs designed for children before
they enter school. Although no program is purely one thing or another, each type of program has historically
emphasized a particular purpose and that purpose can influence decisions made by the teachers in the program.

Day Care Centers. Day care centers have traditionally served the purpose of custodial care and have used by
dual-working parents and single parents. These types of early childhood programs are certainly concerned with
children’s development and learning but their primary purpose has been to provide a place for young children to
be when their parents are unable to care for them in the home. In order to provide this service for parents, day
care centers are usually the type of program that operates for the most hours.

Nursery Schools. Traditionally nursery schools have focused on the socio-emotional development of young
children. Parents choose to send their children to this type of program so that their children would have the
experience of playing and interacting with other children. These interactions might then lead to the children
understanding the importance of sharing and cooperating. Nursery schools were very often part-time programs
with children attending for a few hours a day.

Preschools. Some early childhood education programs focus on preparing children for the next level of
schooling, for example kindergarten and the early elementary grades. Programs with this emphasis might
organize their curricula around pre-academic areas such as early literacy and number readiness.
Compensatory Education Programs. The federally supported early childhood program, Head Start, is perhaps the
most well known of this type of program. These programs are designed for young children who are at-risk for
developmental issues and/or potential difficulties with school success. These issues can include the effects of
poverty, speech and language delays, learning disabilities, and general developmental delays. The curricula and
teaching approaches of compensatory education programs are targeted at the identified problems children may
be experiencing.

As I said, no program is purely one thing or another. Programs will, however, make decisions concerning
curriculum, staff hiring, teaching approaches, and operating hours based on what may be the primary purpose
of the program. For example, a day care center that opens at 10 o’clock in the morning won’t be serving the
needs of most parents who need to get their children to the center before they have to be at work by 8 o’clock
in the morning. A preschool that builds its curriculum without any consideration for the expectations of the
kindergarten the children will be attending can’t do a very good job at preparing children for their next level of
schooling. The nursery school that doesn’t build time into its schedule for children’s playful interactions with
each other won’t really be fostering the socialization of the children.

Parents should also consider the primary purpose of a program when they are making decisions about where to
send their children. The first step for a parent is to reflect on the basic reasons for why he or she is looking for an
early childhood education program. The second step is to look at a particular program and decide if it will meet
those reasons. If the reason is custodial, for example, then hours of operation and location may be of major
importance. If has been determined that a child needs some specialized intervention then a parent should to be
sure that the program has the resources and commitment to meet those needs. To the greatest extent possible,
there should be a match between the primary purpose of a program and the primary needs of the family.

Definition

Early childhood education consists of activities and/or experiences that are intended to effect developmental
changes in children prior to their entry into elementary school.

Description

Early childhood education (ECE) programs include any type of educational program that serves children in the
preschool years and is designed to improve later school performance. In the second half of the twentieth
century, the early education system in the United States grew substantially. This trend allowed the majority of
American children to have access to some form of early childhood education.

There are several types of programs that represent early childhood education. They are also known by a variety
of names, including preschool and pre-kindergarten (pre-K). One of the first early childhood education initiatives
in the United States was the Head Start program, started in 1965. Head Start is a federal government education
initiative that has provided children from low-income families free access to early education. It targets children
of low socioeconomic status or those who qualify in some at-risk category. Head Start programs are funded by
the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

Many early childhood education programs operate under the auspices of Title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act. Under Title I, local educational agencies apply to state agencies for approval of their
program, and when approved, the programs are then funded with federal money. The No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB) of 2001 encourages the use of Title I, Part A funds for preschool programs, recognizing the importance of
preparing children for entering school with the language, cognitive, and early reading skills that help them meet
later academic challenges. In the school year of 2001–2002 approximately 300,000 children benefiting from Title
I services were enrolled in preschool.

Other early childhood education programs may be run by private for-profit companies, churches, or as part of a
private school curriculum. These programs are normally tuition-based.

Since the early 1990s, many states have developed options for children from middle- and upper-income families
for receiving free preschool education. Georgia introduced the first statewide universal pre-K program, offering
free early childhood education to all four-year-old children. New York and Oklahoma have also developed
universal pre-K programs, and Florida voters have approved a constitutional amendment for a free pre-school
program to be available for all four-year-olds by 2005.

Nearly three-fourths of young children in the United States are involved in some sort of early childhood
education. Some groups of children have higher rates of participation in early childhood education programs
than others. Children living in low-income households are less likely to be enrolled in ECE than those children in
families living above the poverty line. Black and white children enroll in these programs in higher numbers than
Hispanic American children. Children with better-educated mothers are more likely than other children to
participate.

Benefits of early childhood education

Early childhood education can produce significant gains in children's learning and development. High quality
early childhood education assists many at-risk children in avoiding poor outcomes, such as dropping out of
school. Although the benefits seem to cross all economic and social lines, the most significant gains are almost
always noted among children from families with the lowest income levels and the least amount of formal
education. However, whether these benefits are long lasting is disputed. Some studies focused on the IQ score
gains of disadvantaged children in Head Start programs, but these gains seemed to be short-term. However,
studies also indicate that ECE produces persistent gains on achievement test scores, along with fewer
occurrences of being held back a grade and being placed in special education programs. Other long-term
benefits include decreased crime and delinquency rates and increased high school graduation. One extensive
study found that people who participated in ECE were less likely to be on welfare as adults compared to those
who had not received any early childhood education.

All programs in early childhood education are not equally effective in promoting the learning and development
of young children. Long-term benefits are usually seen only in high-quality early childhood education programs.
A significant problem with early childhood education is that most programs available cannot be considered high
quality. In addition, the most effective ones are unaffordable for most American families. The overall
effectiveness of an early childhood program is dependent upon several factors: quality staff, an appropriate
environment, proper grouping practices, consistent scheduling, and parental involvement. According to the U.S.
Department of Education, some additional characteristics of a high-quality early education program are as
follows:

Children have a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment, with the supervision and guidance of
competent, caring adults.

Teachers plan a balanced schedule in which the children do not feel rushed or fatigued.

The school provides nutritious meals and snacks.

 The program includes a strong foundation in language development , early literacy, and early math.

The program contains a clear statement of goals and philosophy that is comprehensive and addresses all areas
of child development.

The program engages children in purposeful learning activities and play , instructed by teachers who work
from lesson and activity plans.

Balance exists between individual, small-group, and large-group activities.

Teachers frequently check children's progress.

The staff regularly communicate with parents and caregivers so that caregivers are active participants in their
children's education.

Preschools that operate for a full day on a year-round basis, thus providing children with two years of pre-
school, achieve better results than those that offer less intense services.

In high-quality preschool programs, observers should see children working on the following:

learning the letters of the alphabet

learning to hear the individual sounds in words

learning new words and how to use them

learning early writing skills

learning about written language by looking at books and by listening to stories

becoming familiar with math and science

Because of the potential benefits to children, some people support the idea of government-sponsored universal
early childhood education programs. Those who support this movement do so for the following reasons:

The private and social costs of failing children early in their lives can be high. The lifetime social costs
associated with one high school dropout may be as high as $350,000. Even modest improvements may justify
the costs of ECE.

Some studies show that for every dollar invested in quality ECE citizens save about $7 or more on investment
later on.

There is a potential for less reliance on welfare and other social services. Government receives more tax
revenue because there are more taxpaying adults.

People should rethink the value of early childhood education because of increasing needs for a more highly
educated workforce in the twenty-first century.

Early intervention may prevent intergenerational poverty.

Opponents of universal government early childhood education give the following reasons for objecting to it:

Evidence indicates that the positive effects from the fairly expensive and intensive pre-K programs tend to be
short-term.

The public schools are already fraught with problems, and providing a downward extension to three- and
four-year-olds is ill conceived.

Some studies show that premature schooling may potentially slow or reduce a child's overall development by
reducing valuable play time.

Additional studies show that quality early education could as of 2004 cost more than $5,800 per year. The
government would be taxing many people who may not wish to pay for preschool for another family's children.

In spite of the controversies, demographic trends in the early 2000s indicate that early childhood education has
become, and will continue to be, an important aspect of the U.S. educational system.

Parental concerns

Parents are often understandably concerned about the quality of the early childhood education programs
available to them. By taking the time to investigate several schools, most parents find a program with which
they and their child are comfortable.

1. Child care or childcare, child minding, daycare, or preschool is the caring for and supervision of a child
or children, usually from age six weeks to age thirteen. Child care is the action or skill of looking after
children by a day-care center, babysitter, or other providers. Child care is a broad topic covering a wide
spectrum of contexts, activities, social and cultural conventions, and institutions. The majority of child
care institutions that are available require that child care providers have extensive training in first aid
and are CPR certified. In addition, background checks, drug testing at all centers, and reference
verification are normally a requirement. Child care can cost up to $15,000 for one year in the United
States. The average annual cost of full-time care for an infant in center-based care ranges from $4,863
in Mississippi to $16,430 in Massachusetts.[1] Early child care is a very important and often overlooked
component of child development. Child care providers are our children's first teachers, and therefore
play an integral role in our systems of early childhood education. Quality care from a young age can
have a huge impact on the future successes of children

Common types

Western society

It is traditional in Western society for children to be taken care of by their parents or their legal guardians.
In families where children live with one or both of their parents, the childcare role may also be taken on by
the child's extended family. If a parent or extended family is unable to care for the children, orphanages and
foster homes are a way of providing for children's care, housing, and schooling.
The two main types of child care options for employed parents needing childcare are center-based care
(including creches, daycare, and preschools) and home-based care (also known as nanny or family daycare).
As well as these licensed option's parents may also choose to find their own caregiver or arrange childcare
exchanges/swaps with another family.[2]

Licensed home day care or family child care

Licensed or unlicensed home day care is also referred to as family child care, or in home care. It refers to the
care provided to a group of children in the home of a caregiver. State laws differ regarding rules for licensed
versus unlicensed care. In Canada, most home daycares are unlicensed, and this is completely lawful.
Licensing home daycares in Canada can help greatly with oversight, but at the cost of a large portion of the
daycare provider's pay. Family child cares are small in size and provide families the same securities as a day
care center, but also has the benefits of flexible hours, lower costs, accessibility, and cultural compatibility.
Home-based providers can give more individualized care and therefore better meet the needs of working
families. Family care (depending upon the relative levels of state subsidy for center-based care) is generally
the most affordable childcare option, and offers often greater flexibility in hours available for care. In
addition, family care generally has a small ratio of children in care, allowing for more interaction between
child and provider than would be had at a commercial care center. Family child care helps foster
emotionally secure interpersonal relationships for everyone involved. The providers are able to
communicate each day with parents on a personal level and share information about the development of
the child. Providers care for multi-aged groups of children allowing children to remain with one caregiver for
many years which helps children develop a sense of trust and security. Multi-aged settings allow children to
learn from one another and allow siblings to stay together. Some family child care providers may offer
parents more flexibility with hours of operation such as evening, weekend, overnight, and before and after
school care.

In-home care

In home care is typically is provided by nannies, au pairs, or friends and family.[3] The child is watched
inside their own home or the caregiver's home, reducing exposure to outside children and illnesses.
Depending on the number of children in the home, the children utilizing in-home care enjoy the greatest
amount of interaction with their caregiver, forming a close bond. There are no required licensing or
background checks for in-home care, making parental vigilance essential in choosing an appropriate
caregiver. Nanny and au pair services provide certified caregivers and the cost of in-home care is the highest
of childcare options per child, though a household with many children may find this the most convenient
and affordable option. Many nannies study towards childcare qualifications. This means they are trained to
create a safe and stimulating environment for your child to enjoy and thrive in. Typically, au pairs or nannies
provide more than routine child care, often assisting with daily household activities, including running
errands, shopping, doing laundry, fixing meals, and cleaning house.

At the same time, a nanny or au pair is not always the best methods of childcare. Nanny care is the most
expensive form of childcare. Recruiting a nanny can be costly when using a Nanny agency. Nanny agencies
will, however, thoroughly check the applicants' references and run a criminal background check on the
successful candidate.[4] Weekly salaries for nannies are 2 to 3 times the cost of a week of daycare.[5] It
confines the child into a world of their own. It keeps them from interacting with other children a lot of the
time. As mentioned the caregivers do not need licenses or background checks so there is no way of telling if
a person is really qualified or has a criminal background (unless you live in a country where there is an
option of obtaining home-based care through a government licensed and funded agency). These things
should be taken in consideration when making a choice.

Center-based care

A childcare development center in South Carolina in the United States

Commercial care center also known as day cares are open for set hours, and provide a standardized and
regulated system of care for children. Parents may choose from a commercial care center close to their
work, and some companies offer care at their facilities. Active children may thrive in the educational
activities provided by a quality commercial care center, but according to the National Center for Early
Development and Learning, children from low quality centers may be significantly less advanced in terms of
vocabulary and reading skills.[6] Classes are usually largest in this type of care, ratios of children to adult
caregivers will vary according to state licensing requirements. Some positives of commercial care are
children gain independence, academic achievement, and socialization.[7]

Pre-school is often the term used to refer to child care centers that care primarily for 3 and 4-year old
children. Preschool can be based in a center, family child care home or a public school. Head Start is a
federally funded program for low income children ages 3 and 4 and their families. Similarly Early Head Start
serves low income children birth to 3 years of age.[8] The cost for the Head Start program is estimated at
$9,000 per child. Head Start program provides federal grants directly to local agencies to provide
comprehensive child development services for low-income children and families. Today, Head Start serves
more than one million low-income children. Head Start programs aim to promote school readiness by
enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health,
nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families.[9]

Infants may also be cared for in infant and child care centers. Resources for Infant Educators is a non-profit
world-wide organization, founded by the late Magda Gerber, a specialist in Infant Care.

Another method of child care is for before and/or after school: the YMCA program. There are buses that
bring the child to the location. YMCA website claims that its programs are staffed with people who
understand the cognitive, physical, and social development of kids, the need children have to feel
connected and supported in trying new things, and the caring and reinforcement parents and families need
to help each other. The YMCA aims to enable preschoolers to experience early literacy and learn about their
world, and school-age kids make friends, learn new skills, and do homework.[10]

Most western countries also have compulsory education during which the great majority of children are at
school starting from five or six years of age. The school will act in loco parentis meaning "in lieu of parent
supervision".

In many locales, government is responsible for monitoring the quality of care. For instance, in Scotland Her
Majesty's Inspectorate of Education is responsible for improving care and education for children from birth
to eighteen. This is implemented by inspections carried out by HMIE itself or by other members of
inspection and review teams. Inspection reports include feedback from staff and parents as well as the
inspectors, aiming to provide parents and carers information to help them decide whether a particular child
care setting is providing good quality child care and meeting government standards.[11]

Informal care
Informal childcare is a variation of childcare that utilizes family members as a childcare system, for example
grandparents and siblings. Informal childcare is an especially inexpensive form of childcare, and is utilized
typically by those who are considered poor. Parents may need to utilize informal care for a variety of
reasons. Typically informal childcare is necessary for families who do not have enough funds to finance
placing their children in a more expensive child care facility. Those low income families are also more apt to
work longer hours on an irregular and inflexible schedule, which ultimately makes using a childcare facility
that has regular business hours unlikely. A study done by Roberta Iversen and Annie Armstrong explains
that due to long and irregular working hours, sometimes including evenings and weekends, poor parents
are more likely to utilize informal childcare.[12]

Unlike those children who receive center-based or home based childcare, those children who receive
informal childcare do not receive the same educational preparation and school readiness that center-based
and home based children receive. In his book Social Inequality and Social Stratification in US Society,
sociologist Christopher Doob finds that poor children are less likely to attend the center-based and home
based childcare programs, which Doob finds that informal care thus results in the less developed school-
related skills children need. Doob concludes that due to a lack of financial capital, poor families are thus
subject to substandard amounts of human capital, which results in lower quality childcare programs, and
ultimately leaves children at a cognitive disadvantage.[13]

England

In England, childcare is inspected and regulated by OFSTED (previously this was administered by Local
Authority Social Services). Care for children under five is split into Childcare on Domestic Premises which is
Childminding and Daycare. In the UK being a ‘Childminder’ is a protected title and can only be used by
registered professionals. Registered Childminders are trained, insured and qualified in Pediatric First Aid.
They comply/administer/work with The Early Years Foundation Stage EYFS and have the same
responsibilities for education as nurseries and reception classes. They generally work from their own homes
and are always self-employed setting their own terms and conditions. The basic numbers of children that
childminders can care for is 6 children under 8 years of age; of these children, 3 may be under 5 and of these
1 may be under 1. These numbers include the childminders own children (although the childminder’s
children will not be included in the childminding ‘Certificate’). Some childminders work with either
childminding assistants or with co-childminders, which often increases the number of children that can be
cared for and individual childminders can request a ‘variation’ which may increase the children that they
care for particularly for ‘continuity of care’ or for twins. There is a professional body – the Professional
Association for Childcare & Early Years (formerly the National Childminding Association), which “Promotes
and supports quality child-minding expertise” and provides information for Childminders and parents.
London has greater pressures on childcare provision than other English regions. A recent study by London’s
Poverty Profile found the level of childcare provision in London is lower than the England average. In
London, there are 4.4 children aged under 8 per childcare place, compared to the England average of 3.9.[1]

Childcare costs in London significantly hinder the living standards of the capital’s residents. A recent study
by Loughborough University, funded by Trust for London, found the minimum budget required for a couple
with two children to reach a decent standard of living is 22% more in Inner London and 21% more in Outer
London than compared with the rest of the UK. The significantly higher costs of childcare influences this
heavily, along with housing and transport.[15]
Effects on child development

For many, the use of paid childcare is a matter of choice with arguments on both sides about whether this is
beneficial or harmful[16] to children. The parental decisions of leaving a child with someone and who that
someone will be are two of the most difficult decisions in the lives of most parents.[17] A parent fears for
the safety and security of his/her child. They need to be able trust the person or facility they choose as a
provider for childcare. Whether this person is family, friend, live in, center based, young, old, well educated,
or barely trained, the parents want to feel comfortable leaving their children with them. To have trust in the
caregiver, the parent wants to know what kind of effects the type of service they provide will have on the
development of their child. The development of a child has many factors, but it is most directly influenced
by the type and quality of care that is most regularly provided to the child.

Child development researcher, Lian Tong, analysed the results from a Haley and Stansbury experiment
saying, "Parent responsiveness also facilitates cognitive, social, and emotional development and reduces
negative emotions in infants."[18] This study applies to more age groups than just infants. To sum that up,
the amount of time that a parent or teacher is willing to spend teaching, listening to, playing with, and
exploring with the child the more socially, emotionally, and educationally developed the child will become.
Whether that child receives the majority of his or her care at a center or at its house, the biggest factor in
deciding what will have the best effect on the child will be those willing to put in the time and effort it takes
to properly develop a child's social, physical, and academic skills.

