Title: Identify available childcare options.
Course: Child Development and Parenting (19255-18) > Section: Evaluating Support Systems that Provide Services for Parents

Identification should include types of childcare and features of childcare options, including

- childcare centers (e.g., commercial, faith-based,  employer-sponsored, licensed and regulated vs. unlicensed and unregulated)
- home care providers
- in-home childcare
- preschool programs, including Head Start, Early Head Start, Virginia Preschool Initiative
- parent cooperative schools
- school-age childcare programs, including latchkey arrangements
- stay-at-home parents.

Process/Skill Questions

Thinking

- Why are childcare services in such high demand? Why should parents be concerned about childcare options?
- Which do you believe are better prepared for first grade in public school: "daycare kids" or "stay-at-home kids"?
- What options do working parents have if they do not want to consider paid childcare services?

Communication

- Where do individuals acquire beliefs and attitudes about non-parental childcare?
- How can stay-at-home parents be supportive of families where both parents are working?
- How can dual wage earner families be supportive of stay-at-home parents?

Leadership

- What types of childcare are most frequently used?
- How is the use of childcare similar to or different from the use of childcare 25 years ago? What factors have influenced these trends?
- What are the consequences of quality childcare options for parents, children, and society?

Management

- What decisions do parents have to make to put their child in the care of a childcare provider?
- What factors determine the age and ability of a child who may be left at home alone after school?
- What information does a caregiver need to know about a child and his or her parents before accepting responsibility for the child?