Child Care Guide

Child care centers and services provide care and supervision to minors usually under the age of five. Caring for kids is provided and met in different ways and these include care at their home or babysitting, in an organized child care center, and in a provider's home. Other centers & services involving older kids are provided by after school and summer school programs, among others.

There are two main types of services:

center-based and family-based which are provided by persons paid to do these jobs such as pre-school teachers, nannies or babysitters caregivers
These centers and services provide care to kids during the day when their parents or legal guardians are working. There are different types of center and services, and these include:

center-based or group such as day care centers or pre-schools family in-home or nanny relative The most common and convenient service is babysitting which is an occasional temporary care during the absence of the child's parents. If the kid is at least three years old, many parents enroll them in pre-schools or in day care centers. However there are also several day care centers that admit infants and toddlers ages one and two especially in centers and services provided by the parent's company or within the building of a parent's working place.

Child care in the United States can be traced back in the 19th century when welfare and reform movements started. Day care started as nurseries that took care of the immigrant and working-class children. These early nurseries provided childcare for kids of working wives and widows of merchant seamen who were considered to be the economically deprived and disadvantaged members of the society. The organizations were established to help working parents take care of their kids as well as prevent young children from roaming the streets.

The nurseries of the 19th century evolved into the modern day care centers which now caters to thousands of children whose parents are both busy to take care of them during daytime. There are different types of places provided by the government and private establishments. When choosing one for your children, you must choose quality care that can help him or her to develop a strong mind, body and spirit. Aside from this, you need to consider the following factors:

provides training group size and child to staff ratio health and nutrition - food and drinks provided by the center safety - includes study and play areas parent and child care center communication a well developed program - includes learning and development activities partnerships with other child care organizations and agencies Whatever kind of care you may want to provide for your child, just make sure that the place you will be using has a license to operate and is within reach from your office and home.

By: Ashley Conner

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Child care is seen by many as one of the most respected and equally demanding professions. It is now a multi-million industry that spans a network of day care centers, kinder garden, franchise and large corporations. All of the institutions are working together to provide children with their parental and educational needs. With such a delicate duty, it is vital for the industry professionals to improve on the existing safety standards in the child care industry.

Statistics

Statistics reveal that the fastest growing sector in the child care industry is the many small businesses. These entities mostly operate from homes. According to US Census Bureau, nearly 70 percent of the child care related businesses are home based. A whopping 17 percent of the Moms are using the services of the neighborhood child care centers for their pre-school children. Kinder-Care, La Petite Academy, National Childcare Academy and Gerber products are some of the few big names of the industry.

Laws & Regulations

Recent rulings have deployed stringent rules in order to curb the risk of injuries to babies. Governments and parents have come together to create child safety laws, not only for the establishments but for parents too. These laws strss that the daycare should provide a home like setting. Licensed providers are required to take trainings before dealing with child care. The facilities should be regularly visited by the authorities and a group of parents from the local neighborhoods. The US laws restrict a single provider to take care of more than 6 children. On the other hand, parents are obliged to put their child in the day care center in their own community, except for mothers working full-time.

Child Injuries

Childcare safety statistics reveal the fact that there were 56 casualties in the daycare settings from 1990 to 1997. Almost half of these deaths were caused due to Asphyxia. In 1997 alone, over 31,000 children were hospitalized due to the injuries related to a child care setting. A recent study by the Society of pediatrics and Center for the control of disease focused on facilities that included federal institutions, private institutes and small businesses. The study found that the playgrounds posed the biggest hazard to a child.

. The most hazardous conditions included the use of unsafe cribs, poor maintenance and hard surface of the playground, very soft bedding and absence of the safety gates.

Safety Measures

Professionals recommend avoiding the use of furniture that can entrap the child's head or other part of the body. Any elevated surface that is not guarded should also be sealed off. Such surface also includes stairs. Similarly, fall-zones such as swimming pools and main holes provide a significant threat to the well being of a child. The design of the intended child care product should match the age and size of the children. Day care centers should ensure that they have the proper inventory for all the ages of the child, they admit.

Tripping hazards such as wires should immediately be removed from the premises. These also include any electrical appliance. Children have the natural tendency to poke their fingers in the wall sockets. It is mandatory for a child care center to seal off such openings. All components are to be avoided that can crush or bruise body tissues. Playground equipment should be inspected and any large swings or slides, to be removed. Stuff toys which can suffocate a small child are also a problem. In short, the best remedy for avoiding a disaster is acute attention and a common sense.

By: Gary Pearson

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Choosing the appropriate child care centre is something very important. Their childhood must seem very active and happy else they will get into troubles like increased insecurity, excessive demand for attention, separation anxiety and behavioral problems. This will affect them a lot when they enter a grade school. There are many different organizations that come up with day care centers. Hence you have got to choose one from these innumerate options put forth. But with a proper analysis and research it can be done easily. Sometimes doing the trial and error will also help in deciding the best for your child. The one best suiting your child's nature must be chosen.

The most popular ones are the institutional child care in the US. These are open for children in the age group of six and above. They even take care of them in their school years. The expense in these day care centers is moderate when compared to the extremities in private and in home concerns. The cost is in accordance with the age and the period of stay. The fee must be paid every week irrespective of the count of days the child is present. Thus they provide the child with all facilities and teach them all basic lessons and math.

The classrooms are segregated on the basis of age. The classrooms with different age groups of students have one or more staffs as in charge to that particular class. The important factor is the child to staff ratio this goes in accordance with the licensing agreement of state. So it varies for different institutions not exceeding the guidelines. The care time starts before the children arrive and even few hours after they leave. They are fed lunch and breakfast. Play time and time for naps are also provided in the afternoon. Group activities for every age group of children are set for the whole day and there are specific times allotted for field trips, holiday activity and independent play. They are taught potty training and self feeding. For the preschool kids, basic skills like identify colors, letters and shapes, count and write their names.

Sending children to these institutions is beneficial in many aspects. They can easily adjust to the classroom atmosphere after these preschool care centers. They even get the mental strength to bare few situations in the absence of their parents. They get to all sorts of emergencies. The staffs working in such centers are trained to react appropriately to medical emergencies along with psychology and child development. Apart from these there are certain disadvantages also. They lack individual attention due to the large range of class strength and especially for children who badly need such intense care and affection. So such behavioral problems occur and it affects the children.

A good child care centre will let the parents come in and see their job to give them the trust and hope with their organization. Some concerns will also let parents to spend time with their children for the first two or three days. Thus the parents will find their child's comfort in the new atmosphere and can happily leave it to them in their absence. Thus most importantly a good child care centre must be chosen.

By: Abhishek Agarwal

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