When families make the decision to begin looking for childcare, it can be very overwhelming to find a center that meets their needs. Families may be looking for a center to offer different benefits such as a strong curriculum, a clean and safe environment, or some place for their child to be active and social with other children. So how can families distinguish a high quality childcare center from others? Many families look for centers that are accredited. One of the most recognized accreditations for childcare centers is through The National Association for the Education of Young Children.
What is The National Association for the Education of Young Children?
The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the world’s largest organization of early childhood professionals. For more than 20 years, families have relied on NAEYC Accreditation to ensure the quality of education and care provided by programs for young children. NAEYC has defined ten standards for early childhood programs that help families make the right choice when they are looking for a childcare center. These standards, (and more than 400 related criteria), are based on research on the development and education of young children and were created with input from thousands of experts and educators from around the country.
What are the 10 NAEYC Standards?
In order to be NAEYC-Accredited, childcare programs must:
- Promote positive relationships for all children and adults to encourage each child’s sense of individual worth
- Implement a curriculum that fosters all area of child development: cognitive, emotional, language, physical, and social
- Use developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate and effective teaching approaches
- Provide ongoing assessments of each child’s learning and development and communicate the child’s progress to the family
- Promote the nutrition and health of children and protect children and staff from illness and injury
- Employ and support a teaching staff that has the educational qualifications, knowledge and professional commitment necessary to promote children’s learning and development and to support families’ diverse interests and needs
- Establish and maintain collaborative relationships with each child’s family
- Establish relationships with and use the resources of the community to support achievement of program goals
- Provide a safe and healthy learning environment
- Implement strong personnel, fiscal and program management policies so that all children, families and staff have high quality experiences
NAEYC Accreditation is the hallmark of a quality childcare center. Following accreditation, all programs are subject to random, unannounced visits by assessors to ensure that the programs continue to meet these standards.
NAEYC accredited childcare programs enrich the childcare experience for children and their families. An accredited center is one that is recognized as providing exceptional care and a variety of educational, developmental, and personal services that ease the burden of working parents. At Educational Playcare, we are inspired every day to provide a high-quality childcare program for families. That is one of the reasons why Inspiration is one of our Core Values and why our programs are NAEYC Accredited or in the process of earning their accreditation.
Early childhood education programs, including Educational Playcare, are proud to be accredited by the NAEYC because they know they have worked hard for that achievement. To see a list of accredited schools, please visit NAEYC Accredited Program Search.
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