Choosing Quality Child Care Guide

How do I begin looking?

Choosing the best childcare setting for your child is an important decision. The Early Learning Coalition understands that parents want to know their options when choosing care for their child. To help parents in their search, Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) is offered to show parent child care options that fit their needs.

When a parent calls CCR&R they can speak directly to someone about child care that is right for their family. The CCR&R Counselor searches a list of child-care providers based on what area is convenient for parents, child-care provider hours that helps meet the parent's work schedule, type of provider desired, and many more!

Start your search for child care by calling 1-866-973-9030.

Is financial assistance available?

Financial assistance is available through the School Readiness Program. Counselors can determine what type and level of assistance parents are eligible for.

Voluntary Pre-kindergarten is a state funded program for all four year old children to help prepare them for school. Parents who can provide proof of birth and proof of residency in the state of Florida for their child are eligible to participate in the program.

To find out more information or to determine eligibility, call Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend Region, 850-385-0504.

How do I choose a quality program?

Choosing the right child-care program for a child can be a daunting task. What do you look for? Look at a variety of programs and take copies of the checklist with you and look for the indicators, take notes, and take time to make an informed decision.

QualityCheckList_ENG.pdf 38.88 kB

Encouraging Learning at Home

Everyday activities can be educational moments with you and your child. A good rule of thumb is to talk while you handle the day-to-day activities and chores, explaining what you're doing and why. Children are often compared to sponges because of their ability to absorb the things happening around them. Keep this in mind and create valuable opportunities to teach and learn with your child.

Try some of these things out with your child today:

These tips were developed for Born Learning by Mind in the Making, a project of the Families and Work Institute and New Screen Concepts, at www.mindinthemaking.org.

Doing Laundry. . .

Connect
You can make children a part of this everyday task in ways that are fun for you and your child.

Watch & Listen
Look at your child to see what he or she is interested in. Is your baby curious about how the clothes feel? Does your toddler like to take clothes in and out of the laundry basket? Is your preschooler interested in sorting clothes by color?

"Curiosity is an important part of mastery. It's the desire to know. And the nice thing about it is you never get there. It's not like you ever get to the point where you know everything or you've mastered everything."
Jack P. Shonkoff, MD
Dean, Heller Graduate School, Brandeis University

Extend

For your baby:
Just because your baby doesn't talk, doesn't mean he or she isn't learning language. Follow your child's gaze to see what seems to intrigue him or her. Try to see this experience through his or her eyes. Then talk to your child about what they're watching or what you're doing: "Now I'm putting the clothes in the washing machine…or "here goes the soap" or "you're watching the clothes spinning in the dryer." Children whose caring adults connect language to their everyday experiences learn to speak, communicate and read better.

For your toddler:
If your toddler likes to take clothes in and out of the laundry basket, have him or her help you put the clothes into the washer and dryer. Ask questions like "Can you find the pants and put them in the dryer?" Or, name colors together. These activities can be fun and help build language and thinking skills.

For your preschooler:
If your child likes to sort things, have him or her make piles of the light clothes and the dark clothes. Older children can also help by finding matching pairs of socks, or finding all of the shirts to put into a pile for folding. These activities can build math and cooperation skills. Feeling useful also helps children feel good, which encourages them to continue to want to be helpful.

At Meals. . .

Connect
Studies show that meals are one of the most important times to be together as a family. Catherine Snow and her colleagues at Harvard University conducted research on literacy development by taping what happens at family meals. They found that the families who interacted with each other at meal times were more likely to have children with better literacy skills in the school-age years. Family mealtime interaction took place when caregivers extended children's interests, which helped children use language to analyze, sequence, and predict while helping children appreciate the joy of language.

Watch & Listen
Do your children listen to what you and others say? Do they have opportunities to talk, listen and take turns? Do they look forward to telling you about their day? What sounds and words do they try to say? What are they trying to communicate?

Extend

With your baby:

• Give your baby ordinary kitchen objects, such as plastic cups or wooden spoons, to play with while you are fixing a meal.
• Name the foods you are eating and talk about foods your baby loves to eat.

With your toddler:

• Let your young child help make the meal - let him or her tear the lettuce for a salad, stir the spaghetti sauce or put napkins on the table.
• Ask your toddler to name the foods you are preparing or to fix a pretend meal for their toy animal or doll while you fix dinner for your family.

For your preschooler:

• Ask your child to tell you a story about their day or tell them a story about yours during mealtime.
• Create family traditions at meal times, such as a song that you always sing or a game like "I Spy" that you always play.