Sharing Web Resources (WK4)

When I review my resource list, I almost always find myself engaged on the Zero to Three website.  This website has become a constant source of information for me.

An area of the website with specific interest to me when focusing of relevance in my current professional development, was the Early Care and Education section.  In the Child Care section, under related information, there was a topic called, "Choosing Quality Child Care".  This article gave information that parents should look for when choosing a good caregiver.

Although, a lot of this information was insightful, I also found it to be controversial because there isn't a way to find out if this quality caregiver that you have selected is putting on an act for you as potential parents or if their behavior and philosophy is genuine and not just from a book.  For example, the article talks about making sure that the environment is clean and safe and allows your child the freedom to explore in a safe free atmosphere.  We all know that child care operators can stage the scene in order to deem presentable.  How would a parent know the difference from a staged environment verses the truth about the atmosphere?

The web article contains licensing issues that parents should ask or be concerned about.  These licensing rules vary in a way that economist, scientist, and politics have a hand in supporting the cause of developing and nurturing the early childhood field.

I have to attend another child care facility this week and pretend to be a parent looking to enroll my child or children.  This article has given me new insightful ways to look at childcare.  I have always looked at it from a caregiver, education perspective.  Looking at child care from a parents perspective is very difficult for me.  Having the upper hand on issues and trends can do damage for me in my mock interview.  I have to be careful not to give it away that I am a provider and not a potential parent.