Babies First North Carolina (Babies First NC) supports increased infant and toddler (Infants, 1’s & 2’s) classroom quality care by providing funding for increased quality, increased teacher compensation, ongoing intensive technical assistance and staff to monitor progress toward increased quality and best practice. Babies First NC is a quality enhancement project developed by Child Care Services Association, inspired by a Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge pilot project.
What Is High Quality Infant Toddler Care?
Program for Infant Toddler Care (PITC)
PITC supports education leaders responsible for training those who care for infants and toddlers. PITC believes responsive, respectful care in a relationship is key for supporting early learning, rather than developing lessons for infants to master.
Zero to Three
ZERO TO THREE’s mission is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. ZERO TO THREE envisions a society that has the knowledge and will to support all infants and toddlers in reaching their full potential.
National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
NAEYC is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy and research.
Conscious Discipline
Embraced in 101 countries and 25 languages, Conscious Discipline’s foundation of safety, connection and problem-solving is leading a revolution of the heart as concepts initially applied in the classroom extend to every facet of our lives.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Learn The Signs. Act Early.
CDC’s “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” program aims to improve early identification of children with autism and other developmental disabilities so children and families can get the services and support they need.
Circle of Security Parenting™
The Circle of Security Parenting™ program is based on decades of research about how secure parent-child relationships can be supported and strengthened. The benefits of such relationships can last a lifetime.
Program Overview
In 2019, The Babies First NC program was piloted in center-based, 5-star early care and education settings in the middle and eastern areas of North Carolina with the greatest need for high-quality infant and toddler care. Twenty-one completed applications were submitted for the Babies First NC Project. After a detailed selection process, 11 5-star child care sites were selected to participate in the project.
Participating child care sites are located in the following counties: Durham, Harnett, Johnston, Martin, New Hanover, Pender, Pitt, Vance and Wake. Eleven sites began the start-up phase of the project. One of the child care sites from Cumberland county made the difficult decision to close due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore leaving the project with ten operating sites.
The Babies First North Carolina Infant-Toddler Program Specialist team during the implementation phase of the Babies First NC project, work with site administrators and teachers through intensive practice-based coaching that is focused on increasing high-quality infant, toddler and two-year-old care. The Babies First NC sites in the implementation phase are:
- Bonnie Sanders Burney Child Development Center
- Bambino’s Playschool
- Follow the Son Child Care Center Inc.
- Kidds Place Child Development Center
- Little Believers Academy
- Little Believers Academy II
- Little Town Learning Center Inc.
- Sugar n Spice Preschool CCC Inc.
- Smiling Faces Child Care Center Inc.
- Yates Baptist Child Development Center
The Babies First NC Implementation phase is funded by a portion of the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five Initiative (PDG B-5) managed through the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education.
FAQs
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What are the highlighted “increased quality indicators” that are required for Babies First NC?
- Reduced staff to child ratios
- Minimum required teacher education
- Scheduled teacher planning time
- Provide teacher incentive
- Ongoing classroom quality assessment
- Enrollment developmental screening and referral if indicated
- Promoting family engagement and involvement activities
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Participating Babies First NC child care sites are in which counties?
- Durham
- Harnett
- Johnston
- Martin
- New Hanover
- Pender
- Pitt
- Vance
- Wake
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What are other Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five Initiatives (PDG B-5)?
- Statewide Needs Assessment
- Statewide Strategic Plan
- Maximizing Parent Knowledge, Choice and Engagement
- Sharing Best Practices and Professional Development fr Early Childhood Workforce
- Improving Quality /Service integration/Expanding Access/Developing New Programs
- Monitoring, Evaluation, Data Use, meaningful Governance and Stakeholder Engagement
What are people saying about Babies First North Carolina?
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Huge impact. Funding for materials. Incentives for teachers. TA assistance and guidance.
— Babies First NC Administrator
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[BFNC has] very responsive TA’s. Thank you for all the help and assistance you’re giving us.
— Babies First NC Administrator
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I have loved participating in the Babies 1st program. I have improved the quality we provide by having the teachers provide outcomes for the families and increased engagement. I have been able to provide a sensory track for the playground.
— Babies First NC Administrator
Infant/Toddler News
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Why is Professional Development Important and Why Do I Need a Plan?
Professional development (PD) is key in any specialized career. By participating in professional development opportunities, you are able to increase your knowledge about a topic, learn new ideas and implement new strategies to advance your line of work forward. PD also shows a level of commitment to and respect for your occupation. In the field of early care and learning, PD “requires knowledge of how children grow and develop, skills to communicate effectively with children and parents, and a great amount of dedication and love for the work” (NCICDP, 2001). -
Observations and Meaningful Change
When working with one of our skilled Birth-to-Three Specialist (B-3S) coaches, Practice-Based Coaching (PBC) participants get the benefit of supportive and constructive feedback related to their teaching and administrative practices. This feedback has the potential to not only improve quality in the child care facility, but increase professionalism and a sense of wellbeing for staff, children and families through development of a warm and nurturing environment. An essential part of the feedback process is regular PBC participant observation to understand the impact of classroom change as it occurs. Many participants ask for the reasoning behind our diligent observation efforts. In this article, we unpack how these observations work logistically, what they are intended to do and why they are essential to helping our project enhance our coaching services. -
Resilience in Early Childhood Care and Education Spaces
Resilience is generally understood as the ability to bounce back or recover quickly from adversity. It can be difficult to describe the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECE) space without […]