In discussing the numbers it is important to note that in 2001, more than one half of the children in the
United States attended childcare facilities. This number has only increased as the number of working
parents has increased. The increase in the amount of children that are required to have some sort of
childcare service has made childcare facilities more necessary than they have ever been.[19] The quality of
childcare given by a facility is generally indicated by the center's cost of enrollment. If the center charges
more for the service, it will generally provide better care to the children. Centers that charge more for their
services can provide quality education, more current resources, and nicer facilities. These are all helpful
when trying to educate a child academically. A higher standard for teachers, such as requiring a degree in
early childhood education or a degree of the like, has shown to result in improved growth in the
development of a child. The childcare system in France is a great example of this. They have two separate
branches of early childhood childcare. These two separate branches are called crèche and école maternelle.
Crèche is the program for infants and toddlers and école maternelle is part of the education system. They
both require teacher to have a college degree and sometimes a specialized degree on top of that.[17]

Whether at an expensive facility or relatively inexpensive, children who attend daycare facilities tend to
develop social skills more quickly than children of the same age group that are reared at home. They
communicate better with children of the same age and often try harder to communicate with those that are
younger than them, by using patience and taking different approaches at presenting the data.[20]
Surprisingly, a study done by Erik Dearing, has proven that negative social behavioral patterns are not
directly connected to daycare. By studying a large selection of children from the Norwegian childcare
system he concluded that the amount of hours a child spends at a daycare and their behavior have no
dependent relations.[21] Though in America, Children who attend childcare systems have a higher risk of
externalizing the symptoms of negative social behavior, exhibiting these traits can directly correlate with
their time spent in the center.[22]
There are links between the income, education, and importance of consistency and the well being of the
child, to the parents, and the development of their child. Higher educated parents place more importance
on the education of their children than the parents who do not have a college degree or have not graduated
from high school. Likewise, parents who have a higher income level are more willing to part with their
money to purchase a private tutor or nanny to assist the parent in the education of their child. They also
tend to stress the importance of being socially inept.[18] The first few years of a child's life are important to
form a basis for good education, morality, self-discipline and social integration. Consistency of approach,
skills and qualifications of careers have been shown in many studies to improve the chances of a child
reaching his or her full potential. Child care in much of western society is currently in crisis: there are not
enough daycare spots, the cost for most parents is beyond their means, and child care staff are grossly
underpaid. Starting wages for Early Childcare Educators start at $11 or $12, causing a high turnover rate,
and decreases the likelihood of potentially safe, effective, and loving child care providers from even
entering the field.

Health issues

Childcare infection

Childcare infection is the spread of infection during childcare, typically because of contact among children in
daycare or school.[23] This happens when groups of children meet in a childcare environment, and there
any individual with an infectious disease may spread it to the entire group. Commonly spread diseases
include influenza-like illness and enteric illnesses, such as diarrhea among babies using diapers. Illnesses
and diseases may also include ring-worm, head lice, and hand, feet, mouth disease. It is uncertain how
these diseases spread, but hand washing reduces some risk of transmission and increasing hygiene in other
ways also reduces risk of infection.[24]

Value of unpaid childcare

Parents and mothers especially spend a significant amount of time raising their children. These mothers
nurture and develop their children into being functional members of society- hard work that is not
motivated by monetary gain. For centuries it has been assumed that women will stay home and take care of
the children while their husbands go out and work. In most cases, the husbands get all the credit for
providing for the family. However, their homemaker wives deserve just as much credit for their care work.
Caregivers do not receive monetary compensation and they must pay a ‘care-penalty.[25]

A care-penalty is the price one pays for doing care work for a family member. Care giving demands a lot out
of an individual, and as a result there is a high opportunity cost. The opportunity cost can relate to both
time and money. Instead of taking care of a family member, a caregiver could spend time working or
performing more leisure activities. Care penalties are not strictly related to childcare- they can also refer to
taking care of a sick family member, babysitting a younger sibling, or taking an elderly family member to
his/her doctor’s appointments.

Studies have been done to get an annual salary estimate for a female caregiver. One survey suggested that
the value of a mother's work, if she were paid the average wage for each task she performs in running the
household and caring for her children, is $117,867 per year.[26] The reason for the high salary is because
mothers typically perform about 10 different job functions throughout the week. Some of these job
functions are poorly paid, including cleaning, driving, caring for children, and washing laundry, but others,
especially financial and managerial tasks that the survey equated with being the Chief Executive Officer of a
company, are highly paid. Neither a nanny nor a housekeeper makes nearly as much money, and almost all
of these tasks except direct child care also have to be done by non-parents.

It is important to assess the value of caregivers because they are what truly make society function,[27] and
often their work is under-appreciated. They prepare the next generation for school, work, and decision-
making. A child’s entire future largely depends on how he/she was nurtured. Not only does the child
depend on this care, but the schools and employers also depend on the childcare. The government also
benefits because these children will eventually become taxpayers, congressmen, and voters. Eventually,
they will be the ones running the country. The value of unpaid childcare is also an important figure in
various legal entities. Expert witnesses (most often economists) are occasionally brought into court cases to
give estimates on the value of unpaid labor. By giving estimation, the plaintiff or defendant can be fairly
compensated for their labor.

Learning stories

Learning Stories [28] are documents that are used by Carers and educators in childcare settings. They use a
story- telling format instead of a traditional ‘observation’ report to document the different ways that young
children learn, and capture the moment in greater detail and provide parents with a greater insight into the
events that occur in their child’s time in childcare.

What they include

Story of the child’s progress

Pictures of the experiences (Optional)

The child’s strengths, interests and needs

Space for parent feedback [29]

Learning stories originate from New Zealand as they use a learning model in their curriculum called "Te
Whaariki". It highlights children's learning outcomes as 'disposition' which are “situated learning strategies
plus motivation-participation repertoires from which a learner recognize, selects, edits, responds to, resists,
searches for and constructs learning opportunities” [30][31]
Child Care: Tips for Choosing a Good Day Care Center

Whether you choose a formal child-care center, family day care, or in-home care, there are some basic
things you should know and insist upon. To help you make this all-important decision, we've talked to
mothers and other experts who have been in the child-care trenches. Here are eight ways to size up a child-
care option:

1. Look down. When you're visiting a potential site, pay attention to how the staff interacts with the
children. Ideally, a caregiver should be on the floor playing with the kids or holding one on her lap. In their
early years, babies need close, loving, interactive relationships with adults in order to thrive. That's why it's
especially important that babies' first caregivers be warm and responsive, and that even in group care,
infants and older babies get a healthy dose of one-on-one time. (Though individual states set their own
staffing ratios for child-care facilities, the American Academy of Pediatrics specifically recommends a ratio
of one adult for every three babies up to 24 months of age.)
2. Ask for a commitment. Babies need consistent, predictable care. It helps them to form a secure
attachment to their caregivers, according to Debra K. Shatoff, a family therapist in private practice in St.
Louis. If you're looking at an in-home caregiver, request that the person you're considering make a one-year
commitment to the job. If you're considering a center, find out how long the current caregivers have been
working there and how much turnover the center usually experiences.

3. Do a policy check. Find out whether you share parenting philosophies on topics such as discipline (Do the
caregivers use time-outs, scoldings?); television (Is the TV on all day or used sparingly, if at all?); feeding
(What snacks or drinks are provided for older babies?); sleeping (When are naps offered? How are fussy
babies put to sleep?); and so forth. Inquire about the sick-child policy (What symptoms prevent a child from
attending?). Also ask whether there's a backup plan should the family day-care provider or in-home
caregiver get sick and be unable to work. The more questions you ask early on, the less likely you are to be
unpleasantly surprised later.

4. Drop by and spy. While word-of-mouth referrals from other parents or trusted resources are important,
you need to look at a place for yourself to assess whether it meets your needs. Of course, any child-care
environment should be kept clean, childproofed, and well stocked with sturdy books and toys that are age-
appropriate. Other details to consider: When older children share the space, toys with small parts (choking
hazards) should be kept away from younger babies. Ideally, infants and babies should have their own area
where they won't get "loved" too much by older toddlers. A room or separate area dedicated solely to
swings and bouncers may look appealing at first glance, but keep in mind that growing babies need plenty
of floor time to develop and strengthen their muscles. If possible, try to visit the same centers at different
times of the day to get a sense of how the staff interacts with the children and what the routine is. You may
want to consider popping in unannounced a few times after you've enrolled your child, just to see how
things are going. Sometimes your visits will confirm that the place is right for you, but sometimes they'll be
a real eye-opener.

5. Keep talking. Until your baby can talk, you will be relying on what the caregiver tells you about your
child's day. Make sure you can communicate comfortably with each other. When you first hand off your
child in the morning, you should tell the caregiver how your little one slept the night before, if he is
teething, and whether he ate breakfast. At the end of the day you'll want to know similar information, such
as the number of diapers he went through, when he napped, and if he seemed happy overall. It's always
preferable to speak to the caregiver in person. If that's not possible, ask if there's a convenient time to
phone, perhaps at nap time.

6. Problem-solve pronto. It's inevitable that you'll experience conflicts with your caregiver, both large and
small. Address problems right away rather than ignoring them until they grow out of proportion. Some
issues can be resolved quickly; others may require more discussion. Whatever the conflict, treat the
caregiver in a respectful manner, but don't be afraid to speak up, says Deborah Borchers, MD, a pediatrician
in private practice in Cincinnati. When broaching a difficult subject, ask the caregiver's opinion, and hear her
out. As the parent, you have the final word with an in-home caregiver, but you're more likely to elicit
cooperation if the caregiver knows she has been heard. For example, instead of demanding an earlier nap
time to make bedtime easier, ask the caregiver if she has ideas about how to adjust your baby's schedule so
he won't grow so overtired in the evening.

7. Trust your gut. Every parent knows when something doesn't feel quite right. You may be turned off by a
center everyone in town raves about or clash with a highly recommended sitter. If that happens, keep
searching. Babies deserve, and thrive under, good, nurturing care. If something just doesn't feel right about
your situation, investigate other options.

