Finding safe and engaging childcare for your little one can be a difficult task, especially when you are new to an area and don’t have other parents to ask for recommendations. The State of North Carolina has taken some of the burden off of parents with the implementation of a five-star rating program.
Now, finding quality childcare is much easier because part of the research is already done. With the five-star rating system and programs such as Smart Start and Head Start, along with a multitude of quality daycare and preschool options, there is a place for every child and less for parents to worry about.
N.C.’s Five-Star Rating System
The state’s five-star rating system was implemented in 1999 by the Division of Child Development. The stars are issued to daycare centers and home-based childcare centers based on the requirements set out by the Division of Child Development. According to the division’s website, the requirements evaluated are:
• Supervision of children
• Condition of equipment and materials
• Discipline practices
• Child/staff ratios
• Sanitation practices
• Staff education and training development
Centers must also meet sanitation, building and fire codes as well as the division’s requirements. Centers can voluntarily apply for more stars on the basis of staff education and program standards. The centers are rated from 1 to 7 points and the points are then converted to stars.
Just some of the assessed standards are:
• Are the children engaged?
• Is the daily environment clean?
• Is the environment comfortable?
• Are the activities age-appropriate?
• Are the children well supervised?
• Are the children relating well with each other?
If the center is applying for five stars, then an environmental rating scale is used, centering on health practices and interaction between caregivers and children.
Educational standards are based on teacher education and training, administrator education and training, credentials and experience level of teachers and administrators. Centers rate higher points for higher levels of formal education and longer experience working with children. The North Carolina Division of Child Development is a great resource for any parent looking for a quality preschool or childcare. Determining a state score for a childcare center is very helpful, but if you want to know how a center compares to others across the country, then you need to determine if they are nationally accredited.
National Accreditation?
There are several agencies that award accreditation to childcare centers. The National Association for the Education of Young Children and the National Care Child Association both accredit childcare centers while the National Association for Family Child Care accredits family childcare homes.
National accreditation is voluntary and is not required by the state, but it is strived for in most centers. Accreditations aside, what kinds of programs will you find in Johnston County and Southern Wake County, and how will you know they are quality programs? The State of North Carolina has an answer for you with the implementation of its Smart Start Program.
North Carolina’s Smart Start Program
Research has shown that children thrive in a safe, caring, stimulating environment where their physical, social and emotional needs are met. The goal of the Smart Start Program is to ensure that all children from birth to 5 years old are provided with quality childcare and education and are prepared to enter Kindergarten.
Smart Start works to bring together parents, teachers, and healthcare providers in order to ensure that these needs are met. Smart Start does not run any childcare centers, but it works diligently to ensure that all children from birth to age 5 receive quality childcare through assistance in teacher training, grants, technical assistance and many other aspects.
“North Carolina’s star rating system for childcare programs helps parents identify high quality early care and education,” said Tracy Zimmerman, communications and development director for Wake County Smart Start. “Local Smart Start partnerships help childcare programs improve and maintain their program quality.”
The Smart Start Program partners with such programs as Head Start and Title 1 to ensure that all children in this age-range are served in the best environment possible.
Head Start
According to the National Head Start Association, the program is “the most successful, longest-running, national school readiness program in the United States. It provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families.”
Head Start is a nationally funded program that works with at-risk preschoolers ages 3 to 4 to prepare them for kindergarten and strengthen their social, emotional and cognitive development. Head Start not only works with preschoolers, it also provides educational programs to work with parents and strengthen family involvement.
Title 1
According to the Public Schools of North Carolina Office of Early Learning, “a Title I Preschool is a program of high-quality educational experiences designed to enable young children to meet challenging state standards. Although Title I allows its preschool programs to serve children from birth up to age 5, most North Carolina Title I Preschools serve 4-year-olds only. These programs usually follow the school calendar and school day, and are staffed with both a licensed teacher and highly qualified teacher assistant.”
Entrance to a Title 1 preschool is based on multiple criteria such as need, parent interviews and teacher observations. There are several quality preschools and daycares in the area to serve your needs, some offer such programs as Head Start and Title 1 and others have their own curriculum to offer. Centers such as Building Blocks and Primrose School are good examples of such high caliber childcare facilities.
Building Blocks Preschool
Building Blocks Preschool has four centers located in Clayton. The company was founded in 1993 by Louis Stephenson and serves kids from birth to age 12. Building Blocks Preschool seeks to:
• Ensure a happy and carefree transition from the home environment
• Stimulate the development of the child’s social, emotional, cognitive, physical and creative skills
• Build a sense of confidence and self worth in their students
• Encourage leadership, independence, self respect and self-worth in students
• Instill the child with respect for the feelings, beliefs, rights and actions of others
• Stress the value of friendship, teamwork, community and culture
Building Blocks provides hands on activities in accordance with the belief that kids learn by doing, not by watching. According to its Web site, “Building Blocks provides a developmentally appropriate program where children are able to grow as individuals in a loving environment as they master the skills of youth. Building Blocks offers an enriched program meeting the highest standards of early childhood education. Our program is designed to work with parents through involvement in the program and an open door policy at all times.”
Primrose School
The Primrose School at Holly Grove is located in Holly Springs. The center uses The Primrose Balanced Learning Curriculum, which emphasizes literacy instruction, hands-on activities and building foundations.
The curriculum is based on a child-initiated approach incorporating teacher direction, where the teacher leads students along a consistent learning path. It works with a child’s innate curiosity in how the world works to create a curriculum that supports the emotional, social, cognitive and physical needs of its students. Student interest serves as a springboard for teacher-led activities that guide students down a specific path of instruction.
“Primrose Schools is pleased to be one of few nationally accredited private preschools in the area," said Rhonda Blades, owner of Primrose Schools at Holly Springs and Westlake. "Our curriculum is accredited by Advanced ED, the parent organization of SACS CASI. This organization is recognized as the gold standard in education.
"Primrose Schools’ recently won the prestigious Excellence in Education Award from this organization for our innovation in the early childhood education field," Blades continued. "Our Balanced Learning curriculum is carefully and consistently delivered in our daily schedule to ensure a balance of learning and play through a blend of teacher-directed and child-initiated activities. It offers exposure to technology, foreign language, science, music, and more coupled with math and reading readiness curriculum.
"As evidence, the Primrose School at West Lake, established five years ago, has been recognized by parents in the Southern Wake community as 'Best Preschool' in the Triangle for the past three years and it continues to receive awards for its outstanding programs. Our education department, led by Dr. Mary Zurn, provides a consistent and developmentally appropriate curriculum, so teachers can focus on implementation rather than the inconsistent approach of most preschools that relies solely on that teacher’s individual ability to create a curriculum from scratch. Students graduating for Primrose consistently score above average on standardized school readiness assessments.
"Our newest location, Primrose School at Holly Grove, extends our educational programs to the Kindergarten level. Located in Holly Springs, the newest Primrose School accepts kindergarten students who are five years old by Dec. 31. The Primrose School at Holly Grove serves children from infants through Pre-Kindergarten as well. After school, track-out, and summer camp programs are offered to children 5 to 10 years old. This location completes the educational corridor in Holly Springs created by Holly Grove Elementary and Middle School as well as Holly Springs High School."
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