Respect, Ratios, Raises!!

Respect, Ratios and Raises. These 3 important issues can't wait any longer in early childhood care and education. They need to be addressed now. They were the biggest issues we faced as as newly educated teachers in 1979 when I first studied ECE and they are still the biggest issues we face today.

That was 45 years ago and brain science has progressed even more since then. As a country, the US has been extremely negligent in ignoring these facts..

Here's why:

Everything we are as adults is based on what happens to us during the first few years of our lives. It's impossible to build a strong and capable structure on a broken foundation.

Think about the possibilities. When that foundation is strong a lifetime of learning experiences can be built on it. Early childhood educators can and do contribute greatly to that foundation when given the right environment.

Here's a chart from the Harvard Center on the Developing Child found in the section called "Brain Architecture" alongside a quote from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Young babies need relationships with caregivers who are:

• Sensitive to their needs and messages

• Timely in responding (especially to messages of distress)

• Accurate in the reading of their cues

• Understanding of appropriate levels of stimulation (Bornstein 2012) NAEYC

Our experiences during the first few year of life plus our own genetic makeup define who we are.

Here are some facts to think about.

• 22.5 million children between 2-5 in 2022 reside in the US.

• 60% of children under the age of 5 (13.5 mil) use some form of childcare.

• 10% of that childcare is considered high quality.

• 1.3 mil children are in high quality care.

• That leaves 12.2 million children between the ages of 0-5 in mediocre-poor quality care. That's well over 1/2 of the children under the age of 5 that reside in the US. The sad fact is that families are paying a lot for that low quality of care.

We need to do better.

• 5 million people in the US are under supervision of the law.

• It costs taxpayers 64 K for an individual to be incarcerated for one year.

• Investing in high-quality child care and early learning programs can generate up to $7.30 per every dollar invested.

High-quality childcare programs have a great level of respect for their employees. They hire people with experience and education who tend to stay a long time.

The average national turnover rate in childcare is as high as 40%. That's horrific considering the responsibility of caring for and educating our youngest.

High quality programs tend to pay better, offer benefits, and allow the teachers in their program to truly teach the children because they maintain excellent ratios well above and beyond what is required by state licensing regulations. They charge more money (out of necessity) than most families could ever afford.

We need to look carefully at that high-quality top10% and figure out a way to replicate programs like that and make them affordable to all families , not just the rich. It would save our taxpayers a lot of money in the long run and open up a ton of good childcare job opportunities for dedicated pros to chose from.

At early childhood rocks we have a PLAN for that.

You can join us for free here if you haven't already and you'll instantly receive our eBook, Magic Words, How To Get Kids To Listen And Like It!

This is a great resource to share with parents because it explains why high-quality childcare providers choose the words they do and why they tend to work so well. When you join you get our Saturday Mini-Conference sent directly to your email each week. In it you'll find one idea you can use right away, one idea that will help you to feel

like the professional you are, and one idea to help you care for yourself. You can click on the Cheerio Math picture and get a free example of what the mini-conference looks like.

If you want the inside scoop on the PLAN and to potentially get 5.5 hours of continuing education on-line, you can become a VIP member of our non-profit organization for only 9.99 and that's a one-time only charge.

The PLAN training is fun and educational. We anticipate a price hike in the near future so you might want to become a part of this non-profit organization now while the price is still this incredibly low.

Nanci J Bradley is an early childhood and family educator, author, teacher, family aerobics instructor, and an all-around fun-loving person. She believes in the power of sleep, healthy eating, lifelong learning, and most of all, PLAY! She studied early childhood ed at Triton College and received her BS in education in 1986 from NIU. She received her MA in human dev from Pacific Oaks College in 2011. She lives and teaches in Madison WI and is the founder of early childhood rocks, a non-profit org dedicated to creating change through early childhood education.