	Early Child Care and Development Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-ECCD 7: Developmental and Educational Activities

A variety of activities and lessons afford choice and promote social, emotional, cognitive, and physical growth.

PA-ECCD 7.01

Daily activities demonstrate well-planned, flexible, and responsive care in a group setting that is appropriate to the age, development, family situation, interpersonal characteristics, and special needs of the children in the program.

Interpretation: A curriculum, or another type of developmental or educational plan, guides the provision of daily activities.

PA-ECCD 7.02

A wide variety of developmentally appropriate activities are provided including:

daily opportunities for active play, rest, nap time, and discussions;
daily opportunities for unstructured independent activity and the initiation of activity by children as well as by adults;
daily indoor and outdoor play, when safety and weather permit; and
regular use of external resources such as libraries, museums, and community recreational and educational sites.

PA-ECCD 7.03

Cognitive development is promoted through:

artistic and musical activities;
daily story telling, reading, and other activities and materials that promote early literacy skills;
opportunities to question, experiment, explore, and use language effectively; and
encouragement of the child’s sense of mastery in learning new skills and experiences.

PA-ECCD 7.04

Activities and materials involve development of fine and gross muscle control and promote physical development.

PA-ECCD 7.05

Use of television, videos, video games, and computers is strictly limited to a minimal portion of the child’s time in care, and the content is:

supportive of the child’s educational and developmental goals;
appropriate to the child’s age and developmental stages; and
monitored by staff at all times.

NA The agency does not use television, video, and computer equipment.

PA-ECCD 7.06

Activities for school age children:

are designed in partnership with children;
allow for and encourage active play;
cultivate comfort in assuming the role of leader and helper;
are sufficiently flexible to allow youth time to relax; and
include arrangements for older children to read, complete homework, engage in quiet discussion, or participate in organized group activities.

NA The agency does not serve school-age children.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Early Child Care and Development Services meet family needs for high quality child care and ensure child development, health, and safety.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	QUALITY In this context, the extent to which contemporary and generally recognized standards for professional practice are met and exceeded, and desirable service outcomes achieved.


	SPECIAL NEEDS A designation used in reference to conditions or characteristics of a person that reflect a need for special care, services, or treatment. When the term is used in the context of adoption services, special needs refers to conditions that make a child harder to place for adoption. This includes children who are members of sibling groups, older children, children with disabilities, children of certain racial /ethnic backgrounds, etc. When the term is used in the context of foster care it refers to the need for a higher degree of specialized case services and attention due to mental and physical disabilities. When the term is used in the context of out-of-school time services, a child or youth may have special physical, behavioral, medical, emotional, or cognitive needs that should be addressed or accommodated. The term is also used in other contexts. See also DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN Children and adolescents legally required to attend school. COA does not provide specific age limits for this term; however "school-age" is generally considered to be between the ages of 5 - 17 years old.