Understanding Your Child Care Choices
Our mission is to help every family find the child care that fits them best—care that aligns with your family’s values, parenting style, and the way you want your child to grow and learn. The first step to making the right choice is understanding the different types of care available. Let’s explore your options together.
Types of Child Care Programs
Licensed Child Care Center
Registered Family Child Care Home
Registered Group Child Care Home
This program is located outside of a home typically in a commercial building in which care is provided to 16 or more children on a regular and is considered licensed.
Registered Group Child Care Home
Registered Family Child Care Home
Registered Group Child Care Home
This program type is located in either a private residence or another structure in which care is provided for 9-15 children on a regular basis and is considered registered.
Registered Family Child Care Home
Registered Family Child Care Home
Registered Family Child Care Home
This program type is conducted out of a private residence in which care is provided for 3-8 children on a regular basis and is considered registered.
Family, Friend, & Neighbor
Registered Family Child Care Home
Registered Family Child Care Home
This provider is registered to provide care in a child's home or in a provider's home for a sibling group of any size or no more than 4 unrelated children.
Teaching Philosophies
Play-Based Learning
The play-based philosophy emphasizes the importance of play in a child’s intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. Purposeful play is a developmentally appropriate way of learning for children. Play-based sites use a variety of materials for imaginative and manipulative play.
Montessori
Montessori is based on the belief that children have a natural desire to learn and that, when they are placed in an enriched environment with specially designed materials and highly trained teachers, they learn quickly and easily through hands-on experience. Montessori classrooms utilize specifically designed materials to create their interactive sites.
Waldorf/Steiner
The Waldorf/Steiner philosophy strives to stimulate children's' bodies, spirits, and souls with a nurturing, homelike environment that engages all five senses. Each child remains with the same teacher from 1st through 8th grade creating a deep relationship with their students. All materials in the classroom must be made of natural materials such as shells, rope, beeswax, crayons, or wooden (not plastic) toys.
Reggio Emilia
The Reggio Emilia approach is driven by the interests of the children. The primary goal of this method is to create learning conditions that help children develop abilities through all manner of expressive, communicative, and cognitive experiences. These programs value parents and the wider community and their collective responsibility to the development of children.
Faith-Based
Local religious organizations may offer faith-based child care programs for their members or the general community. The level of religious focus depends on the school itself, though many allow talk of God and religion without restraint. The curriculum may not focus on developing the spiritual beliefs of the child but remain open to incorporating church values and stories into their lessons.
Nature-Based
The Nature-Based philosophy curriculum is based in the natural world. a typical day's curriculum includes extensive time spent outdoors participating in teacher-lead environmental education practices. Additionally, natural materials will be found throughout the indoor and outdoor classroom space.