8. Be open to change. You're not married to a particular person or situation, and if things don't work out,
you can always make a switch. Yes, you want consistency for your baby, but that doesn't mean you can't
alter arrangements. Babies are resilient; as long as they're having a positive experience with their new
caregiver, they'll be just fine, points out Dr. Shatoff.

No matter what your work hours, you are still your child's essential caregiver -- the most consistent source
of love and support in her life. Under your care and guidance, along with the help of your well-chosen
caregivers, your baby will flourish and grow into a happy, healthy child.

enrichment

Enrichment makes something more meaningful, substantial, or rewarding. Enrichment improves something.

Enrichment Programs

Charlie Choo Choo Enrichment kitsThe Learning Experience® is devoted to cultivating creative,
compassionate, and innovative thinkers. Our enrichment kit programs serve as fundamental components to
help achieve that goal. Music, math, science, dance, Yoga, performing arts, and physical fitness are all
components of our exceptional Charlie Choo Choo® enrichment series. These programs encourage children
to explore different avenues of learning. Because at TLE®, we believe that what is good for one child, is good
for all children. Unlike other child care centers, our enrichment programs are included in the cost of regular
tuition. Charlie Choo Choo® enrichment programs offer a unique approach to education geared toward
broadening the children's scope of learning. The enrichment programs are offered through unique kits that
are given to each child. These enrichment kits are packed with tools designed to assist TLE® teachers with
implementing the enrichment programs inside their own classrooms. This approach gives TLE® teachers the
flexibility to incorporate the thematic activities into the core TLE® curriculum. The learning experiences that
these kits offer do not stop at the end of each 12-week session. Afterwards, the children get to bring their
kits home to share what they have learned with their parents and to continue to use the resources for
further learning.

Dancing Feet®

Dancing Feet® teaches children basic dance steps and encourages them to express themselves through their
own independent movements. This enrichment program gives children the opportunity to participate in
social, cultural, and creative dances.

Talent Sprouts®

Talent Sprouts® enrichment kits are a key component of the all-encompassing theater program that
introduces children to a variety of forms of performance, creativity, and self-expression. Each week the
children will have hands-on experience with acting, singing, props, costume design, set design, and set
construction; all while learning how each element is a vital component to a performance.

Marvelous Math®
 Marvelous Math® teaches children how math plays an important role in their daily lives. Through this
unique approach, the children explore topics such as number recognition, patterns, sorting, measurements,
and basic equations. The children learn that mathematics is a building process that can be fun and exciting
as they discover some of math’s most interesting applications through hands-on activities.

Music 4 Me®

This program includes a variety of music, rhythm and movement. It encompasses American, Latin, opera,
Dixieland, show tunes, traditional children’s music, and contemporary children’s music. Music 4 Me® is
offered to all age groups and is a wonderful way to teach emotional values and promote positive energy
outlets.

com·pen·sa·to·ry

(of a payment) intended to recompense someone who has experienced loss, suffering, or injury.

"$50 million in compensatory damages"

reducing or offsetting the unpleasant or unwelcome effects of something.

"the government is taking compensatory actions to keep the interest rate constant"

Poverty, abuse, and neglect in the first two to three years of life often result in developmental delays in
children's cognitive and language development. It is not unusual, for example, to find the cognitive and language
development of 3-year-olds delayed by 6-18 months. To make matters worse, these children often are poorly
behaved, making it even harder for caregivers to cope with them in group settings. Nursery school and day care
programs were never intended to deal with the the special educational needs of such children.

In the 1960s, increasing concern over the plight of disadvantaged children led to the development of
compensatory preschools - early childhood education programs designed to compensate for risks associated
with growing up poor, neglected, or abused. The largest and most widely known of these efforts is Project Head
Start , a federally-funded program serving approximately one million children a year, at a cost of six billion
dollars a year.

Head Start

Although Head Start is the largest of these efforts, compensatory education programs have varied from
relatively small, university-based research projects to extensive public school programs for 3- and 4-year-old
children.

Developing compensatory preschool programs is enormously complex. Consider the challenge created by a
3-year-old child functioning at a 2-year-old level who continually misbehaves and cannot sustain attention
on a task beyond a few seconds. With no intervention, this child will be 18-24 months delayed by the time
he or she enters kindergarten. If the goal of compensatory preschool is to bring the child to "normal" levels
of functioning by that time, the child must make three years of developmental progress in just two years.
Theoretically, the rate of development can be accelerated by teaching consistently within the "zone of
proximal development." From a practical perspective, however, the design of learning environments,
teacher training, and the development of curriculum present problems of extraordinary proportions. Thirty
years of research and development in search of the "best" approach has generated enormous controversy
and very few clear-cut solutions. We will examine three major approaches.

The cognitive stimulation approach promotes cognitive development by challenging children within the
zone of proximal development at every possible turn. One of the more popular variations, David Weikart's
Cognitively Oriented Curriculum (Hohmann et al., 1979), uses a curriculum based on Piaget's cognitive-
developmental theory. Consistent with this theory, Weikart and his colleagues emphasize the child's active
role in learning through direct experience with objects, people, and events. The teacher plays a supportive
role as an "instigator of problem-solving activities" (1979, p. 6). The curriculum is organized around key
experiences - activities which promote cognitive learning in specific areas such as number, time, space, and
classification. For example, a key experience in the learning of number involves arranging two sets of
objects in one-to-one correspondence. Teachers provide children with pegs and pegboards, containers and
lids, and nuts and bolts to promote the key experience and actively engage the children in relevant
conversation as in the following exchange:

Child: Alexis is putting one peg in each spool in each spool

hole, saying, "Down the hole, down the hole. Another

man down the hole."

Teacher: "What are the men doing down in the holes, Alkexis?"

Child: "Fixing the water. Down the hole. Down the hole."

Teacher: "You mean for each hole you put one man down to fix the

water?"

Child: "Yep, so it won't get out on the streets and all the

people."

Maria Montessori developed perhaps the first and most enduring approach to the design of preschool for
underprivileged children. Her pioneering work is highlighted in the following Websources

Other early childhood educators argue that cognitive learning can be accomplished with considerably less
structure. This approach assumes that the "match" is readily available in the traditional play materials of
the nursery school such as blocks, dolls, and puzzles. The preschool teacher is available as a facilitator,
capitalizing on teachable moments that occur regularly in the course of children's spontaneous play.
Heather's experience in a water play activity at her day care center is a good example ( CLICK HERE ).
Still other early childhood educators have adopted more intrusive approaches to compensatory education.
One of the most intrusive and controversial is DISTAR , a model developed by Siegfried Engelmann, Carl
Bereiter, and Wesley Becker (Bereiter & Engelmann, 1966). DISTAR integrates behavior modification
strategies to control classroom behavior and highly structured, sequentially-organized lessons to promote
the "match" in language, arithmetic, and reading. A brief segment of teacher-child interaction in an
arithmetic illustrates this approach:

Teacher: Look up, look up.....Good looking!

We're going to count from 5 to 12.

What are we counting from?

Children: 5!

Teacher: What are we counting to?

Children: 12!

Teacher: O.K. Count! (with a standard hand gesture which

cues children to respond)

Children: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

Teacher: Very good! What did we count to?

Children: 12!

Which of these approaches offers the best approach to the compensatory education of preschool children?
One longitudinal study compared the effects of three preschool curriculum models - a traditional nursery
school program emphasizing play, the cognitively-oriented curriculum, and the Distar model (Schweinhart,
Weikart & Larner, 1986). Sixty-eight economically disadvantaged children were randomly assigned to the
three model programs. The average I.Q. of the children rose an astounding 27 points during their preschool
experience, with few differences among the curriculum models. The success of all of the models strongly
recommends continued diversity in research and development in this area.

The research and theory presented in this chapter suggests that children enter the preschool years with the
potential to develop the ability to think and communicate symbolically. This potential appears to be fairly
robust - that is, development emerges through a wide variety of experiences in highly diverse settings. As in
infancy, there is no "cookbook" for ideal sequences of environmental experience. Cognitive and language
learning may take place at home, in preschool or day care classrooms, on a subway, in a grocery store, in a
zoo, in a sand box, or on a mountain of junk in a vacant lot.

Moreover, normal rates of cognitive and language development do not necessarily require specially trained
teachers, elaborate learning materials, expensive toys, gadgets, or computers. For example, a pile of leaves
clogging the flow of water on a city street may promote an understanding of the properties of liquids just as
well, or perhaps even better than an expensive water table in a preschool. Those who deal with young
children should, therefore, maintain a broad perspective on where, when, and how cognitive and language
learning may occur.
Although the potential for cognitive and language development may be robust in early childhood, this
potential can easily be sacrificed. Extreme physical deprivation and social isolation, un-stimulating or
chaotic experiences in the home or in substitute care, and abuse and neglect may result in severe
developmental delay. Without intervention, such delays are likely to predetermine failure in the early
school grades and beyond.

Those who deal with children must recognize the sensitive nature of the preschool period and work toward
to fulfilling of every child's potential for cognitive and language development.

Program setting
 crèche

British

a nursery where babies and young children are cared for during the working day.
Crèche or creche may refer to:

Day care center, an organization of adults who take care of children in place of their parents

What is a crèche or daycare centre?

A crèche, daycare or nursery is a childcare centre where babies, toddlers, and young children are cared for
in a safe and stimulating surrounding.

Crèches mostly cater to the children of parents with full-time or part-time jobs. With the increase in the
number of nuclear families and working parents, crèches and daycare centres is being used by many
parents.

There are different types of crèches and daycare centres:

Private daycare chains. These are run by the same management in more than one location or operate as
franchises. Standard rules and regulations are followed uniformly all across the centres. Teachers or
supervisors take care of the babies with the help of assistants, nannies or ayahs (maids). Centres like this
usually have a large number of babies.

Private or stand-alone nurseries. These are run either by an individual or group of individuals. They do not
have any branches or other centres. Teachers or supervisors take care of the babies with the help of ayahs
or nannies. The number of babies admitted in these nurseries usually depends on the space and staffing.

Home-based crèches. This is the most common form of daycare in India. Here, the caretaker runs a crèche
at her own home. Usually, it's only one or two people who handle the babies. They may have an ayah who
helps them out. Home based crèche usually have a limited amount of seats. Usually these have just a few
babies.
 Daycare centres attached to independent schools. Some schools have the option of daycare for babies.
These may be a combined playschool or regular school with older children. They generally have qualified
professionals to take care of the babies, along with ayahs.

Workplace crèches. Some companies offer the option of workplace crèches. This option helps working
mums to provide care for the baby in the same premises while they are at work. These are quite uncommon
in India but some organisations are now offering this set-up.

Each of these crèche may accommodate different number of children ranging from five to 50 or more. Many
have long waiting lists so it's a good idea to research and explore your options well in time.

Are crèches and daycare centres safe and reliable?

It's up to you to judge how good or safe the crèche is. Many crèches lack even the basic infrastructure and
services required to facilitate good childcare so do make sure you look out for the following:

Ideally all crèches must be registered. Unfortunately this is usually not the case. Do speak to the manager
of the crèche to clarify this issue.

Security must be of high priority. The crèche must have qualified and police verified staff, security guards
and support staff. Each child must have an identity card. The parents or guardian should have an
authorisation card. Under no circumstances should a child be handed over to a stranger claiming to be a
relative. Unauthorised persons should not be allowed to enter without valid reason.

Check out if the nursery is part of a chain or a school brand. Daycare centres, crèches and nurseries that
are part of chains or schools are usually more reliable and tend to have better infrastructure.

Professional staff, managers and supervisors must be qualified and trained. Have a word with the
manager to understand about the child and caregiver ratio. This will help you assess if they are short staffed
or of there are enough people to look after the young ones.

Check the crèches policy on support staff. Are the security guards, sweepers, cooks, drivers verified by the
police? Are they allowed to play, feed or look after your child in the absence of the teacher or ayah?

The crèche should have clearly established policies for everything from holidays, opening and closing
times to dealing with emergencies. By checking that these procedures are in place, you can see that the
crèche takes the responsibility of caring for your child seriously.

There should be a medical room and a doctor on call to handle emergencies. The staff should have the
necessary first aid training.

The crèche should have a good reputation that is accompanied by a warm and stimulating environment.
Talk to other parents who have their babies in the crèche to ensure that the place is good and safe for your
child.

The crèche should have play equipment, toys, play areas and living areas that help stimulate your child.

For more information, you may want to read our article on signs of a good crèche.

Which crèche should I choose?

Here are some key issues you may want to consider while choosing a crèche:

Where is the crèche located? A good location and also close to your home or workplace has to be
considered.

What is the cost? Find out the fee structure and any other additional expenses that is required.

Is the food quality offered at the crèche good? Is the kitchen area clean and hygienic?

Are the management and staff professionally qualified and trained. Does their approach towards children
match yours? Staff members should share your views on sleep, discipline, feeding, potty training and other
daily care issues.

Does the crèche have a wide range of age-appropriate toys and books? Children learn through play. So
check whether the centre places high value on children simply doing activities that they have fun and enjoy.

Does the crèche have a reasonable ratio of caregiver/maid/ayah to number of children? The child to staff
ratio should ideally be:

3:1 for children under two years of age

4:1 for children between two and three years of age

8:1 for children between three and five years of age

What are the usual timings of most crèches?

Crèches cater to parents who work full-time or part-time. Basic timings range from about 8am to 6.30pm.
Some crèches may open earlier and close later to accommodate parents who keep long hours or have a long
commute.

Most crèches do not stay open on all days of the week. Saturdays may be half days and Sundays are usually
off. Some may close for a longer period during festivals such as Diwali, Christmas or during the peak
summer or winter months.

How much will a crèche cost me?

The costs related to a crèche vary. The cost depends on:

Location of the crèche. In a metropolitan or cosmopolitan city, the demand for crèches is high. Therefore,
the cost would be higher than what you would have spent in a smaller town or city.

Facilities offered. Extra facilities such as a meal option, live streaming, SMS updates will incur additional
costs.

Number of children from the same family. If you have more than one child going to the crèche, you may
be offered slightly reduced sibling rate.
On an average, the cost may vary anywhere between Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 12,000 per month. In addition to
this, crèches generally have an advance amount or registration fee which is a one-time fee. They may also
have a security deposit that is usually refundable and handed back to you when you withdraw your child.

Specific structured activities and care for a special needs child may cost more. You may also have to pay
extra if you ask the day care centre to look after your child beyond the usual timings on certain days. It's a
good idea to see different people and places before making a decision. This will give you an idea about
types of childcare available, and the variety in quality and cost.

What will my child do at the crèche?

A crèche or daycare is a place where babies, toddlers and young children can play, learn, enjoy meals and
rest. There will be plenty of opportunities for your child to play and develop herself. Like traditional schools,
crèches also focus on development. Learning through play is now a valued concept.

Physical development activities. Most creches will have outside activity areas where your child can play
outdoor games. Depending on the age of your child, your child may play running and catching games, hide-
and-seek-games and other such games that include physical activities. This helps your child in motor skill
development.

Social activities. The biggest advantage of daycare centres are that the children will be able to play with
other children. There may be separate rooms for different age groups, partly so that the babies are not
disturbed by active toddlers. This helps your child to develop social skills at a very young age.

Creative activities. Children will be made to paint, listen to stories, play music and be creative. They
would enjoy freeplay, in which the children can choose what they would like to do. This way, your child's
creativity gets nurtured.

Reading activities. Most crèches have picture books, rhyme books and story books in their collections. The
teachers or supervisors help the children to read and understand what is given in the books. This helps your
child to develop her reading skills.

By necessity, crèches have their own routines, and children, with the exception of babies, are encouraged to
conform to it. For example, most crèches encourage children to have a nap after their lunch. However, good
crèches will always want to know about a child's routine before she starts at the crèche and try to ease the
transition.

What can crèches and daycare offer babies?

The ideal ratio of caregiver to baby in a crèche is one is to three, so a child gets lots of individual attention.
Some crèches operate a system where each child also has her own ayah.

A crèche should be a place where your child is secure and happy while she is away from her home and set
up. It should contribute to your child's emotional, social and physical development. Look around and do
your homework well so you can find one that is perfect for your child.

If you are apprehensive about leaving your child in a crèche, just remember that you are not alone. It can be
taxing and sometimes even heartbreaking to leave your little one with absolute strangers in a completely
 new environment. You need to feel assured, comfortable, and confident before leaving your child at the
crèche.

Speak to friends, colleagues and family.

You may also share your thoughts and know how other mothers have dealt with this situation through our
community forums.

Toddler groups

Opportunities for parents, carers and children to meet together to play and share experiences.

Toddler groups provide an opportunity for parents/carers and their young children to spend time together
in the company of others. Children are offered activities, and parents/carers may find these groups an
opportunity to meet other people in their local area. Groups usually last 1 - 3 hours and are normally held
during the school day. Many groups do not meet during the school holidays.

Toddler groups are often held in community centres or church halls. Frequently they are organised by
parents or carers who attend the group. Toddler groups may not always have a phone. It is best to drop in
during their opening hours.

They do not have to be registered, as parents/carers must stay with their children. There may be a small
charge (around £1).

Parent and Toddler Groups

PT_roundedParent and Toddler Groups are usually set up within community halls and hold sessions of two
to three hours. They are run on a voluntary basis by at least two people. The adults can be parents or other
family members, nannies or childminders and they stay with the children and find it is an ideal opportunity
to talk to other adults. The groups provide a great opportunity for children to meet other children as well as
encounter a wide variety of play opportunities.

There are plenty of toddler groups in your area.

Baby and toddler groups are a great place to meet mums with children your child's age, and your child can
make new friends too. The groups are usually run by volunteers and provide a great play opportunity for
you child. Whilst often called Toddler groups, most groups welcome new mums and babies too, with a
dedicated area with soft mats and baby bouncer chairs.

Toddler groups are unstructured and predominantly a free play session with a break for refreshments. At
the end there may be a story or song time.

If you're looking for more structured activities and sessions for babies, toddlers and preschoolers see our
Baby & Preschool Classes.
Preschools and playgroups

Preschools can make a significant contribution to a child's earliest experiences and development.
Preschools and playgroups offer play and education for 2 to 5 year-olds. Photo of children playingA
preschool or playgroup can be organised by the community on a not-for-profit basis, often with help from
parents.

They must be inspected and registered by Ofsted.

When you visit a preschool or playgroup for the first time, have your list of questions ready.

Look at our childcare checklist for help.

Cost

All 3 and 4 year-olds, and some 2 year-olds, are entitled to a free part-time early education place of 15 hours
a week.

Hours

Usually part-time only, either in the morning or afternoon for a few hours.

Pre-school or playgroup

Child age range

(Aerage) 2 and half years - 5 years

Facts

Pre-schools or playgroups provide care and most offer early education.

Pre-schools or playgroups can be organised by community on a not-for-profit basis, often with help from
parents.

Sessions from 2 and half to 4 hours a day are offered, during term time only, and days may vary.

Children receive learning and development activities suitable for their age.

Some pre-schools are developing their services to offer longer sessions or full time daycare.

Most pre-schools provide places for between 24 and 28 children.

Minimum staffing ratios are 1:4 for children aged 2 and 1:8 for children aged 3 to 5.

Most staff are trained to work with children.

Quality assurance

All pre-schools or playgroups who care for children under the age of 8 must be registered and inspected
by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted).

