Easter Seals High-Quality Child Care

The American Academy of Pediatrics maintains that a child’s environment and social experience in their first three years of life is critical to their brain development and can have a decisive, long-lasting impact on their well-being and ability to learn.

For many parents, this is enough to make finding high-quality child care a top priority. According to a recent survey conducted by Easter Seals and Yankelovich Partners, parents are so concerned with finding appropriate child care, 30 percent say they would pay 10 percent or more above the current rate to ensure the best possible care for their child. Most defined this level of care as a safe, child friendly atmosphere that features a warm, approachable, well-trained staff, and a low child-to-caregiver ratio.

Easter Seals Child Development Center Network responds to the needs and concerns of parents with children of all abilities by offering:

1. Top-quality, inclusive care at centers across the country
2. Featuring safe and nurturing environments
3. State-of-the-art tools and programs
4. Individualized learning plans
5. Highly-qualified teachers
6. Low child-adult ratios
7. Low staff turnover
8. Active parent-center partnerships

Easter Seals facilities are designed to provide young children with the optimal setting for successful learning and development.

• Placing children of all physical, emotional and academic abilities in the same learning environment gives children with disabilities the opportunity to learn alongside their typically developing peers, teaching them age-appropriate communication and social behaviors. A microcosm of the real world, inclusive settings benefit children without disabilities, by teaching them early-on to understand, respect and accept differences.
  
  
• Sharing a learning environment with children who have disabilities may expose typically developing children to behaviors they are not likely to encounter at other child care facilities. But, according to Tara Beyer, director, education, speech and therapy services, Easter Seals West Kentucky, “children will be exposed to these behaviors at some point in their lives, so why not teach them how to handle them at an early age?”
  
  
• In addition, children without disabilities have the benefit of learning from teachers who are trained to work with different learning styles and provide individualized education plans that address the specific needs and goals of each student.

With an 80-year legacy of commitment to children, parents can be confident that Easter Seals and its dedicated staff exemplify the difference quality care can make in the life of a child.