By Barbara Bredell-Searle The words, “It is time to clean up,” are used daily in many classrooms throughout all types of Pennsylvania child care programs, yet teachers still have difficulty getting the children to CLEAN UP. One must wonder, is it because the children are having so much fun that they don’t want to stop?...Read More

By Michelle Mallonee Long When the Program Quality Assessor provides the four-week window for your facility’s assessments, you are allowed to select up to four black-out dates (days the assessor will not show up for a visit). The assessors need to see a typical day in the classroom (what the children experience on a regular...Read More

Amy Hoffman One of the most devastating things that can occur in your life as an early learning professional is when you have reason to suspect that a child in your classroom is a victim of abuse or neglect. What responsibilities do you have to the child, and what do you do when that type...Read More

Megan Pittsinger Why were PA Position Statements created? The PA Position Statements are the result of the need to consider the impact of Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) Certification Regulations and other Pennsylvania program specific expectations on the scoring of the items in the Environment Rating Scales (ERS). In the case of each Position...Read More

Kweli Archie There are many fun ways to celebrate diversity with young children. Research shows that young children see differences in people at an early age. Helping children to respect diversity in the classroom goes beyond what we can see, hear, or taste, such as food, art, music, costumes and customs. It involves giving attention,...Read More

Suzanne Glenn With the continuation of the cold and flu season, it is a good time to review the proper hand washing procedures based upon guidelines from Pennsylvania DHS and Caring for Our Children, Third Edition (Standard 3.2.2.2).Read More

Beth Simon Mealtimes are busy times for teachers and children. When you’re dealing with 15 hungry 3 year-olds, it can be a challenge for even the calmest, coolest teacher to manage the high demand. Providing a pleasant experience at mealtimes encourages children to have a positive attitude toward food and promotes healthy eating habits.Read More

Michelle Long The ERS scales expect each child to have individual cubby/storage space that is not shared with anyone else. Why is individual storage important? Having individual storage helps to reduce the spread of lice and scabies. Providing each child with their own space also offers him/her a sense of belonging to the classroom environment.Read More

Regina Wright Close your eyes and imagine when you were a child. What was your favorite toy? I’m sure you would probably name a familiar toy that children still enjoy. Walk into any early childhood or school-age classroom and you’ll find a child playing with your favorite game, pretending to be your childhood superhero, or...Read More

Beth Simon and Angel Avery-Wright Happy New Year!! I can’t think of a better way to kick off 2017 than with the launch of “Let’s Talk Quality! Program Quality Assessment in PA!” We are so excited to welcome you to the Program Quality Assessment team’s very first blog post! This is the team’s newest venture...Read More