All pre-schools or playgroups that provide part time early years education for 2, 3 and 4 year olds are
inspected by Ofsted.
 Parents can ask a pre-school for a copy of their Ofsted inspection report or go online.

Pre-schools can achieve ‘quality assurance’ with schemes recognised by the Government.

Costs

Hourly rates start from £6.00

Some pre-schools may ask to have paid a block booking in advance.

Pre-schools that are on the Hampshire County Council ‘Directory of Providers’ provide part time early
years education for some 2 year olds (eligible families), and 3 and 4 year olds which is free to parents.

Financial support is available from Tax Credits/ Universal credit or employer supported Childcare
Vouchers depending on the family's income.

Times available

Mornings: Start around 9am and finish between 12 and 1pm.

Afternoons: Start around 1pm and finish about 3.30pm.

Some playgroups provide ‘lunch clubs’.

What is a day nursery?

Day nurseries care for children from birth to five years old, although the exact ages may vary. For example,
not all nurseries will have the facilities to care for newborns.

Nursery staff are trained to create a safe and stimulating environment. Children are usually grouped by age,
so your child will join in with activities suitable for his development. He'll be assigned a keyworker, who is
responsible for keeping you up to date on how your child's getting on.

Nurseries must meet certain national standards and teach a curriculum designed for young children. This
provides a structure for your child’s learning and care.

Day nurseries must be registered with and inspected by the appropriate authority for their country:

England: Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills)

Scotland: Care Inspectorate

Wales: Estyn (HM Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales)

Northern Ireland: Early Years Teams within Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts

Many day nurseries are open from 7am to 7pm, to allow for parents with a long working day and commute.
You'll find most nurseries are open all year round, apart from bank holidays and Christmas. Some may also
close for staff training but will give parents plenty of advanced warning.

Day nurseries are different from nursery schools. Nursery schools, or preschools, are often attached to a
primary school. They're for children aged between three years and five years, and usually open during
school term times only.

What is a childminder?

A childminder usually works independently and cares for your child in her own home. Many childminders
are parents thmselves and may also have their own children to care for.

Childminders can care for up to six children at a time, including their own. No more than three children
should be younger than five, and of these three, only one should be under 12 months old.

This means a childminder will be able to give your child plenty of attention and one-to-one care.

Most childminders work on weekdays between 8am and 6pm, but some work longer hours or at weekends.
You'll need to find a childminder with working hours that fit in with yours.

Like day nurseries, childminders must be registered with the appropriate authority for their country.
However, they must first complete a pre-registration course that covers topics such as child nutrition, food
hygiene, and health and safety.

Many childminders take on further studies to gain additional qualifications, such as a diploma or degree in
childcare. Some also take a course in paediatric first-aid.

Childminders will provide toys and activities to encourage your child to learn new things. As part of their
registration, they must be able to prove that they're supporting your child's development.
What does a nanny do?

A nanny is employed by you to care for your child in your own home. Depending on what you want your
nanny to do and the age of your child, a nanny may be responsible for:

planning activities to suit your child's age

feeding, bathing and dressing him

changing nappies, or helping him use the potty or toilet

preparing meals for him

cleaning his room

washing and ironing his clothes and bedclothes

A nanny should also assist in the physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of your child. This
means doing things such as taking him swimming, reading to him, taking him to playgroups, or supporting
him in reaching development milestones.

Although nannies aren't required to hold a qualification in childcare, most take on some form of formal
training or study.

In Scotland, nanny agencies must register with Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS).
Elsewhere in the UK, a nanny can choose to register with the relevant authority:

England: Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills)

Wales: Childcare at Home Approval Scheme

Northern Ireland: Home Childcarer Approval Scheme (only if they care for children from more than two
families)

Your nanny carries a lot of responsibility in caring for your child. So make sure you find a carer you trust,
and that your child is comfortable with.

If employing a nanny seems beyond your budget, it may be useful to know that some families share a
nanny, splitting the costs and legal responsibilities.

What does an au pair do?

An au pair is a young person from abroad who has come to the UK to learn English.

Typical responsibilities of an au pair include babysitting in the evenings, helping with light housework, and
looking after your child during the day when needed.

An au pair will stay in your home, as part of your family. You'll need to pay her a small fee and provide her
with meals and a bedroom.
Most au pairs are not trained in childcare, although some may have done a bit of babysitting or looked after
younger siblings. For this reason, many agencies suggest that au pairs are best suited to parents who have
preschool or school-aged children.

Could I use a relative for childcare?

Yes. Many parents ask a grandparent or another relative to look after their children.

Informal arrangements with relatives make up the majority of childcare arrangements. It's low-cost and
flexible, and it means your child will be looked after by someone he knows well in a familiar environment.

Relative care works best if you have a good relationship with the relative, and if they're willing and able to
help. She'll need to be happy to do things your way, so you may need to set out some ground rules.

If you're nervous about setting ground rules, you could ask your relative whether she'd like to sign up for
BabyCentre emails. This may be a helpful way to introduce certain parenting topics for discussion in a non-
confrontational way.

If you haven't decided which option will work best for you, find out more about the cost of
What We Do

Kitsilano Neighbourhood House Childcare Programs are safe, fun places where children can learn and grow
supported by passionate and engaged staff. Each program creates a child friendly space that strengthens
each child’s connection to the community, their families, and each other.

How We Do It

Dunbar OSCCommunicating openly with parents, staff and children

Age appropriate programming

Child-led activities

Community engagement through participation in other Neighbourhood House Programs, such as

gardening, special events, intergenerational activities, cooking and baking.

Celebrating and learning about a variety of cultures

Fun and creative activities and projects

“Quick Chat”; Child-led planning circles

Skilled Neighbours: Students and community members sharing their expertise

Sport and recreation activities

Exploring the outdoors

About Dunbar Kids’ Club

Kids’ Club is committed to providing quality programs that encourage children to learn and explore their
interests and ideas and have lots of fun! The Kids’ Club Staff works with families to establish programs and
routines that meet the needs of all children and their families. We follow a child-oriented, play-based
philosophy. This program is designed for children between the ages of 5 to 12 years old. We provide a
licensed after school care program, early dismissal, and professional development daycare programming.
We also run camps during Winter, Spring and Summer breaks, at an additional cost, based on enrollment.

We currently pick up afterschool from Immaculate Conception and Queen Elizabeth Annex Schools, children
from other schools can participate if an adult can drop them off in our care.

Location: Immaculate Conception Parish Hall. 3778 West 28th Avenue

Out of school clubs

Out of school clubs form part of the Government's extended schools agenda, and include after-school clubs,
breakfast clubs and holiday clubs or playschemes. Extended schools are designed to help parents balance
work and family commitments, whilst providing children with study support, and offering them a broader
range of experiences and interests.
All schools are expected to provide access to wraparound childcare if there is sufficient demand, either on
their own premises or nearby, from 8.00am to 6.00pm to give state school pupils the same opportunities as
those in the private sector.

More about choosing an out of school club >

That is not to say that all schools have to provide out of school care themselves, some do, but others out-
source the provision. If schools can demonstrate that there is little or no demand for extended services,
they can satisfy the Government requirements merely by signposting to other local provision, such as
childminders or nearby out of school clubs.

However, if there is a definite need, schools are required to implement out of school care, but again this
does not have to be provided by the school itself. Some schools opt to fulfil the requirements themselves,
others invite individuals, playgroups, or other private childcare providers to meet the requirements on their
behalf.

Support for setting up out of school clubs is usually provided by the childcare and early years team of your
local authority. Additional support and advice is offered by the Out of School Alliance, the national
organisation for providers of out of school care.

More about setting up an out of school club >

More about services from the Out of School Alliance >

Most out of school clubs that provide wraparound care are registered with and inspected by Ofsted, and
have to implement the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) if caring for children of five years or younger (ie
children in the reception year).

More about registering with Ofsted >

More about staffing ratios >

What is a childminder?

A childminder is a person who looks after a child in their own home. They provide a safe and caring
environment where children can play and develop life skills and may build a long term relationship with
your family, perhaps taking them to and from nursery and school as they get older. All childminders are
registered by Ofsted, and trained in first aid, health and safety and child care practice.

Benefits include:

flexibility;

small numbers of children; and

the ability to provide a home-like environment.

Choosing a childminder

Visit several childminders to compare them and see how they get on with your child. Ask for any references
or names of parents who have used their service. When discussing fees, make sure you are clear about what
this includes

Questions to ask

Ask to see a copy of their registration and insurance certificates and their latest Ofsted Inspection report?
Childminder’s certificate of registration states how many children they can care for. Depending on their
space and the number of their own children up to six children under eight years, of these no more than
three may be under five years, of these no more than one may be under 12 months.

What are their normal hours of work?

Ask if they are a network childminder?

What are their fees?

Do their fees include meals?

What are their charges for absence or sickness and holidays?

When do they plan to take their holidays?

What are their overtime rates?

Ask to contact parents whose children they have looked after for references?

How many other children do they look after and what are their ages?

What training and experience do they have?

What activities and routines do they provide for the children?

What outings will they plan?

Will they attend any local drop-ins groups?

What do they do about sweets, snacks and drinks?

How do they manage difficult behaviour?

How would they deal with an emergency?

What would happen if you wished to make a complaint, are you able to see their complaints log?

Do they have any pets, how will they make sure children are kept safe around pets?

Do they drive? If so, does their car have the right seats and do they have proper insurance cover.

Hackney Network childminders

Our Childminder Network belongs to a national quality assurance scheme called PACEY Children Come First.
Network childminders are a group of registered childminders who have shown they can provide high quality
care for children. They are assessed and monitored by Childminding Network Co-ordinators, who work for
us. Network co-ordinators provide support to parents in seeking a quality assured Network childminder to
meet their needs. Please contact the Network Co-ordinator in your area for support in seeking a Network
childminder.
What’s the deal, legally, with childminding?

A childminder is someone who’s registered to look after one or more children under the age of eight, to
whom they’re not related, on domestic premises (at home), for reward – for more than 2 hours in any single
day.

Childminders aren’t supposed to look after more than six children under the age of 8 at a time, and of six,
only 3 may be 5 years old or younger: that includes their own children. The rules are there to help ensure
that children’s’ health and safety is prioritised at all times, and it’s important to understand what the
definition is, because the rules around paying for childcare are also well defined. Anyone receiving money
or money’s worth for looking after children has to be registered, and then meet 14 standards set out by the
Department for EE.

It all sounds very regimented. It is. But there are upsides to all this formality: a registered childminder has to
have public liability insurance in place, which should you give more peace of mind about your rights. And if
you choose a registered childminder, you’ll also have the reassurance of knowing they’ve been on a local
authority approved childminder’s pre-registration course and completed a first aid course that includes
training in first aid for infants and young children.

In addition, there are criteria that each childminder knows well and aims to satisfy on a daily basis: things
like encouraging children to be confident, undertaking structured listening and valuing their opinions,
organising resources, and imparting information that stimulates children to use their imaginations. All
registered childminders are trained to follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) that leads naturally
into the early years curriculum of a primary school. This provides a great start for children from birth to five
years old.

How much does a childminder cost?

Childminders are self-employed, so they’re taking care of their own tax and National Insurance payments –
you don’t have to worry about that. But the truth is, costs vary depending on where you live and how much
demand there is for childminding services in your area. And, on top of an hourly rate (which could be as
little as £3.50 to £4 per hour), there are other expenses to consider – such as commuting backwards and
forwards; and expenses for individual equipment, trips or additional activities – as well as variations in fee
according to the age of your child. But in return for the costs, there are distinct advantages to choosing a
childminder.

The advantages of childminders

First and foremost, if you’ve chosen a registered childminder then you’ll have the reassurance of a formal,
professional working relationship: there are standards, expectations, and set guidelines you can expect the
person to follow while they’re looking after your child – and that makes life a lot easier, if you ever have
concerns or you’d like to ask questions about a certain aspect of care. A registered childminder will have
had an enhanced CRB check, be health checked and homes have to be inspected to ensure they’re safe for
children.

One of the other advantages is that your child will be among other children. And in general, childminders
offer care among mixed age groups, which closely mirrors the environment you’ll find in family life. So –
particularly if your child doesn't have any siblings – it’s a good opportunity to develop those all-important
social skills in preparation for school.

If you can find a childminder close by, it may even feel like an extension to being at home: that proximity
works both ways though. Some children do benefit from moving out of one distinct environment, back into
another. With that in mind, childminders can often be quite flexible about the timing and arrangements
you’d like to make for picking up or dropping off your little one.

And of course, if you’re eligible for tax credits then you may be in a position to get help with childminders’
costs; childcare vouchers can also be used as a financial contribution to this type of childcare.

And the disadvantages of childminders

Some opinions are that a childminder could favour their own children, even without realising it, and focus
on them first. It’s something you’ll need to bear in mind and make a judgement call about, if you have any
cause for concern. You may not have complete control over specific components in a diet or organised
activities, as a childminder will be balancing the needs of more than one child – usually on their own, and
there may be fewer ‘automatic’ processes in place (although you should expect things like ‘bumps and
scrapes’ notices, and concerns about behaviour to be issued as standard).

In addition, everyone needs a Plan B but while childminders have to provide a plan for back-up childcare,
there may be circumstances beyond even your control that wouldn’t arise in a nursery. That could mean
you’re picking your children up and re-arranging work at short notice. Things like family affairs; holidays, or
even circumstances affecting the home itself could affect ‘normal’ arrangements. You also need to be
aware, childminders do have limitations on services they can provide, and that includes providing care for
children who are ill.

Making the choice for childminding

Having set out the pros and cons of childminding, the best advice is still to employ common sense: always
make a decision you’re comfortable with, and if in doubt, start with a short-term working relationship to
see how things go. A ‘taster’ session is a good idea (although you need to bear in mind, it does take some
little ones time to settle in to a new routine).
Talk to friends and family about your choices, and consider talking to the childminders’ neighbours and
other parents using the service too. It’s important to work through the practical aspects of your childcare
arrangements first, always, and make the decision with your head not your heart…

A home childcarer is someone aged 18 or over who cares for children from birth to 17 years of up to two
families at any one time, wholly or mainly at the home of one of the children. This includes nannies. A home
childcarer can be self-employed or employed by one or more families.

What is a home childcarer?

A home childcarer cares for children in the parents own home, or in another parents home (e.g. a nanny
share arrangement, although the children must be from no more than two families at any one time).
Nannies and au pairs are the most common examples of home childcarers.

Home childcarers can often provide quite flexible childcare, fitting in with unusual working hours, or they
may even live-in. The position may also involve taking on additional jobs around the home, such as cleaning
or cooking.

As a home childcarer you will be employed by the family and in addition to paying your wages, the parents
will also need to be responsible for your tax and National Insurance contributions, as well as things such as
sick pay or holiday pay. Only in certain exceptions will HMRC grant a home childcarer self-employed status,
eg. if the home childcarer works in a series of temporary positions. You should contact HMRC directly for
further information.

Additional expenses may also be built into the contract, such as a mobile phone for emergencies, or being
added to the family’s car insurance if part of your role involves you driving the family car. Wages will vary
depending on a number of factors including your level of experience, the number of hours you are expected
to work, and if you live-in.

Whilst some home childcarers hold a recognised childcare qualification or nursery nurse training, this is not
compulsory.
Home childcarers do not need to register with Ofsted but you can however choose to register on the
voluntary part of the Childcare Register.

Why register?

Being Ofsted registered can be quite a selling-point as it confirms you have been checked to work with
children. In addition, by employing a registered home childcarer the parents of the children you care for
may be able to receive support with childcare costs through the childcare element of Working Tax Credit or
through employer supported childcare vouchers. The Family Information Service can also promote your
services directly to parents.

Before applying to register

Carefully read the following guidance notes prepared by Ofsted:

Guide to registration on the Childcare Register

Requirements for the Childcare Register: childminders and home childcarer

Pre-registration requirements:

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check

As part of your registration you will need to undertake an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
check through the Capita website. This involves submitting your details online, paying the relevant
processing fee, and then completing an identity checking form. The form must be signed by a responsible
person.

If you already hold a DBS check and have signed up to the update service you may not need to apply.
Contact Ofsted for further information.

First aid training

Home childcarers must ensure that they have an appropriate first aid qualification. If you are intending on
looking after children from birth to puberty we recommend that you complete paediatric first aid training.

Additional training:

As specified in the ‘Requirements for the Childcare Register’ document: ‘Childminders and home childcarers
must have successfully completed a qualification at a minimum of level 2 in an area of work relevant to
childcare. Or training in the core skills as set out in the document ‘common core of skills and knowledge for
the children’s workforce’.

The ‘common core’ referred to above is a set of principles and values which sets out the basic knowledge
and skills needed by people working with children. The aim of the document is to help people work
together more effectively in the interests of children by supporting and improving practice, and sharing
understanding.

The common core skills and knowledge have the following six main areas:

Communication
 Development

Protecting and promoting the welfare of the child

Supporting transitions by helping children to move from one setting to another or from one phase of
development to another

Working with many different agencies

Sharing information.

There is not a specific course offered in York which covers the ‘Common Core’, or is tailored specifically for
home childcarers. The Local Authority strongly recommends however that in addition to undertaking a DBS
check and first aid training relevant to the ages of the child or children you are looking after, that you also
consider completing the following, both of which are free:

‘Elearning Basic Awareness Course and Child Protection’.

‘YorOK Induction Self Assessment’.

The induction self assessment allows you to assess your knowledge and understanding against seven key
areas that have been identified as important for members of York’s children and young people's workforce.
This will then highlight areas to explore for further training.

Apply to register

Once you have a DBS Disclosure Notice and have completed the above training and assessments, you can
apply online to register as a home childcarer on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register.

As an Ofsted registered home childcarer you will also need to have public liability insurance to cover you in
the event of an accident, whether it is your fault or not. Various companies provide public liability insurance
specifically tailored for childcarers. Whether you pay for the insurance, your employer pays for the
insurance, or you split the cost is something you will need to explore.

Professional membership and additional support

You may also like to consider becoming a member of a professional association for additional support,
training, and benefits. Organisations such as the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years
(PACEY), The British Association of Professional Nannies (BAPN), and others provide a range of membership
services for nannies, including free legal help, advice on employment rights, and general guidance.

Apple Tree Children’s Centers offer unparalleled preschool education and child care for our valued parents
and families. At Apple Tree, taking care of children is what we love to do. Our trained professionals
welcome each child into the Apple Tree family and nurture, care, and guide them through these important
early years. Our daycare programs are available for children aged 6 weeks through 12 years old, and each
age group receives specialized curriculum based on the needs of that developmental stage.

Our child care programs include: Infant Care, Toddler Daycare, Early Learners, Preschool, Pre-Kindergarten,
Before and After Care, and Summer Camp. In each class, kids are having the most fun while also priming the
brain for later academic skills, making positive social connections, and establishing healthy emotional
regulation. We take all elements of growth into account for a holistic, empowering early childhood
experience.

Infants & Toddlers Program

Mission

To provide early intervention services that support young children with developmental needs and their
families.

Vision
All children receive individualized services and supports so they enter school ready to learn and succeed.

