Georgia launches early learning standards

Georgia is pretty serious about education.

I know this because my S.O. went to college completely funded by this great state, while I invested over $50,000 in my education in my home state and I will be paying off my student loans till I'm in the grave, folks.

At any rate, I've known how they feel about "a free college education for all" but I never knew how serious they were about educating their youngest...

When I saw in a press release that some early learning standards were released, I thought I'd go have a look-see.

These standards are excellent and I wish I had something like this when I was caring for infants and toddlers. They focus on the birth to three age range and can do a lot to educate caregivers and parents about what to expect and how to shape a child's learning.

My thoughts...

• Directors can use them to shape your programs and as a basis for staff inservices


• Parents can use them to see what their child should be learning and to help evaluate the child care program their child is attending


• 
  Family child care providers can keep on file for every child in their care as a sort of Individualized Education Program (IEP)
  


• Parents who plan to homeschool can use this as a guideline for the early building blocks for future education
  


• Teachers, caregivers and nannies can use the standards to evaluate the children in their care and to make sure that there are no gaps in their teaching/caregiving.
  

And of course, while all children grow and develop at their own rate, I think that parents and caregivers who use something like this are going to be more apt to notice developmental delays and problems when a child is consistently behind in areas... these types of referrals are so important -- better safe than sorry and the earlier the better!

So download the full version or just those parts you're interested in... it's free and it's one of the best I've seen.

Sample Family Child Care Provider Contract

This contract is a sample agreement between parents and a family child care provider. You can download the .pdf version and print it or you can download the Word version and make changes to reflect your own business and policies.

Having a contract is important. It's tempting, because of the sometimes informal nature of relations between parents and home providers, to do business on a handshake. Many providers have gotten "burned" this way. Usually because of payment issues, but other issues arise as well. It's hard to enforce a policy when it's not in writing and the parent didn't know about it beforehand.

For example, if your hours of operation are 8:00 to 6:00 and you have a parent consistently coming at 6:30, it's easier to keep this in check when you have a signed agreement that you can point to and say -- you signed this, you agreed to it, there is a charge for late pick-ups and I'm going to have to charge it if you're late in the future.

You need time to unwind when the day is over. You need time to clean up and have time for yourself and your own family. Make sure that your policies reflect this. It's one thing to be bending and flexible when necessary, but it's another to let your business take over your life. Some parents will take advantage if they can, so offer them clarity from the start, and the relationship will be much better for it.

Note, too, that in many states, a contract like this is required before providers can become licensed. And even if it isn't, a contract like this can fulfill licensing requirements like having hours of operation in writing, having a written discipline policy, notifying parents of immunization requirements, etc.

.pdf version of sample family child care provider contract

Microsoft Word version of sample family child care provider contract