Caring for Your Angels

Since family child care programs are usually conducted in a home, the environment naturally tends to be informal and comfortable.  When providers and children are comfortable in their environment, it encourages close relationships among the children, between the children and the provider, between the parents and the provedier, and between the parents themselves; much like an extended family.

The low adult to child ratio also allows the care giver to observe each of the children in his/her care and more easily identify individual needs and learning opportunities in order to customize the curriculum when needed.  This means that children are more likely to get individualized, one-on-one attention.

Family child care tends to be more flexible regarding daily schedules and this allows a broader range of activities to be offered.  Sometimes at the same time and certainly for longer periods of time since they do not have to share with other classrooms, since family child care is not usually confined to one classroom, the children in care tend to have a wider variety of activities and more space to explore. There is usually more freedom of movement.

Younger children are eager to learn from older children and older children are often eager to 'teach' a younger child which in turn validates their knowledge and skills. A positive self-esteem and a mastery of basic physical and cognitive developmental skills are essential ingredients for successful start in school.

When family day care combines a mixed age group curriculum with the natural learning environment of a quality home care, its program will meet the goals of pre-k programs.

Our family child care is unique in that we offer children a consistent care giver and do not 'move' a child out of the classroom when they reach a certain chronological age or master a certain skill.  Because of this, potential stress and anxiety is limited and the children in care have a chance to bond and attach to an adult, which research has indicated is very important in brain development.  A close relationship between provider and child allows the child to feel safe, secure, valued and appreciated thus positively impacting her overall growth and development.  I can find no research that states that the magic age of 3 or 4 years a child should be moved into a more structured environment with only peers of his own age.  I would say that for some children, putting them in such an environment would not only confuse them, it would cause behavior problems and additional developmental delays.  Not all children can acclimate to center environements and then there are those children that might acclimate , but might not THRIVE as they would have if they had remained in a home environement.