Childcare With a Difference - Woman Inspires Learning, Reading at Historic Child Care

Many of those children looked upon the walls of Happy Time Child Care Center and saw the same faces as their parents and grandparents. Shepard lined the walls of the daycare with portraits of noted black Americans, from Harriet Tubman and Booker T. Washington to Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou and Jesse Owens.

There was a time in the early 1970s when it was extremely difficult to find books about leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in Mansfield and in cities across the United States.The library did not have African-American books.Shepard, 80, opened Happy Time Child Care Center out of her living room in 1967. 

Some child care centers uses child care management software for their management operations so as to give better service to its customers. Staff in the center finds it easier to do enrollment and billing using a child care management software. Parents also uses the software for keeping in touch with the center and paying the bills. 

Her goal at the time was to teach children on Mansfield’s mostly black north end how to read — a task she fulfilled for 48 years until the daycare closed just months ago.She says children often ask her about the people in the pictures, which leads to conversations about their history.

There were the basics, of course, for young children. There were flashcards, pictures and entry-level books — an entire reading system for children up to 5 years old.But learning how to read was only the beginning for those students.Shepard ordered a number of books on famous black Americans from Chicago-based retail outlets in the 1970s. Under Shepard, teachers at the daycare would often read those books to children when they became old enough to understand.

Most of those children, who still came to the daycare for after-school care around the ages of 8 or 9, would begin reading the books by themselves.By 1992, Shepard had her students take home books from her private library and write book reports on famous black Americans to be delivered orally every Friday.

Learning to read became just as important as reading to learn.She says children often ask her about the people in the pictures, which leads to conversations about their history. all the kids know Martin Luther King, and that’s good, but there are other Civil Rights leaders who also (contributed),” Shepard helped establish the Culliver Reading Center, 276 Harker St., which aims to provide children ages 5 through 12 with a safe place to go where they can continue reading and learning about black American history.

Young Star rates day care

Young Star is a five-star quality rating and improvement system for regulated child care programs created by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families that supports families in making this decision.

The rating scale recognizes practices that early learning settings have in place that are proven to be good for kids. Young Star gives families a snapshot of a program’s quality to compare with their own views on quality child care software. 

Making an informed choice about who will care for our children while we are working is one of the most difficult yet impactful decisions a family will make. More and more, research tells us that our children's healthy development depends on safe and positive experiences during the first few years of life.

A child care program’s star rating is based on four categories of quality:

1. Provider education and training: Children benefit when their teachers and caregivers have a solid foundation in early care and education principles and practices.
2. Learning environment and curriculum: When teachers and caregivers create meaningful experiences for infants and young children, they are more likely to have long-term school success.
3. Business and professional practices: Well-respected, fairly compensated professionals, who are actively maintaining professional standards and business practices, are better able to respond to meet the needs of children and their families.
4. Health and wellness: Children grow up in the context of their families, communities and culture.

These standards look at the outcomes of the whole child from nutrition and physical activities to meeting special needs and being responsive to how kids form relationships. Young Star program staff provide on-site technical consultation and independent review and assessment to programs.

Consultants review programs for evidence of meeting quality indicators related to the four quality categories.In Marathon County, approximately 5 percent of rated child care programs have earned four- or five-star ratings, 29 percent are rated at three stars, and 66 percent are rated two stars. About 26 percent of total programs have not been rated. Star ratings are a tool for families to make informed choices.

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/life/2014/09/02/childcaring-column-youngstar-rates-day-care/14741629/