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Riverside County Family Child Care Association>
The World of Family Child Care
October 24, 2007
ExchangeEveryDay
The World of Family Child Care
October 19, 2007
Don't set your wit against a child.
Jonathan Swift
The National Association for Family Child Care
(www.nafcc.org), an Exchange Strategic Partner, is
celebrating its 25th Anniversary and has published
NAFCC@25, an impressive personal/professional history of
these years. In the book, current NAFCC President Suzanne
Gessner Williamson makes these observations about the
profession...
“Family child care is the care of choice for millions of
families throughout our country and around the world. It
offers parents care that is personalized and convenient. It
allows children to play and learn in a natural setting with
flexible hours that support family strength. It fosters
strong bonds between children, caregivers, and families and
supports the culture of the children and famili es. We know
from brain development research that it is critical for
children to be able to learn to trust, and to form lasting
relationships with their parents and primary caregivers in
order for them to be ready for school and successful as
adults. Family child care offers the individual attention
to children that helps them to thrive and learn through
play....
“We face [a]…challenge in the field of family child care —
respect for providers and the profession. We know all too
well that the term babysitter is still used when referring
to a provider. This is not a semantics game. Until we raise
respect for providers, for the profession, for the early
childhood field at large, we will never be able to raise
the income for those who work with our youngest
citizens....
“The National Association for Family Child Care has built a
strong foundation for our field. We have been working to
meet the needs of providers for 25 years. We are up to the
challenges we fac e and are excited to look forward to many
more years of connecting providers and advocates one by one
to the support systems that will make them strong. We are
creating models of excellence every day.”
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