The National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) sponsors the nationally recognized family childcare accreditation system, designed especially for the NAFCC by hundreds of providers, parents, and other experts during a four-year, consensus-building process. Accreditation helps providers set and reach quality improvement goals and helps parents and policymakers identify high-quality family childcare. NAFCC’s standards address five areas of quality: Relationships The most

The family childcare regulations by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) include the following requirements for family childcare providers: The provider must be at least 18 years old and have at least one year of experience in caring for children. The provider, as well as all household members 15 years and older, must have a criminal background check. The provider must submit medical evidence that she is physically healthy and able to care for childr

Your child is developmentally ready for preschool and the best school has been chosen. The big day arrives—how will your child handle the first day of preschool? Here are some tried-and-true transition tips: Be sure in your own mind that the environment your child is entering is a sound and sensitive one—confident and reassuring thoughts are contagious (as are anxieties and uncertainties). Visit the school in advance of enrollment to allow your child to familiarize himself in

The younger your child, the more limited the number of spots are available for care. Getting on waitlists very early for a daycare center is your best bet in securing child care. If you are open to nannies or home day cares, those options are not well advertised and typically do not have a waitlists many months before availability. We have compiled a list of places to post listings for nannies and babysitters on our  local research page  or on our Facebook page . Although the