Formación clave para líderes en cuidado infantil: objetivos pedagógicos, gestión y habilidades esenciales para el éxito profesional.

Explore Part II of Transformative Breakthrough from the Start, focused on empowering bilingual families and children through support and advocacy.

Discover how Transformative Breakthrough from the Start empowers bilingual families and children through support, advocacy, and education.

Recently, I attended the annual conference of the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), where I had the opportunity to present a workshop and interact directly with family childcare (FCC) professionals. This experience was refreshing and inspiring. Our discussions encouraged family childcare professionals to consider community perspectives and critically assess business and professional practices and behaviors that could contribute to negative perception of their profession. During the workshop, many FCC professionals shared their frustration with the community and their colleagues who challenged their roles, questioned their legitimacy as business owners, and reduced them to children’s care. It is crucial to recognize the potential of family caregivers to positively influence their business and professional reputations. The workshop, “Let’s Talk… Community Voices on Family Childcare: Advocating for Recognition,” presented by Robyn Kelton and I, is based on my doctoral research. It aimed to illustrate that even a single change could alter the perceptions of family childcare and highlight the important contributions that FCC professionals make to early childhood education and their communities. By improving business and professional practices, these professionals can change community views, helping others recognize that family care is a legitimate profession that educates and cares for children and recognizing their dual roles as educators and business owners. During the session, utilizing technology proved to be highly effective in engaging participants and delivering information in a compelling way. This approach encouraged FCC professionals to reflect more deeply on their practices and implement changes that enhance perceptions and drive business growth. By using various tools, participants were able to share their insights and access data in a manner that promoted greater engagement and clarity. They also observed how technology facilitated collaborative efforts to reshape perceptions of their profession. Overall, this interactive experience deepened discussions and empowered attendees to apply their insights in their work environments, fostering continuous improvement and innovation. The experience highlighted the professionals’ enthusiasm for learning and refining their practices. Discussions about family childcare professionals often include terms like caring, fun, and passionate, which is encouraging. However, it is disappointing that not everyone fully recognizes the unique value that family childcare professionals bring through their professional achievements, educational backgrounds, empowerment as women business owners, and overall contributions to the community and early childhood education. Additionally, the meeting revealed that these professionals wanted more recognition and support from colleagues and the wider community. Many expressed the need for formal opportunities to demonstrate their expertise and achievements and suggested that visibility and recognition could further improve the value of their work. This desire for validation underscores the importance of continuing efforts to promote and improve the status of family childcare professionals within a broader social framework. This includes participation in professional development that supports child readiness and helps children transition smoothly into kindergarten. Additionally, they should have opportunities to articulate the benefits of their work, such as building relationships with children and their families, which fosters family engagement and collaboration to meet children’s needs. In conclusion, the workshop highlighted family childcare professionals’ deep passion and commitment to educating and caring for young children. It also emphasized their frustration about being undervalued by the community. The workshop gave them valuable opportunities to change perceptions and affirm their role as legitimate educators and influential entrepreneurs. By integrating technologies and reflecting on the findings of my research and discussions, participants were inspired to re-evaluate and improve their programs, further emphasizing their essential contributions to early childhood education and community development. It is important to recognize that refining practices is an ongoing effort in which advocacy plays a key role in changing perceptions and achieving the recognition FCC professionals deserve.

Discover the vital role of family child care professionals, their challenges, and contributions as a critical workforce in early childhood education.

Early childhood care providers and administrators are often encouraged to connect with community resources to enhance programming for the children in their care. Sometimes, the idea of connecting with others seems out of reach. But often, resources and connections are right in front of us. As a family child care (FCC) provider, I built on a connection with my local librarian to provide the children in my program with experiences around literacy, language, and social development—all skills that helped to prepare them to be successful in kindergarten.

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Family child care programs struggle amid declining numbers—this article reveals how improving business and professional practices can help sustain vital ECEC services.

Every election is determined by the people who show up. -Larry J. Sabato Our rights as citizens are inherently tied to our responsibility to vote. Moreover, as engaged members of the early childhood community we have a duty to vote in the best interest of young children all across our great country. This means we need to be mindful of and prepared for national, state, and local elections. The first step requires being registered to vote, the second is determining when and how to vote, and the third, and oftentimes the most daunting, is researching the candidates so you know how you will cast your ballot. Our work is not done once we know who we plan to vote for, we must also think about educating and empowering staff and families to vote as well. We at the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership recognize that many factors may make this election cycle more difficult to navigate, but no less important. If you are a family child care provider, the following document, Planning for the Polls: Voting Resource for Family Child Care Providers, may be helpful as you prepare for this election season. If you are interested in learning more about virtual and in-person professional development opportunities for family child care providers contact the McCormick Center. Robyn Kelton, M.A., is a Quality Training Specialist for the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University (NLU). Robyn conducts training and research on the Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS) and the Program Administration Scale (PAS) and serves as a national reliability anchor for both tools. In addition, Robyn reviews BAS and PAS assessments for the assessor certification system. Robyn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Kansas and a Master of Arts degree in psychology with an advanced certificate of study in organizational psychology from NLU. Robyn is currently a doctoral student in the brain, behavior, and quantitative science psychology program at the University of Kansas. Prior to joining the McCormick Center, Robyn spent three years as a lead teacher in a kindergarten classroom for an after-school program. Robyn’s research interests include leadership in early care and education, family child care, child development, and autobiographical memory.