Personal Development: Child Care Options

• The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the organization providing national accreditation of childcare facilities: http://www.naeyc.org/accreditation. Follow the link to search for programs near your zip code or by state: http://www.naeyc.org/academy/search NAEYC accredited programs tend to have a real curriculum and to be developmentally appropriate, especially if they advance the child by developmental level and not only by age! There are also some good resources for parents on the NAEYC site.
• The city of San Antonio also has some potentially helpful resources: (1) San Antonio Association for the Education of Young Children site at http://www.saaeyc.org/accredited_centers.htm, and (2) the San Antonio Community Initiatives KIDCARE http://www.sanantonio.gov/comminit/crd/crdreferral.asp, and (3) "Our Kids" magazine for San Antonio parents, http://sanantonio.parenthood.com. ‘Our Kids” is a free monthly publication available at grocery stores and child-related shops throughout the city. It includes a monthly calendar of upcoming family-friendly events and children’s programs, columns on parenting topics, and special features in each issue, such as their annual school directory, day camp and overnight camp directories, after-school programs listing, and a directory of childcare centers and preschools (published in the 2007 May issue). Some of the material can be viewed through the website and their suggested browser.
• Here is another terrific Child Care resource for the WFA members. It is from the Child Care licensing section of the TX Dept of Family and Protective Services: www.txchildcaresearch.org