Quality Care from Quality Time

Quality Care from Quality Time
There have been tremendous strides made in the past three years to expand and improve the USAG Ansbach Community. One new addition to the post has been the new Child Development Center built on the Katterbach Kaserne. This new building has fixed many problems that the older center had, larger rooms, more safety features, and more storage for teachers, just to name a few. However, with all the benefits this facility has, it still has one big problem, the large age gaps within the classrooms. Children under the age of five seem so close in age, yet vary significantly in their intellectual, cognitive, and physical development. Placing them in rooms together when their developmental level is so far apart can leave many children lost in the shuffle, often getting left behind or not being intellectually stimulated the way they need to be at such a critical period in their development.
There are primarily three developmental class levels within the center. Each developmental level has two to three classrooms. The first level is the infant room where children range from six weeks old to 18 months old. At this age children learn best through play and most interact well together. While in this stage they eat and sleep on request and each infant is kept to their own schedule that best suits the parents and child, where in the rooms that precede this all the children are primarily on the classroom schedule. Once the infant turns 18 months old they move onto the next level of class which is the toddler room. The toddler classrooms accommodate toddlers from 18 months to three years old. In the toddler classroom is where we start to see children struggling. Many kids in the class are already stating their colors,...

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...up instead of struggling to meet the need of two groups of children at different stages. When the teachers are happy they are more likely to enjoy their work, creating a less stressful environment for everyone.
With the addition of this wonderful new facility it would be a shame not to make the most of it. After all, everyone is working toward the same goal: to provide the best possible care and a safe, stable environment for children who may not get the experience of that anywhere else. When focusing on the specific needs of the children, the teachers are happier, the staff is happier, but most important the children are happier.

Works Cited
Abu Taleb, Tagreed Fathi. "Necessary School Readiness Skills For Kindergarten Success According To Jordanian Teachers." Early Child Development & Care 183.12 (2013): 1878-1890. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.