Choosing Quality Early Education and Child Care
Research tells us that children’s early brain growth presents a tremendous opportunity to lay a strong learning foundation before they start kindergarten. And children who go to high-quality program do better in TK-12. To find a high-quality program in your community, focus your search in three areas – people, program, and place. Here are a few of the things you should look for:
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- * What kind of training and education do the teachers have?
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- * Are the teachers and children engaged in conversations?
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- * Can teachers tell you not only what they are doing, but why?
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- * Does the program use a curriculum to guide learning?
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- * How many children are in the group/classroom?
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- * Does the program welcome and involve families?
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- * Does the space have separate learning centers (reading, art, dramatic play, writing, etc.) and a well-equipped playground?
Community Care Licensing (CCL) has developed fact sheets to support families in choosing child care - click on a language below to learn more:
English
Spanish
Chinese
Farsi
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The resources below can help you in choosing the child care that's right for your family
The Child Care Resource & Referral Program is funded by the California Department of Education to provide FREE child care referrals to all interested persons in Ventura County. Click here to visit the Resource & Referral Program web site.
To learn more about California's Quality Counts initiative, click here.
To learn more about Quality Counts Ventura County, including information on participating programs, click here.
To understand your rights as a child care consumer, visit the Child Care Law Center.
For information on child care licensing, visit Community Care Licensing.
To check a provider's background, visit Trustline.
To read more on Universal PreKindergarten and family choice, read this document from California Educators Together.