Afterschool Best Practices

Child Advocacy Center development has been closely related to the approaches we have been introduced to in this course. Creating protocols for community impact, sustainability and growth have all occurred as this Child Advocacy has developed in my community. In my work it is very important to keep the families and victims we serve at the forefront of our decision making. Each policy, program and renovation is made with how it will impact the families we serve over how it will benefit us. Our program has followed the Principles of Good Practice at times and failed to follow them also. Each program/project has a little of this I believe. In this paper, I will go through each principle and identify how the CAC program has met the standard or identify

Respecting children and help them to develop in a positive, caring, nurturing and responsive childcare environment.

As the new director of a childcare center serving families from a high-risk community, I would look to the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Code of Ethical Conduct Supplement for Early Childhood Program Administrators for guidance in how to conduct myself in a responsible and professional way (Baptiste & Reyes, 2009). This supplement was adopted July 2006 for the purpose of giving administrators whose programs care for young children guidelines to help them make responsible decisions as an administrator. This code has five sections (Ethical Responsibilities to Children, Ethical Responsibilities to Families, Ethical Responsibilities to Personnel, Ethical Responsibilities to Sponsoring Agencies and Governing Bodies, and Ethical Responsibilities to Community, Society, and the Field of Early Childhood Education) and is broken up into two subsections (Ideals and Principles) (Baptiste & Reyes, 2009). The ideals subsections are what child care professionals should strive to achieve, whereas the principles subsections are what guide professionals in their conduct and in making ethical decisions (Baptiste & Reyes, 2009). Utilizing this code of ethical conduct, I will attempt to fix the rift in trust between the parents of the children at my child care center and my staff (including myself as the director).

Like other day care facilities, The Kids Learning Centre strives to provide the best in child care. As part of their program to

All members of the staff must act as professionals while at work, especially with young children. The administrative and teaching staff must work together to ensure their practices are developmentally appropriate, and share new and/or creative ideas with one another. It is also the responsibility of a teacher to establish an open, trusting relationship with the parents of each children in their care. Thus, parents can freely communicate their thoughts, concerns, and/or suggestions about their child or the program. Parent satisfaction is something that every child care or development center should strive for.

What are the goals of Early Head Start? The goals or priorities of this is to provide safe and developmentally enriching caregiving. To support parent, mother and father, in the role as primary caregivers. The teaching of the children, and family in meeting personal goals. Being able to successfully achieve self sufficiency across a wide variety of domains. Communities being mobilized to provide proper resources and environment that is necessary. But also, to ensure the provision of high quality responsive services for the family. The idea of this topic, is to show the types of things that should be looked for when choosing a child care center. When choosing a child care center for whom it may involve it should be important to look for things like the quality of care, and the type of care and learning techniques that will be involved, while the child is there.

During my observation at the preschool here at Harper, I looked around and realized a lot of similarities and differences it has; compared to other daycare and preschool centers. The age of children in the room I observed was ages 3-5 with one lead teacher, and depending on the ratio of how many kids showed up on that day, about three or four helping teachers. The program was set up to a very open, happy and overwhelming setting. Every furniture and object in the room had a sign saying what it was, and then underneath the typed out word was the children’s way of writing what the object was. For example, a book shelf was in the corner of the room; on the book shelf was the word printed out “Book

For the children’s learning to be successful, parent involvement is critical. An orientation will occur prior to the children attending. Parents will be updated with the day care policies, the lay out of the day care, the expectations and the introduction of their child care provider. This is done to allow both the parent and child care provider to get to know each other and allows them both the opportunity to discuss the care the child will need. It is very important for communication between the parent and the day care staff to be consistent. Parent involvement can provide feedback to the parent in regards to what the children are learning daily. This helps with their child’s assessment of the program to

In order to respond this question, we must first review the history of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) and Early Childhood Education (ECE). Although ECE has been around since the creation of kindergarten in the 1800’s, the decade of the 1980’s was an important period for ECE. “By the 1980’s, meta-analysis of the well-designed US projects offered compelling evidence on the positive outcomes of [early childhood education and intervention]” (Woodhead, 2007). Therefore, there was much pressure to improve the state of education, including ECE. “The decade of the 1980’s saw numerous calls for widespread school reform, with changes recommended in teacher education, graduation requirements, school structure, and accountability measures” (S. Bredekamp, R.A. Knuth, L.G. Kunesh, and D.D. Shulman, 1992). At this time, there was an increasing concern about the quality of early childhood education for the influx number of families that needed it. This led the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to “begin planning a national voluntary accreditation system for early childhood programs”(NAEYC, 2014). With this planning came a need for a more specific description with regards to accreditation guidelines. Therefore, NAEYC issued a formal statement defining DAP.

Maher Ridley, McWilliam, and Oates (2000) conducted a mixed method research study that investigated the quality of childcare programs based on engagement. The engagement was defined as the amount of time children spent interacting with the environment that included adults, peers, or materials in a developmentally and contextually appropriate manner. There were 46 toddler classrooms and 12 preschool classrooms; 30 of those classrooms

The approach to the research on the topic of on-site childcare benefit bases its results on scientific findings. Using scholarly articles what were peer reviewed, and analyzing the findings of experts within the field, while comparing the situation at our two locations. In addition, we solicited the input of the workers with the formation of focus group comprising of members of both staffs from the Rockville and the main campus. This group represented all levels and categories of staff. The aim of the focus group is to communicate with their category of workers and articulate their concerns as it relates to the establishment of an on-site childcare service.

In the article, “Making a Difference: Leadership in Early Care and Education Policy,” “early care and education is a hot policy issue.” Therefore, the findings of researchers Gormley, Gayer, & Dawson (2004), study of improvement of cognitive and language skills of minority and disadvantaged four-year-olds in a state funded prekindergarten program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, clarifies the demand of high quality early childhood programs. As policy and research expands on the development of “high quality” early childhood programs, we must

While there are “people” around the world working in childcare centers that serve as poor role models whom are only there for the paycheck, there are amazing human service workers that serve as teachers that have a significant impact as a role model to provide appropriate skills needed for social and cognitive development to last a lifetime. In an article from the Early Childhood Education Journal (2013) the author states that “Quality teacher-child interactions in early childhood classrooms have repeatedly been paired with positive, emotional, behavioral and cognitive outcomes for children” (Thomason & La Paro, 2013). Indeed, a caregiver whom has a sincere, warm, and understanding heart will be more effective in teaching and will have more of an impact on how and what

Working as an after-school childcare supervisor I have encountered a variety of individuals and families with different experiences. One

High quality education is an opportunity that every child should be able to access. Numerous children have untapped potential that goes unexercised due to educational environments that are not conducive the utmost development of childhood education. In order to create a prosperous environment for childhood education we must first understand what makes high performing schools, learn how to create high performing schools and ultimately promote the motivation and fulfillment of childhood learning and advancement. Research shows that nine factors make up high performing schools (Center, 1999): a clear and shared focus, high standards and expectations for all students, effective school leadership, high levels of collaboration and communication, curriculum, instruction and assessments aligned with state standards, frequent monitoring of teaching and learning, focused professional development, a supportive learning environment, high levels of parents and community involvement (Mayer, Mullens, & Moore, 2000).