At Parkland Children’s Academy we understand the importance of a licensed daycare provider. We would like to share our knowledge with you so that you can ensure that your child is receiving the highest quality care and the healthy emotional, intellectual, social, and physical development that they need and that will determine a lifetime of success.
The childcare licensing program is provided by the Department of Children and Families and is responsible for the licensing of Florida’s daycare providers. So what exactly is covered in the licensing? For a Florida daycare provider to be licensed the inspector will look at the following topics: group sizes and child to carer ratios, fire safety and drill procedures, health and safety (such as immunizations, administering of medication, diapering, handwashing, playground safety, emergency preparedness plans, preventing SIDS, and discipline policies), minimum education requirements, food and nutrition, the physical space and area size, lighting and air-conditioning/heating systems, sanitation and cleaning, required background checks and education requirements of care givers, record keeping and administration, and parent involvement, communication methods and access.
From this it is easy to see possible benefits that could include having well trained teachers looking after and educating your child, healthy and safe environment for your children to work, eat, play and sleep in, and the reliability that comes with an institute that follows and enforces such high standards.
A NICHD study found that the more standards a daycare center met the more positive the caregiving. The more positive the caregiving, the higher the quality of care, and the better the children’s outcomes in terms of cognitive development. The NICHD also compared the outcomes of children who attended centers that had high quality of care with those who attended lower quality of care daycare centers. They found that children in higher quality of care centers had better cognitive, language, and social development and better school readiness (e.g. reading, writing, and number skills).
The bottom line is that a licensed daycare provider will likely be of better quality and therefore have more educational and health benefits for your child. But most importantly, it will give you the peace of mind knowing that your child is receiving quality care and education in a safe and standardized environment. So make sure that you enroll your child with a licensed daycare provider such as Parkland Children’s Academy.