There are more than 50,000 children birth to five years of age living in Wake County. With a growing number of parents entering the workforce, out of home care becomes increasingly necessary and important. Seventy-two percent of young children in Wake County or approximately 37,000 are in the care of someone other than their parents during the day. A high percentage of these children are in unregulated care. Unregulated child care may be low-quality and sometimes even unsafe.
Research continues to show that the first five years of life are critical.
The quality of early care and education of young children, whether at home or out of home, significantly impacts school readiness, school achievement and later success in life. Educators know that attention needs to be given to specific developmental issues during the early years. These include cooperative play, child choice, sociability, creativity, conflict resolution, self-control, reasoning skills, language and cognitive development. Assessing the Quality of Early Care and Education Parents, school systems and communities continue to seek appropriate ways to assess the quality of child care and the early education of young children. Currently, the North Carolina Division of Child Development rates centers and family child care homes using a five star rating scale.