Purpose

To enable young children to be active and successful participants in a variety of settings including their
homes, child care, preschool and community through:

Positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships);

Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills (including early language, communication and early literacy);
and

Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs

To enable families to care for their children and to be able to participate in their desired

family and community activities because they:

Know their rights;

Effectively communicate their children's needs; and

Help their children develop and learn

Eligibility

To be determined eligible for our services a child must be:

Between the ages of birth to 3

Reside in Frederick County

Meet one of the following criteria:

25% or greater delay in any area of development

Developing in a way that is considered "atypical" for most children his or her age

Has a diagnosed condition that is likely to affect development

FCITP Services are family-centered and provided collaboratively by:

Frederick County Health Department

Frederick County Public Schools

Frederick County Department of Social Services

Maryland School for the Deaf

Referrals
 Anyone who is concerned about the development of a child can make a referral. Most children are referred
by their families and pediatricians but referrals are also welcome from child care providers or concerned
friends or neighbors.

Ages & Stages – Preschool Children

Three and four-year-old children are often called preschoolers.

Preschool children want to touch, taste, smell, hear, and test things for themselves. They are eager to learn.
They learn by experiencing and by doing. Preschoolers learn from their play. They are busy developing skills, using
language, and struggling to gain inner control.

Preschoolers want to establish themselves as separate from their parents. They are more independent than
toddlers. They can express their needs since they have greater command of language.

Fears often develop during the preschool years. Common fears include new places and experiences and separation
from parents and other important people. You can expect the preschool child to test you over and over again.

He or she might use forbidden words and might act very silly. Preschoolers may still have trouble getting along
with other children and sharing may still be difficult. Because of their developing imaginations and rich fantasy
lives, they may have trouble telling fantasy from reality. They may also talk about imaginary friends. Preschoolers
need clear and simple rules so that they know the boundaries of acceptable behavior.

Three-year-olds

Physical Development - They ride a tricycle. They catch a ball. They stand on one foot. They build towers of 6-9
blocks. They walk on tip toes. They jump horizontally. They handle small objects such as puzzles, and pegboards.
They smear or daub paint. They draw or paint in circular and horizontal motions. They grow about 3 inches taller in
a year.

Social and Emotional Development - They need to know clear and consistent rules and what the consequences for
breaking them are. They enjoy dramatic play with other children. Their emotions are usually extreme and short-
lived. They need to be encouraged to express their feelings with words. They begin to learn to share.

Intellectual Development - Preschool children learn best by doing. They need a variety of activities. They need
indoor and outdoor space. They need a balance between active and quiet play. They can communicate their needs,
ideas, and questions. Their attention span is a little longer so they can participate in group activities.

Four-Year-Olds

Physical Development - They run on tip toes. They gallop. They pump themselves on a swing. They hop on
one foot. They begin to skip. They throw a ball overhand. They have more small muscle control. They can
make representational pictures (for example, pictures of flowers, people, etc.) They like unzipping, unsnapping,
and unbuttoning clothes. They dress themselves. They like lacing their own shoes. They can cut on a line with
scissors. They can make designs and write crude letters. They are very active and aggressive in their play.

Social and Emotional Development - They sometimes have imaginary friends. They tend to brag and be bossy. They
have very active imaginations. They need to feel important and worthwhile. They can be aggressive but want
friends and enjoy being with other children. They enjoy pretending to be important adults such as mom, dad,
nurse, doctor, mail carrier, police officer. They appreciate praise for their achievements. They need opportunities
to feel more freedom and independence. They are learning to take turns and to share. Games and other activities
can help preschoolers learn about taking turns.

Intellectual Development - They ask lots of questions, including "how" and "why" questions. They are very
talkative. Their language includes silly words and profanity. They enjoy serious discussions. They should
understand some basic concepts such as number, size, weight, color, texture, distance, time and position. Their
classification skills and reasoning ability are developing.

A kindergarten (About this sound listen (help·info); from German [ˈkɪndɐˌɡaːɐ̯tn̩ ] ( listen), which means
literally "garden for the children"[1]) is a preschool educational approach traditionally based on playing,
singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to
school. The first such institutions were created in the late 18th Century in Bavaria and Strasbourg to serve
children both of whose parents worked out of the home. The term was coined by the German Friedrich
Fröbel whose approach globally influenced early-years education. Today, the term is used in many countries
to describe a variety of educational institutions and learning spaces for children ranging from two to seven

years of age, based on a variety of teaching methods.

About Kindergarten

Kindergarten Programs >

About Kindergarten

Going to kindergarten is an important step for your child. It will help them learn skills that they will build on
throughout their life.

At kindergarten your child will grow socially and emotionally. Their ability to think, use and recognise
language and their fine motor skills will be developed through play, art, dance, music, movement and
interacting with others. Most importantly, your child will be learning to become an effective learner as they
develop and extend their communication skills, build their self-confidence, learn to be creative, and develop
skills that assist them with reading, writing and mathematics.

Children go to kindergarten in the year before school, usually when they are four years old. However, some
services and centres also offer kindergarten programs for three-year-old children.

You can enrol your child in a funded kindergarten program in a variety of settings, including children’s
centres, long day care centres, community kindergartens, independent schools and a small number of
government schools. A range of organisations manage these programs including local government, parent
committees, community organisations, private operators, independent schools and some government
schools.

How Kindergarten Will Benefit Your Child – describes the key benefits and ways kindergarten helps your
child's development

Early Start Kindergarten – information about the program offering free kindergarten to eligible three year
old children

Fifteen hour programs

Victoria is moving towards providing all children with access to a quality early childhood education program
for 15 hours a week in the year before they start school.

There is significant benefit for children in attending a quality early childhood education program. Increasing
kindergarten hours and access to programs in a range of different early childhood settings further increases
that benefit.

Providing all children access to quality 15 hour early childhood education programs in the year before
school:

Recognises that quality early childhood education programs improve children’s learning, health and
behaviour with positive impacts extending into adult life.

Enables children and families to have access to a high quality developmental program in a range of
settings such as public, private and community-based kindergartens and child care services.

Supports a successful transition to school.

Transcript: Digital story – Benefits of the fifteen hours kindergarten program (docx - 31.95kb)

More information

The following publications have further related information about kindergarten services.

About Kindergarten (pdf - 704.64kb) - information about kindergarten and what to expect

About Kindergarten (docx - 36kb)

Children's Services in Victoria (pdf - 519.49kb) – a guide to the different types of services and the
legislation and regulations around these

Translated Resources – information about an interpreter service and a list of resources translated into
languages other than English, including Chinese, Arabic, Somali, Punjabi and Vietnamese.

Kindergarten Programs
 About Kindergarten

Primary Education and Schools

Mohamed Nagdy and Max Roser

Primary school education today is focussed on establishing the fundamental literacy and numeracy skills of
children, as well as developing their understanding of the world. These skills are increasingly necessary for
life in the modern world, and are essential to the functioning of developed economies. For this reason,
primary education is compulsory and provided by the state in almost all countries around the world. The
second United Nations Millennium Development Goal was to “ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere,
boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.” This goal was missed but
significant progress has been made. In 1999, only 81% of children in the developing world attending primary
school, and today the figure is around 92% — equivalent to 58 million children not in primary education

Primary Education

The primary education sector includes state-funded primary schools, special schools and private primary
schools. The state-funded schools include religious schools, non-denominational schools, multi-
denominational schools and Gaelscoileanna (Irish-medium schools). For historical reasons, most primary
schools are state-aided parish schools, although this pattern is changing. The state pays the bulk of the
building and running costs of state-funded primary schools, but a local contribution is made towards their
running costs. Teachers’ salaries are paid by the Department of Education and Skills, and the schools are
inspected by the Department’s Inspectorate.

Although children are not obliged to attend school until the age of six, almost all children begin school in the
September following their fourth birthday. Nearly 40% of four-year-olds and almost all five-year-olds are
enrolled in infant classes in primary schools (sometimes called national schools). Primary education consists
of an eight year cycle: junior infants, senior infants, and first to sixth classes. Pupils normally transfer to
post-primary education at the age of twelve.

The general aims of primary education are:

To enable the child to live a full life as a child and to realise his or her potential as a unique individual

To enable the child to develop as a social being through living and co-operating with others and so
contribute to the good of society

To prepare the child for a continuum of learning.

The primary curriculum aims to provide a broad learning experience and encourages a rich variety of
approaches to teaching and learning that cater for the different needs of individual children. The revised
primary curriculum, launched in 1999, was the first complete revision of the curriculum since 1971. The
revised curriculum is designed to nurture the child in all dimensions of his or her life—spiritual, moral,
cognitive, emotional, imaginative, aesthetic, social and physical.

The curriculum is divided into the following key areas:

 Language – Irish and English

Mathematics

Social, Environment and Scientific Education

Arts Education, including Visual Arts, Music and Drama

Physical Education

Social, Personal and Health Education.

- See more at: http://www.education.ie/en/The-Education-System/Primary/#sthash.u84Ek7Ya.dpuf

 Employer-Supported Child Care

“Refers to a situation in which an employer, a group of employers, or a labor union takes some initiative in
meeting employees’ child care needs and bears some or all of the cost.” (Govenor’s Advisory Committee on
Child Development, 1981, p. 4).
“This definition encompasses several types of programs, which fall into four general categories. First there
are direct services, which provide actual spaces, such as on- or off site day care centers, consortium centers,
family day care networks, after school programs, and summer camps. The second category of employer-
supported child care is information; it includes information and referral services, employee assistance
programs, and parent education.The third type of employer-supported child-care program is financial
assistance, which includes all of the following: vendor arrangements, vouchers, flexible benefits, and
corporate contributions to existing child-care agencies and programs. The fourth type of program is
alternative work scheduling, which includes flextime, part time, job sharing, and flexible parental-leave
policies. ( Auerbach, 1990, p. 385)