When you’re directing a childcare center, it’s important to let current and prospective clients know that you’re providing the best care possible. One way to do that is through accreditation. As you may already know, the process to receive the official seal of approval from a reputable agency can seem overwhelming. But, the right tools can streamline the steps you need to go through so you’re not constantly jumping over hurdles or taking detours. Here’s how Go2s can help you save time and money and simplify the accreditation process. With our secure site, you can maintain records of all aspects of day-to-day operations.
The Learning Environment
To show that you’re meeting high standards in helping young children learn and grow, you’ll likely need to provide some examples of how you’re providing a supportive learning environment. With Go2s, you can maintain records of what’s happening in the classroom. Our app allows you to post and share lesson plans and assessment checklists. You can document teachers’ interactions with students, opportunities for exploration and play, and samples of children’s work. Keeping a digital archive of students’ artwork and prewriting skills enables you to easily assess their progress while helping you meet accreditation standards. Having all this information readily at hand also helps you adapt the curriculum to best meet students’ needs, another point accreditors take into consideration.
Communication with Families
Running a high-quality childcare center involves building relationships with families and communicating with parents via the channels they’re most comfortable with — face-to-face, text, email. With Go2s, you can keep track of your many efforts to connect with parents via newsletters, messages, meetings, and any other ways you relay important information. You can also reach families through text and email simultaneously and keep a log of their preferred communication method. Maintaining records of communication makes follow-up easier too.
Good communication is also important to promoting the safety of the children in your care. Go2s provides a space to share sensitive information, such as concerns about a child’s health or behavior. Engaging with parents to provide an optimal environment for children and taking steps to keep personal information confidential will go a long way toward helping you earn accreditation.
Professional Development
Another indicator of a reputable early childhood center is an emphasis on professional development and support. If you don’t have a system to keep all this information organized, it will be difficult to access it when you’re applying for accreditation. With Go2s, you can seamlessly create an archive of all your efforts to connect with your staff and empower them to do their jobs even better. Our networking platform allows you to post professional development opportunities — not only to keep your staff informed, but to let accrediting agencies know that you value ongoing training.
Goals and Policies
When you’re working toward accreditation, you will also need to demonstrate that you’re providing a clean, safe, nurturing environment. In Go2s, you can post policies and best practices for your childcare facility, which helps staff, parents, and other members of your community remain on the same page about rules and procedures. Plus, it keeps everyone accountable so there’s no confusion down the road.
Community Engagement
To be granted a credential of excellence, early childhood centers usually need to show that they’re engaged with the surrounding community. After all, tapping into local resources helps you create an environment in which children can thrive. Visiting museums and parks, going to story hour at the library, or touring the local fire department are all ways that you can partner with the community and provide greater learning opportunities. Understandably, you may be reluctant to post pictures of children, and your location, on social media. But, Go2s provides a secure space where you can do that without worrying about who is able to see it.
Go2s makes it easy to archive information, keep it organized, and easily retrieve it when you need it. Users can control who has access to shared content, so you don’t run the risk of making unauthorized parties privy to sensitive information. Working toward accreditation is a big undertaking. Having a secure platform for storing necessary documentation ensures that, when it comes to accreditation, credit can be given where it’s due. Start streamlining the process by signing up for a free Go2s account today.