Succeeding in School
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Succeeding in School

Are you beginning an exciting step in your educational journey in the near future? Perhaps, you’ll soon be a new high school student. Or, you might be enrolling in college for the first time. Regardless of your particular situation, you likely want do everything you can to succeed in school. To help you accomplish this task, consider joining a study group. You might also wish to sign up for free tutoring sessions at you school. Purchasing state-of-the art school supplies might also help you excel in the classroom. On this blog, I hope you will discover ingenious tips to help you receive the best education possible. Enjoy!

Succeeding in School

3 Subtle Signs That Your Daycare Is Going Above and Beyond

Isabella Bennett

As a parent, you probably know some of the obvious signs of a good daycare – plenty of educational toys, an open-door policy and communicative staff, and most importantly, a happy child who enjoys their time there. But what separates a good daycare from a really great daycare? Some of the signs that a daycare is really going above and beyond for the children in their care can fly under the radar for parents. Take a look at some signs of a great daycare that you may have missed.

The Staff to Child Ratio

For school-aged children, many parents worry about the teacher to student ratio. You know that kids learn best when they can receive individualized attention, and if a teacher has too many students in their class, they probably won't be able to give all those students the attention they need. What many parents don't realize is that the staff to child ratio in a daycare is just as important – possibly more important, since infants, toddlers, and preschoolers have more needs that need to be met, and proper supervision is a safety issue as well as a learning issue.

The required staff to child ratio may vary somewhat depending on your state. For example, in Maryland, there should be a staff-to-child ratio of one staff member to every six children for two-year-olds, and one staff member for every ten children for three and four-year-olds. For these ages, the group sizes should be no larger than twelve and twenty, respectively. You should notice that as more children join the daycare, more staff is hired as well, in order to keep the ratios consistent.

Good daycares will stay within these ranges. A great daycare will consistently have a lower staff to child ratio than required. For example, if your daycare has one staff member for every four two-year-olds and no groups of two-year-olds larger than eight, they're going above and beyond the requirements to ensure that your child has all the attention and supervision that they need.

The Education Level of the Staff

Did you know that the level of education of the lead teachers on your daycare staff can result in better quality child care? For children who attend daycare, the daycare can play an important role in their early development and learning. Analysis of the relationship between teacher qualification and the quality of the early childhood learning environment found that higher teacher qualifications resulted in better support for children's development, better supervision, better organization, and an overall friendlier environment.

Feel free to ask about the education and qualifications of your child's teachers and caretakers. If your daycare is hiring teachers with Bachelor's degrees in Early Childhood Education, you'll know that they're committed to making sure that your child has positive development and learning experiences.

The Type of Food Served

If your daycare serves meals, you should be getting menus to let you know what they're eating each day. However, that's not the same thing as seeing the food itself. Drop in some time at lunch to get a look at what your child's meals are like.

Balanced meals are important for a child's growth and development. If your daycare is serving balanced meals made from fresh foods, it's a sign that they care about your child's nutrition. Look for things like grilled chicken instead of frozen chicken fingers, fresh fruit instead of jello, and fresh vegetables instead of canned.

Knowing what makes a daycare stand out can help when choosing a new daycare or when reevaluating the one you're currently using. If you've found one that goes above and beyond the average daycare, you know that you've found a keeper. For additional information, visit daycare centers in your area.


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