What does NAEYC Accreditation Mean to me?

1. What does NAEYC Accreditation Mean to me? Presented to The Parent Advisory Committee by Michelle Belanger

2. What is NAEYC? • NAEYC stands for the National Association of the Education of Young Children. • It is the nation’s leading voice for high-quality early childhood education for children birth through age eight. • Goals include: improving professional practice and working conditions in early childhood education, supporting early childhood programs by working to achieve a high quality system of early childhood education and building a high-performing, inclusive organization of groups and individuals who are committed to promoting excellence in ECE for all young children.

3. Who is NAEYC? • Over 6,500 child care programs, preschools, early learning centers, and other center or school-based early childhood education programs are currently NAEYC accredited. • Currently 48 programs in the State of Maine hold NAEYC Accreditation.

4. How do programs become accredited by NAEYC? • Step 1: Enrollment/Self Study • Align your program with the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards • Step 2: Application/Self-Assessment • Compile evidence on how your program meets the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards • Step 3: Candidacy • Demonstrate key components of high quality programming and preparedness for site visit • Step 4: Maintaining the Standards • Demonstrate continued compliance with the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards.

5. The 10 Standards • Standard 1: Relationships • The program promotes positive relationships among all children and adults. It encourages each child’s sense of individual worth and belonging as part of a community and fosters each child’s ability to contribute as a responsible community member. • Warm, sensitive, and responsive relationships help children feel secure. The safe and secure environments built by positive relationships help children thrive physically, benefit from learning experiences, and cooperate and get along with others.

6. The 10 Standards • Standard 2: Curriculum • The program implements a curriculum that is consistent with its goals for children and promotes learning and development in each of the following areas: social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive. • A well-planned written curriculum provides a guide for teachers and administrators. It helps them work together and balance different activities and approaches to maximize children’s learning and development. The curriculum includes goals for the content that children are learning, planned activities linked to these goals, daily schedules and routines, and materials to be used

7. The 10 Standards • Standard 3: Teaching • The program uses developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate and effective teaching approaches that enhance each child’s learning and development in the context of the curriculum goals. • Children have different learning styles, needs, capacities, interests, and backgrounds. By recognizing these differences and using instructional approaches that are appropriate for each child, teachers and staff help all children learn.

8. The 10 Standards • Standard 4: Assessment of Child Progress • The program is informed by ongoing systematic, formal, and informal assessment approaches to provide information on children’s learning and development. These assessments occur within the context of reciprocal communications with families and with sensitivity to the cultural contexts in which children develop. • Assessment results benefit children by informing sound decisions, teaching, and program improvement. • Assessments help teachers plan appropriately challenging curriculum and tailor instruction that responds to each child’s strengths and needs. Assessments can also help teachers identify children with disabilities and ensuring that they receive needed services

9. The 10 Standards • Standard 5: Health • The program promotes the nutrition and health of children and protects children and staff from illness and injury. Children must be healthy and safe in order to learn and grow. Programs must be healthy and safe to support children’s healthy development

10. The 10 Standards • Standard 6: Teachers • The program employs and supports a teaching staff with the educational qualifications, knowledge, and professional commitment necessary to promote children’s learning and development and to support families’ diverse needs and interests. • Teachers who have specific preparation, knowledge, and skills in child development and early childhood education are more likely to provide positive interactions, richer language experiences, and quality learning environments

11. The 10 Standards • Standard 7: Families • The program establishes and maintains collaborative relationships with each child’s family to foster children’s development in all settings. These relationships are sensitive to family composition, language, and culture. To support children’s optimal learning and development, programs need to establish relationships with families based on mutual trust and respect, involve families in their children’s educational growth, and encourage families to fully participate in the program.

12. The 10 Standards • Standard 8: Community Relationships • The program establishes relationships with and uses the resources of the children’s communities to support the achievement of program goals. Relationships with agencies and institutions in the community can help a program achieve its goals and connect families with resources that support children’s healthy development and learning.

13. The 10 Standards • Standard 9: Physical Environment • The program has a safe and healthful environment that provides appropriate and well maintained indoor and outdoor physical environments. The environment includes facilities, equipment, and materials to facilitate child and staff learning and development. • An organized, properly equipped, and well maintained program environment facilitates the learning, comfort, health, and safety of the children and adults who use the program

14. The 10 Standards • Standard 10: Leadership and Management • The program effectively implements policies, procedures, and systems that support stable staff and strong personnel, and fiscal, and program management so all children, families, and staff have high-quality experiences. • Effective management and operations, knowledgeable leaders, and sensible policies and procedures are essential to building a quality program and maintaining the quality over time

15. Why NAEYC? • Early childhood education programs with the mark of quality benefit children with greater readiness for and success in school. • Helps to build a stronger team of teachers, administrators, and families working together to improve quality for children. • Improved standards for the overall program • Recognition through NAEYC, including program listing on the NAEYC website in the Program Search section • Announcement of program’s accreditation in the NAEYC Early Learning News weekly newsletter to programs, members, media, and others. • Attracts more families to enroll their children at program 

16. Benefits of NAEYC Programs • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhBBd9Tl4k4 • Special tax credits available for parents. • Knowledge that you are sending your child to the highest quality center.

17. What does NAEYC classrooms look like? Infants • Look for an infant child care, day care or home based program where the caregivers will ensure your baby's safety and foster his or her physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development • Good caregiving results in more and stronger connections in the infant’s brain that last a lifetime. By connecting with warm, caring adults at the start of life, babies also begin developing the ability to connect with others throughout life.

18. What does NAEYC classrooms look like? • Toddlers • Good toddler caregivers are warm and nurturing, knowledgeable about child development, and understanding of the fact that each child will learn and grow at her own pace • Toddlers need to feel safe and secure so they can develop a love of learning that will be an asset during school years and beyond. Relationships with caring adults give toddlers the confidence to experiment as they grow, step by step, into people who are ready to meet the challenges of life

19. What does NAEYC classrooms look like? Preschool • Quality preschool programs base the curriculum and teaching strategies on the way children develop and learn. Such programs are “developmentally appropriate.” Teachers consider each child's strengths, interests, needs, and cultural background • Preschoolers need materials and equipment that will spark their interest: they thrive when they are able to experiment, test things out for themselves, and draw their own conclusions. For instance, when a preschooler sets up boards at different heights and watches how far marbles roll down each one, he is learning about inclined planes and experiencing the scientific method.

20. What does NAEYC teacherslook like? • Teachers nurture children’s developing language and communication skills in English and in the children's home languages. They talk to the children, listen to their responses, and provide opportunities for children to share information, ideas, feelings, and so on with each other. • Teachers help children get the most out of every learning situation. They make comments, ask the children questions about what they are doing, suggest other things to do, and add new challenges as the children are ready for them. • Teachers set clear limits about acceptable social behavior. At the same time, they know that many preschoolers can get easily frustrated and are not always able to express their feelings verbally. • Teachersread to the children every day—individually, in small groups, and sometimes as a whole class. Teachers help the children talk about what they have heard and help them relate the stories to activities in the classroom or at home. • Teachers make families part of the community of learners. Parents are welcomed into the classroom, and teachers and parents communicate frequently about the child’s experiences, interests, skills, needs, and progress.

21. To wrap things up: • NAEYC accreditation is hard work and dedication and the benefits are well worth it for the center, teacher and parents. • Thank you for allowing Youth and Family Outreach to offer quality early care and education for your children.