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May is Child Care Month
Each year the province of British Columbia proclaims May as ‘Child Care Month.’ Child Care is an integral part of family and community and it is during the month of May that the province recognizes the important role that quality child care makes to the community.
We all want what’s best for our children. Choosing quality child care takes time and it is in everyone’s best interest to take the time to find the type of care that will best fit the needs of your child and support and encourage healthy development. Research shows that the more stimulating and nurturing the early environment, the more positive connections are formed in the brain and the better the child thrives in all aspects of their life. Young children need to spend their time in caring, responsive, language-rich environments. They need opportunities to play, to explore and to learn how to socialize. Quality child care promotes positive social, emotional, cognitive and physical development.
Research has also confirmed that one of the key elements of quality child care is the child care provider, so choosing a provider who has your child’s best interest at heart, is vital. When choosing a child care provider they should be warm, caring and attentive to children’s needs, culturally sensitive and accepting of differences, use positive guidance (that teaches rather than punishes), spend time interacting and responding to children, celebrate successes, and build and nurture confidence and self-esteem.
Environment is another key element to quality child care. The care should be in a facility that is safe, clean, comfortable and organized. There is a need to have enough toys, activities, materials and equipment available for the children to interact with and are developmentally appropriate for the children using the items. There needs to be a balance within the environment that allows for children to rest have the ability to have quiet and active play and regular outdoor play is a MUST. When children are given opportunity to play they learn: how things work, the nature of materials, concepts, rhythm, words and ideas, how to cooperate and socialize, how to solve problems, how to use their imaginations, to be creative, how to use their bodies and that they are capable individuals.
Children in high-quality early childhood programs have been found to form closer and more secure attachments with care providers, show more positive interactions with peers, have larger vocabularies and have better pre-reading and pre-math skills.
There are a number of child care options available to families and these include licensed or license not required family child care and licensed group child care. Each type of care has different expectations as far as child to staff ratios, maximum number of children in a child care setting at any given time, amount of space required per child along with a number of other expectations dependent on the type of care.
BC law says that child care providers may care for no more than two children or one sibling group at any one time that are not related to the care provider. The children being cared for are in addition to the child care provider’s own children, children related by blood or marriage, and any other children who ordinarily reside with the child care provider or the provider exercises the parental role over (step children, foster children, etc.)
For further information on child care requirements, if you are looking for child care or would consider providing child care please call the East Kootenay Child Care Resource and Referral Program, 250-426-5677/1-800-661-2445.
Information taken from Child Care Matters – A parent’s guide to choosing quality child care.
By Kim Levie, Program Coordinator, East Kootenay Child Care Resource and Referral
