Early Care And Education
Early Care and Education
A top priority for Smart Start is increasing the quality of early care and education across the state. The goal is to promote high quality early care that is child-focused and family-friendly. In North Carolina, licensed child care facilities have star ratings between 1 and 5 stars, with 5 stars being the highest. Smart Start supports initiatives to maintain the high quality early care and education of child care facilities, ensure access to high quality care, and provide early childhood educators with professional development opportunities and technical assistance.
Studies show that children who are in high quality early learning environments enter school with better math, language, and social skills. These environments include sensitive and responsive caregiving, engaging and stimulating play, and a safe and healthy environment. Smart Start supports policies and investments that:
- Expand access to the NC Pre-K program
- Provide additional funding for quality care for children age birth to three
- Support increased education and compensation for the early childhood workforce
These three focus areas will ensure high quality early education opportunities for all children to help prepare them for kindergarten; create engaging and positive environments that support the most critical, early years in a child's development; and recoginze that teacher-child relationships play a significant role in influencing young children's overall development.
(Smart Start Annual Report 2016-2017)
The Iredell County Partnership for Young Children offers the following programs and services to support the early care and education workforce: