Family engagement is essential to high quality services for all children in early childhood care and education. From the beginning of life, families nurture their children and the capacities they will need to be ready for school. The Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework for Early Childhood Systems is a guide to understanding…

Information on how warm and responsive care can help shape infants' and toddlers' development and their ability to learn can be reassuring for concerned parents. This guide, in English and Spanish versions, presents quality child care as a partnership between the child caregiver and the parents with the primary goal of benefiting the child. The…

Noting that child care arrangements are one of the most important decisions parents face, this videotape discusses characteristics to look for when evaluating a day care facility, either home-based or center-based. The 10-minute videotape suggests that parents' look for a facility in which the child will be both happy and safe, then outlines areas…

Parents can make better decisions regarding a care setting for their toddler when they have information about how toddlers learn and about quality programs for toddlers. This brochure provides information to parents on how toddlers learn through play, exploration, and observation; the importance of toddlers learning at their own pace; and the role…

At some point in many children's lives, parents are faced with the difficult question, "What about child care?" Intended for both parents and providers, this guide is designed to help parents decide whether family child care is suited to their needs, guiding them through the process of choosing a provider and allowing them a look behind…

This guide presents tools for persuading parents to advocate for increased compensation for their child's care teacher/provider in order to break the link between what parents pay for child care and what providers earn, to advocate for a greater public investment in child care, and to improve the work environment for child care providers. The…

This booklet provides a variety of checklists to assist parents with their children's learning process and needs from the time they are in preschool to high school, as they begin to consider options for college. Examples of checklists include: Know What Your Preschooler Needs; Watch for School Resources; Partner with Teachers and Counselors; and…

This book for caregivers and parents provides over 300 activities based on the developmental needs of infants, toddlers, and 2-year-olds. The book describes key developmental stages to assist caregivers in identifying developmentally appropriate activities. Following an introductory chapter, the book is organized by developmental domains. Each…

Designed for child care workers who provide day care to children of disabled mothers, this booklet provides information about the needs of disabled women and gives suggestions for how to accommodate women with various disabilities. The booklet may also be useful for parents with disabilities who have young children and who want to work with child…

Finding a child care provider who can meet an individual child's needs and provide a nurturing, supportive daily environment can be stressful for parents. This book is designed to ease parents' concerns by explaining the criteria defining quality care, describing what to look for in a child care provider, identifying what to ask a potential…

Intended to facilitate communication between parents and child care providers through creative problem solving, this guide explains young children's normal developmental behaviors that frequently cause concern, and identifies factors parents and caregivers can control in the environment that may have an immediate positive response from a child.…

Published by Nebraska's Department of Health and Human Services, this guide provides information that will help parents and providers ensure that their child receives the best possible care from a licensed child care home provider. The guide also serves as a basis for discussion between parents and their child care providers to make a child's…