There are many ways in which child day care centers can elevate themselves, their level of care, their teachers, and their standing/ranking in the child care world. One of those ways is through obtaining NAEYC accreditation. NAEYC stands for "National Association for the Education of Young Children." The following explains why you should care if your chosen center is already NAEYC or is attempting to become an NAEYC center.
All of the Teachers Have to Have a Higher Education
In most states, you only have to have forty hours of education to work with young children. In those same states, you can be hired without the education, and work with children for six months before you really have to do anything about getting certified. That is very startling to parents who assume that their children's teachers have been trained to work with little kids. In a center with NAEYC accreditation, everyone is required to have a higher degree in childcare and development. No one can work in the accredited center without a degree.
The Center Has to Undergo a Rigorous Transformation
The NAEYC has quite the lengthy list of expectations for how a center should be laid out, and how it should operate. Any center that does not comply exactly with these rules cannot be accredited, nor can the center remain accredited if the teachers and center director do not continue to follow accreditation operational requirements. The organization holds the center to a much higher level of care, organization, and operational design.
Emphasis Is Placed on the Whole Child's Wellness and Well-Being
Every aspect of development, including emotional, social, and physical, is addressed. This means that your child will not be eating junk food at snack time, or imbalanced meals for breakfast, lunch, and supper. All meals and snacks must meet strict nutritional guidelines under the NAEYC. Children are also expected to spend at least an hour of playtime outside, which is carefully coordinated and scheduled with all of the other classrooms and teachers in the center. Activities to engage children in social situations and identifying emotions in themselves and others are done daily.
The Accreditation Process Is Extremely Difficult and Very Long to Complete
This process takes a long time to complete. It is not something a child care center can complete in a week, nor can it be achieved over the course of a single visit from an accreditation counselor. It takes months, sometimes a year or more, to achieve.
For more information, reach out to day care centers like the Carousel Of Learning Pre-School & Nursery.
Share17 March 2019
Welcome to my blog. My name is Eddie, and I love to talk about technology, but I also love old fashioned fun. That includes anything, from playing hopscotch, to telling stories, to knitting, to gardening. I have three grand kids, and I see them immersed in an exciting world where they can explore those old fashioned things but also immerse themselves in technology. It truly doesn't have to be one or the other. I am very interested in child care centers that have found interesting ways to blend both of these categories. I wanted to foray a bit more into the tech world myself so decided to create this blog. I hope you like its ideas and facts.