An increasing number of children are spending most of their day in early childhood programs so parents can work or go to school.

These early years are critical to your child’s development.

Did you know?

-There are only 2,000 days between the time a baby is born and the day that the child shows up for the first day of kindergarten?

-With quality early childhood education, children will be school ready, have higher graduation rates, and grow into productive citizens and valuable employees?

-In the first few years of life, 700 new neural connections are formed each second?

-By the time they enter school, children from advantaged backgrounds may know as many as 15,000 more words than their disadvantaged peers?

-High quality early childhood programs improve health and nutrition?

-85% of a child’s brain is developed by age 3?

-Playing with blocks and other building toys teaches children about geometry?

-Talking with your child is one of the most important things you can do?

-You can help your child learn while driving? Help your child to tell you the color of signs, shapes of signs and count how long you sit at a red light!

-Music helps a child learn to rhyme?

High-quality early care and education are geared to give your child a jumpstart to learning. Standards are in place to prepare your child for success in school and in life.

Quality early childhood programs not only help your child’s brain develop in a timely fashion, they also contribute to physical, emotional and social development. Along with school readiness, it is also important to look for key developmental milestones in your children.

Here’s a quick look at A FEW developmental milestones:

High-quality early childhood programs recognize the importance of providing an environment that teaches and nurtures children to learn these milestones and meet standards of learning.

​For more information about child development and developmental milestones, click here.

Things You Should Know

Choosing a child care setting for your infant, toddler or preschooler is a big decision. Quality is one of the most important factors to consider, as research shows that quality early learning settings help children develop skills that are crucial to their success now and once they enter school. But quality is not always easy to spot. This checklist will help you recognize the key elements of quality and make a more informed decision when considering a child care or preschool setting for your child.

Questions to Ask When You Visit

• Do you have a parent handbook? Quality programs should offer you a copy.
• What are the qualifications of the director and teachers? How long have they been working with children?
• Experience working with infants, toddlers and preschoolers as well as training or college coursework in early childhood development and education lead to quality adult/child interactions.
• How do you keep families informed about your program and their children’s progress? Quality centers will post lesson plans, send parents information such as a newsletter, host regular parent/teacher conferences and keep you informed about your child’s activities.
• What is your ratio of teachers to children? Maximum group size? These determine the level of care and attention your child may receive. Quality programs have smaller teacher/child ratios and limit group sizes.
• How does the program deal with children with challenging behavior? Quality programs have steps in place to prevent disruptions, communicate with the child, redirect the child and communicate with the family. Time out is not effective in dealing with disruptive children.

Things to Look for When You Visit

Positive, nurturing teacher/child interactions

• Does the teacher make eye contact with the children, smile and listen without interrupting?
• Is the teacher at eye level with the kids when they are interacting?
• Is the teacher interacting with children during activity times indoors or outdoors?
• Do you hear the kids talking more than the teacher? Child voices should dominate.
• Does the teacher ask the children questions where they can give more than a yes/no answer?
• Are the children supervised at all times? Children should never be left alone and should always be within sight and sound of teachers.

Caring for infants

• Are babies placed on their backs to sleep?
• Do babies spend part of their play time on their tummies?
• Do caregivers respond promptly to crying babies?
• Are babies held while being fed?

Positive child/child interactions

• Are kids playing either together or side by side?
• Are children encouraged to work together to resolve differences or conflicts?
• Do kids move freely from activity to activity?

Classroom environment

• Is there ample space and materials to encourage play and learning within the children’s reach, including:
• Books, books and more books
• Blocks and puzzles
• Pretend play area with puppets, costumes, etc.
• Art/writing materials and musical instruments
• Textured materials, such as sand and water
• Science materials, like plants, funnels, magnifying glasses, etc.

Outdoor environment

• Is there an outdoor play area, with shade, that is used daily?
• Are items from the classroom brought outdoors to be played with?
• Are the adults actively engaged with the kids at play?

Questions to Ask Your Child after Your Visit

Trust your instincts and also your child’s reactions to the teachers and environment.

• Do you think you would like to go play there?
• What did you like best about the classroom?
• What did you like best about the teacher?

School readiness is more than knowing letters and numbers. There are only 2,000 days between the time a baby is born and when that child shows up for the first day of kindergarten. Experiences during these 2,000 days have a lasting impact on later learning, health and success.

School Readiness requires access to opportunities

• All families of young children need access to resources that will allow them to give their children the relationships and experiences that promote school readiness.
• High-quality early education programs provide the foundation for school readiness and must be available to all young children and families.
• Early intervention efforts support children who may be at risk for later school failure. These efforts are most effective when they offer many services rather than simply addressing isolated skills.

School Readiness must be broadly defined

• Young children develop in different ways and at different rates. Readiness does not happen at the same time or in the same way for all children.
• All areas of children’s development and learning must be included in talking about readiness. Readiness is more than basic knowledge of learning to read and do math, important as these are. Readiness includes all areas: physical, cognitive, social, and emotional competence as well as positive attitudes toward learning.
• Readiness is much more than a child’s readiness. Readiness includes ready children, ready families, ready communities, ready early care and education, and ready schools. All are necessary so that all children will experience success.

A Kindergarten Child:

• Has self-confidence
• Is friendly
• Develops relationships with peers and adults
• Concentrates and persists on challenging tasks
• Effectively communicates
• Listens to instructions and solves problems
• Solves social problems himself/herself
• Pays attention

Help your baby get ready for school

As the parent of a young child you want to prepare your child for school. Preparing your child for school really starts very early. You are your child’s first and most important teacher! Here are a few simple and fun activities you can do at home to prepare your child for school.