Ensuring that a daycare offers licensed child care is essential when considering where to send your child. A licensed facility adheres to basic regulations for safety, sanitization, nutrition, and staff accreditation: each one plays an important role in forming an environment where your child can learn in an enriched, safe environment. But how important is a child care license?
Licensed Child Care: Why Is It So Important?
A child care license is an assurance that your child’s preschool is adequately equipped to look after your child. Most states will require a child care license for a daycare to operate, but licensing requirements tend to change by state. Nevertheless, a child care license means that, at the very least, a daycare considers the following three factors:
Safety Assurance
There are many aspects that work together to make preschools safe. In order for a daycare to be licensed, they must follow several safety regulations. Everything from the building’s safety to the sanitation methods play a role in creating a safe environment. These regulations are even more essential during the time of a pandemic, when hand washing and proper sanitization while diapering is of the utmost importance.
Safety regulations also work to provide a good learning environment for your child. The child to staff ratio helps keep group sizes down, making sure every child is given the attention they need. It also means staff are trained, experienced, and ready to provide any health and safety assistance a child may need.
Providing The Best Environment
Once the basic safety needs are cared for, child care licensing regulations help to foster an environment that children can benefit from. Licensing regulations often address the key issue of staff training and preparedness, encouraging ongoing education, program management, and extra health and safety training. Background checks for staff members mean that you can have peace of mind when you drop your child off for the day, knowing that caregivers are equipped to offer an exemplary level of care.
Nutritional Assistance
Proper nutrition is essential for good development, especially in the early years. Children need meals that can sustain them, teach good eating habits, and provide all the energy they need to take a hands-on approach to learning. With a child care license, schools are able to partner with the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). The CACFP offers invaluable assistance in the training of staff members, adherence to food preparation regulations, and meal planning.
Going Above And Beyond Licensing At Parkland Children’s Academy
While a child care license outlines the base requirements for safe child care, we at Parkland Children’s Academy pride ourselves on going over and above these regulations to provide the best possible care to your child. We work with a nutritionist to compile our monthly menus, and we’re completely transparent about what our menu offers.
We keep safety as a key pillar in day-to-day classes. We monitor visitor access very carefully, making sure that only children, staff, and parents are allowed on the grounds. Our smaller group sizes and assigned staff members mean that there is reduced contact between classes for the time being, protecting further against the spread of the virus.
Interested to know how else we work to make Parkland Children’s Academy safe? Contact our friendly team today with any questions you have. You can reach us at (954) 688-5877. We’d be delighted to talk to you about how we strive to go above and beyond your expectations.