National Child Day is November 20, and I am reminded that – indeed “it does take a village to raise a child.” Warm and supportive care of our children so that they can grow into healthy well-adjusted adults is what we want for our children. High quality child care is such an important service in this community for that very reason.

According to a recent national study, a huge majority of Canadians (94%) view child care as an essential support for parents who are working; and almost as many (90%) view child care as an opportunity for children to gain early educational experiences.

In Wellington County, parents are choosing child care programs for these reasons and more. They are choosing child care for increased socialization for their little ones; for gaining additional supports for their children with special needs; and for enhanced early learning experiences provided by trained Early Childhood Educators.

It may surprise some parents to know that there are a number of options for licensed child care programs in Wellington County. There are preschool and nursery school programs, licensed private home child care providers, before and after-school care programs, and of course, child care centres.

All of these programs are regulated under the Ontario Day Nurseries Act. That Act is what gives parents a certain level of assurance that while their child is in a licensed program, there is a qualified provider - most likely a graduate of an Early Childhood Education or Child Studies program - responding to their child’s emotional, intellectual and physical needs, in a safe environment.

What the Day Nurseries Act does not ensure is that the quality of the child care program is as high as it can be.

It would be difficult to find someone who wouldn’t agree that they want the best possible and highest quality child care program for their children. Meeting that need, however, is sometimes complicated by the affordability and accessibility of that care.

In fact, half of all Canadians also believe that access to high quality child care is unequal because of family finances. A study taking place right now in Wellington is looking at some of those things that make it difficult for some families to access high quality child care programs in this community.

There are a number of characteristics that make child care high quality – and, as you would expect, the more we look at dimensions of quality from a research perspective, that number of characteristics goes up and up.

In the early days of research in child care, “quality” was described as a “right stuff list” where things like ratio, caregiver qualifications, and group size were considered the most important indicators of high quality child care.

Now quality child care is being looked in a more “process” oriented way – where interactions between the caregiver and the child are particularly meaningful. The role of play in a program is really important to high quality, too.

Also, the diversity of the program is an important indicator of high quality (for example, are children who have special needs welcomed into the program, and are there strong supports in place to ensure successful inclusion?). The way that the child care program is operated, and the well-being of child care workers also have a huge impact on high quality child care.

Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Canadians are right on in believing that regardless of family background, poor quality child care actually hurts a child’s development. A UNICEF report comparing education in rich nations (Canada is one), determined that “only high quality services can fulfill the potential of early childhood education and care.” Quality does matter!

Parents are often told to go with their feelings and their instincts when they choose child care. True, feelings and instincts are so important in almost everything that parents do involving their children (Ever woken suddenly in the night to find your child has a fever?).

The true measure of quality, particularly when we are talking about child care, however, involves knowing some key characteristics to look for. Like the thermometer that gives you even more information about a fever – parents still need some tools to help them to identify high quality child care. Here are some simple questions to ask yourself (and the program supervisor) when you are thinking about and looking for high quality child care:

1. Is the program bright and welcoming with lots of child appropriate materials and artwork displayed in a (relatively) organized way?
2. Do the child care workers appear to enjoy their job? Ask about staff turnover rates.
3. How many different types of learning experiences are offered (remember play is an unequalled learning experience!)?
4. How welcome do you feel? Could you drop by the program anytime?
5. Does the child care program have a clear license under the Day Nurseries Act?