The Brighter Side of Education: Research, Innovation & Resources
Hosted by Dr. Lisa Hassler, The Brighter Side of Education: Research, Innovation, & Resources a podcast that offers innovative solutions for education challenges. We bring together research, expert insights, and practical resources to help teachers and parents tackle everything from classroom management to learning differences. Every episode focuses on turning common education challenges into opportunities for growth. Whether you're a teacher looking for fresh ideas or a parents wanting to better support your child's learning, we've got actionable strategies you can use right away.
The podcast's music was created by Brandon Picciolini from The Lonesome Family Band. You can explore more of his work on Instagram.
The Brighter Side of Education: Research, Innovation & Resources
Quality Child Care Creates the Foundation for Lifelong Learning
Quality childcare creates the foundation for lifelong learning and development, but finding the right program often leaves parents confused, frustrated, and uncertain. What should you actually look for beyond a clean facility and friendly staff? How do you know if a program will nurture your child's development in ways that matter?
In this illuminating conversation, Dr. Lisa Hassler welcomes Judith Sikora, a respected voice in early childhood education with over three decades of leadership at national organizations like Child Care Aware of America. Sikora cuts through the confusion with practical wisdom that helps parents make informed choices based on what truly matters.
We explore the crucial differences between licensing (minimum safety standards) and quality indicators, examining adult-to-child ratios, curriculum approaches, staff qualifications, and physical environments. Sikora explains why staff trained specifically in early childhood education rather than elementary education provide better experiences for young children—"it's like comparing elephants to apples"—and guides parents through evaluating center-based programs, family childcare homes, and friend/family care options based on their child's unique temperament and needs.
Perhaps most surprisingly, Sikora challenges the common parental focus on academic readiness, revealing why communication skills and problem-solving abilities matter far more than memorizing letters and numbers at early ages. She offers specific questions to ask during program visits, observations to make about toys and activities, and explains how to access helpful resources like childcareaware.org's age-specific checklists.
🔗 Resources & Checklists
• Child Care Aware — Childcare Program Checklists
• Find your local CCR&R
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Sponsored by Dr. Gregg Hassler Jr., DMD
Trusted dental care for healthy smiles and stronger communities—building brighter futures daily.
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The music in this podcast was written and performed by Brandon Picciolini of the Lonesome Family Band. Visit and follow him on Instagram.
Finding the right child care is one of the earliest and most important steps in supporting a child's development. It's not just about convenience. It's about creating the foundation for lifelong learning and growth. Welcome to the brighter side of education, research, innovation and resources. I'm your host, dr Lisa Hassler, here to enlighten and brighten the classrooms in America through focused conversation on important topics in education. In each episode, I discuss problems we as teachers and parents are facing and what people are doing in their communities to fix it. What are the variables and how can we duplicate it to maximize student outcomes?
Dr. Lisa Hassler:For many families, finding quality child care is a confusing and often frustrating journey. High demand, rising costs and limited options leave parents unsure where to turn, especially as they try to balance work and ensure their child's development is well supported. