EDUC 8853 Module 2 Project Topic

Jennifer Brewer

Topic: Affordable, Quality Child Care  

More infants and toddlers than ever are spending some portion of their day with adults other than their parents. As parents welcome their baby home and plan to return to work, what are the qualities they should be looking for in a child care setting? What is considered a “high-quality” child care setting for infants and toddlers? How do you prepare your baby or toddler for the transition to child care?

Blog:

I work with three people who are struggling to find affordable, quality child care. One young mom, Katie, has chosen a nanny, another mom, Laura, chose a friend who have a child about the same age as her son and the third mom, Lona, stayed home for the first two years and now needs to find child care for a two year old, in a new city. They are looking for licensed family child care or part time Christian child care.

Katie grew up in the area and has an extended family for support. Katie and her husband Rob chose the nanny for their young infant because they tought it would keep they daughter safer and away from other children who might spread germs. They don’t want their daughter sick all of the time.

Laura and Josh moved to the area from Las Vegas. They chose child care based on someone Josh knew from his place of employment. The in home day care provider is a mom of three and her youngest son is two months younger than Laura’s son.

Lona and Chris moved to the area from Tennessee. Lona is from Malaysia and Chris is from Ohio. No extended family and friends are close. They came to my office because I am the early childhood coordinator, to ask if I could help them find quality child care for their two year old daughter.

The conversation started me thinking about all of the rest of the families that struggle with finding child care. There are child care resources county and state wide, but unless you know where to look, parents miss them.