35 Essential Questions to Ask When Choosing an ECE Program for Your Child
For parents of young children, few tasks are more stressful than choosing a child care program for your little one. Whether you are considering a preschool program at an early childhood education center or a home-based child care program, here are the 35 most important questions to ask.
Checking out a program in person? We invite you to download and print this checklist to bring with you on the visit!
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Building Family Engagement through Education
We’ve all heard the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
And as an ECE provider, you know first-hand how important it is for families, teachers and center staff to work together to ensure positive experiences for children so they can learn and grow. When center owners, administrators, teachers and parents join as a community everyone is better off—especially young children.
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Air Hugs and ACEs: Trauma in Young Children During the Pandemic
COVID-19 closed down a big part of children’s lives when it forced many of our preschools to close. Besides being places where children learn, preschools provide children with chances to make friends and build their social-emotional skills. Preschools also give some children a haven from troubled family lives, and the problems that many children face at home have grown worse during the COVID crisis. In the past year, loss of jobs, financial pressures and stay-at-home orders have combined to put a strain on family life across the board. We need to support both parents and children since the mental health of our youngsters depends on the mental health of those who give the care.
As early education professionals, we appreciate the value and necessity of lifelong learning. In order to maintain quality of practice, we absolutely need to stay on top of our game by attending early childhood conferences....
At the Council, we are proud of sharing CDA® success stories with you to show the importance of the work we do daily. Anthony McKinsey, Marisa Ray, and Devon Peone, from the Salish School of...
On May 4, our Renewal & Credentialing Team hosted its first Online Renewal Live Chat. In this live chat session, we answered questions from the audience about the new renewal procedures. My colleagues Raquel A....
The amount of websites devoted to the early education field is vast, but it is just a matter of finding the ones and using them as technology tools to enhance your child care program in...
As early childhood professionals, we must constantly set new goals for our child care programs and try to stay ahead of new trends within our field. We need to strive to mentally absorb the all...
Are you considering applying for a Child Development Associate® (CDA) Credential™? The CDA® credential has many valuable benefits for all early childhood professionals, including helping early educators meet current state and national professional requirements and serving...
Consider for a moment these everyday activities; inviting parents to volunteer in your classroom, recommending breastfeeding resources, or talking about child development milestones with friends and family. While perhaps unconventional, these activities are everyday advocacy!...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7GrPCWBROM I am excited to invite you to our 3rd Annual Early Educators Leadership Conference at the beautiful Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia from October 12-15, 2016. This meeting has sold out for the past...
A very tired mother brought her 4 month old daughter to a day care center telling her teacher, “She was up all night crying. I wanted to go get her but my husband said I’m...
Chief Operations Officer
Andrew Davis serves as Chief Operating Officer at the Council. In this role, Andrew oversees the Programs Division, which includes the following operational functions: credentialing, growth and business development, marketing and communications, public policy and advocacy, research, innovation, and customer relations.
Andrew has over 20 years of experience in the early care and education field. Most recently, Andrew served as Senior Vice President of Partnership and Engagement with Acelero Learning and Shine Early Learning, where he led the expansion of state and community-based partnerships to produce more equitable systems of service delivery, improved programmatic quality, and greater outcomes for communities, children and families. Prior to that, he served as Director of Early Learning at Follett School Solutions.
Andrew earned his MBA from the University of Baltimore and Towson University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland – University College.
Chief Financial Officer
Jan Bigelow serves as Chief Financial Officer at the Council and has been with the organization since February of 2022.
Jan has more than 30 years in accounting and finance experience, including public accounting, for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. She has held management-level positions with BDO Seidman, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Pew Center for Global Climate Change, Communities In Schools, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and American Humane. Since 2003, Jan has worked exclusively in the non-profit sector where she has been a passionate advocate in improving business operations in order to further the mission of her employers.
Jan holds a CPA from the State of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College. She resides in Alexandria VA with her husband and dog.
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