Massachusetts New Quality Rating System for Daycare.

Why is the State of Massachusetts always “making changes and improvements” to our regs? I was so upset by the “QRIS” rating system in Massachusetts, that I decided to do some investigating. What I found out is even more upsetting. This is world-wide!! This is not only in Massachusetts…it’s everywhere! It originated in the UN and has been slowly introduced into the system. Sneaking its way in like an uninvited guest.

I have been an in-home daycare provider for 28 years now, and I didn’t see this coming. This new star rating system is designed to put us all out of business. And the only way we can fight it is by speaking out and spreading our own propaganda…which is actually the truth…and that is how we can overcome!  I have found a decline in home daycare in North Carolina and a rise in center based care since their new rating system has been implemented. This is only the beginning.

I have seen a trend in my daycare over the past few years. I am losing my 2.9ers to preschool. Parents in the Boston area think their kids need 2 years of preschool. Years ago I kept kids until they went to kindergarten. Not anymore! I am not smart enough to do that now. And when the new star rating system goes into effect, I will need a degree to have a great rating. Just to receive a 2 star rating will cost me far too much time and money! And I won’t increase my earning potential…I have to do this to try to stay in business! I will elaborate in future blogs just what I have to do to become a 2 star daycare. The best rating is a 4+ star rating, with a 5 star to be determined. If you were a parent looking for the best possible daycare, would you even consider interviewing a no star or even a 2 star provider?

I am considered a 1 star provider at the moment. That means I am a provider in good standing and in compliance with my licensing. In my next blog I will tell you exactly what I need to do to achieve a 2 star rating.  Thanks for following!

Blog

Times have changed, people have changed, as of this writing in Jan of
2010, the child care industry has gone though dramatic transformations
since I had started in the business 23 years ago. Now, instead of stay at home
moms providing child care to others, mothers to others as it were, medium to
big size business have seized the moment creating a new lucrative industry
that now can demand franchise ownerships with minimum investments of
up to 3 million dollars. So much for mothers to others.
Now that parents have more options to consider when choosing childcare, this is just one trend that has dramatically effected in-home
day care businesses across the country.

Not only has big business impacted childcare, but also State and Federal
Governments have regulated it to death, as they have done everything else
they take control of. The airways are filled with rhetoric, propaganda,
studies, and scientifically unproven facts that little children need a
structured Pre-K experience to better prepare them for education.
For about a decade now, this has been a contributing force that we
in-home day care providers are up against when dealing with parents and
the new perception of government mandates that they are succumbing to.
Many family day cares are just starting to feel the effects of the Childcare
Center based industry and new 2.9 Pre-K propaganda.
What is best for a toddler whose mommy can’t be at home with him?
Today’s childhood experience is very different from the way children of
the 60’s and 70’s generation were raised. Was it better then or is it better
now? That’s a very important question that every parent should consider
and research before making a childcare decision.
One thing’s for sure, this new generation of children being raised from infants to kindergarten in structured learning centers, has never had a
predecessor in history to have learned from. We are experimenting with a
whole generation of children and it will be several years before we know
what this social reengineering has brought upon our children.
What is most frightening is that the same leadership of government
educators that have done so poorly with our children’s education and
social engineering over the last 30 years, are the same ones tasked to
create curriculums for all stages of child development in structured
learning environments from infancy to pre-k. God forbid, but I think
it’s only a matter of time before all childcare facilities and licensed
home family day cares will be mandated to follow a socialized centered
curriculum and to report on each child’s progress. If the powers that be
wish to marginalize the early childhood socialization the family has been
responsible to render since the beginning of mankind, this would be a
great way to get it done.
Today, I believe the next best thing to the mommy being at home and
raising her own child is in home day care. I am convinced, it’s not the best
for the child, but, if you as a parent have no choice, it is the lesser of two
evils. With an in home day care, you have a long term loving relationship that
develops between the provider and your child from infancy to kindergarten. In most childcare centers and preschools, your child will most likely be raised by many underpaid childcare workers who are there today and
gone tomorrow. Children are cared for like stall fed calves that are just
merchandise to their owners, and just a job to their handlers.
This book is about the experiences of real in-home day care providers.
The good, the bad, and the ugly. Heartfelt honesty from day care providers
across this great and troubled nation.
If you really want to know what you face when starting up a day care,
or what others like you are going through, or what you as a parent should
know about what your day care provider thinks of you and your child,
then be prepared to be enlightened through the “Message Board”!