Bouncing Bubbles believes that regular evaluations help ensure high quality childcare. Because we are accredited by the National Association for Family Childcare, we use their Quality Standards to assess our strengths and challenges in the key areas of Relationships, the Environment, Developmental Learning Activities, Safety and Health, and Professional and Business Practices. NAFCC accreditation is the standard of quality that Bouncing Bubbles strives to maintain and, by design, is a continuous process of quality improvement.
Annual evaluations are primarily conducted by Chrissie, with input from families through annual surveys on program quality. These surveys, along with child assessment trends, are compiled and considered with the NAFCC Quality Standards.
In addition, the Head Start Program Performance Standards that apply to family child care are used to determine compliance. Other resources used to evaluate specific areas of the Bouncing Bubbles program include the QCIT which measures the Quality of Care for Infants and Toddlers, the Maine Quality Rating and Improvement System Inclusive Practices Checklist, the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale (FCCERS) and the Business Administration Scale (BAS). We also annually conduct a self-assessment in each of the 7 content areas of Go NAP SACC: Child Nutrition, Breastfeeding & Infant Feeding, Farm to ECE, Oral Health, Infant & Child Physical Activity, Outdoor Play & Learning and Screen Time. All of these tools provide indicators of quality and best practice within the scope of family child care.
Evaluation results are analyzed to determine compliance with programs and areas for improvement. A Quality Improvement Plan is created using the data collected, including a timeline for changes and resources needed. The Plan is shared with families, minus the timeline and resource information, on our communication bulletin board.