Welcome!
Welcome to Many Right Ways: Exploring Quality in Family Child Care. We’re so excited and grateful that you have decided to invest in yourself and your program. We’re confident that this course will help you maximize the level of quality in your work with children.
This course is a special collaboration between Sesame Street in Communities (SSIC) and our friends at the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC). Our two organizations have a long history of working together to support children, families, and providers. Most recently we’ve come together to celebrate the incredibly important work of family child care providers, and to support providers on their journey toward quality improvement and accreditation.
Meet NAFCC
NAFCC is the only national association dedicated to promoting high-quality early childhood experiences in the unique environment of family child care programs. They work on behalf of, and in concert with, the one million family child care providers operating nationwide.
NAFCC has led the family child care accreditation program for over 25 years. The quality standards are research-based and demonstrate principles of child growth and development, as well as current best practices in the early childhood field.
This course is rooted in the quality standards and is divided into units that reflect the content areas of NAFCC’s standards (relationships, the environment, developmental learning activities, safety and health, professional and business practices). Each unit includes multi-media resources and hands-on activities designed to inspire you, and to help you put in the necessary work in order to meet the standards.
Interested in learning more about NAFCC membership or accreditation? Click here.
PLEASE NOTE: This course can be beneficial to anyone who cares for children. You don’t have to be seeking accreditation to complete this course. In fact, you don’t even need to be a member of NAFCC or run a family child care program. These lessons are helpful for learning what quality looks like in different child-centered settings and offers strategies that can enhance your own work.
Many Right Ways
“Many right ways” could be the unofficial slogan of NAFCC. You’ll hear this phrase again and again from members of NAFCC’s accreditation council. What this means is that there are several acceptable ways to meet a standard. Each family child care program is unique with different strengths, resources, settings, children, and families. NAFCC understands that providers are tasked with meeting their program’s needs in a way that works for them. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Meeting the standards requires creativity and confidence. The strategies and resources in this course will help you find a workable path for your program.
Tell me more! What now?
There are “many right ways” to take this course, too! Go at your own pace and have fun. Some units may take more time and that’s okay. Be sure to celebrate small wins along the way.
Set yourself up for success. Start by downloading (and printing, if you can) your own copy of NAFCC’s Quality Standards for Accreditation. This course also includes various printable resources. We recommend getting a three-ring binder to keep all of your course materials together, as well as a dedicated notebook. Think of it as your place to jot down reflections, plans, and dreams for your program. At the end of the course, this binder will serve as your program portfolio—an invaluable tool for showing growth and a powerful testament to all the hard work you’ve put in! We’ll circle back to this in the final unit of the course.
Staying organized can be fun, too! Download this coloring sheet to use as the cover of your binder.