EDMONTON — The gap in understanding what family day home educators face might discourage some from joining the formal child care system, which, according to a University of Alberta human ecology doctoral student, is crucial to providing good care and staying open.
Laura Woodman, a former accredited day home owner turned researcher, suggests that because they take care of smaller numbers of children and work out of their homes, day home educators “tend to be seen as less important” in the child care system.
“But family day homes are a distinctly different service model, so trying to shoehorn them into a daycare centre-based model is not going to work.”
Instead, Woodman says by becoming licensed through day home agencies, the quality of care is generally higher because of the requirement to meet government regulations to maintain certain professional standards, including first aid training, monthly fire drills and maintaining paperwork for things like medication.
“There is oversight to ensure safe environments for the children.” However, practices designed to support day home educators vary widely among contracting agencies, Woodman also points out.
To help fill that knowledge gap, Woodman wrote a recent discussion paper, drawing on existing research and her own experiences, to explore current challenges facing family day home educators — such as low wages and funding, lack of opportunities for professional development, a sense of isolation, as well as guilt and worry.
To hone in on ways to support them in their work, Woodman is asking both licensed and unlicensed family day home educators to take a survey.
She says her goal is to increase access to quality, affordable child care across Alberta, especially those rural or remote areas where the populations are often too small to support an entire daycare centre.
“But creating more spaces in a system that isn’t designed to meet the needs of day home educators won’t provide sustainable care. If they don’t have enough support, they are going to struggle and ultimately could close.”
To read the full story, click here. To speak with Laura Woodman about her research, please contact:
Debra Clark
U of A communications associate
debra.clark@ualberta.ca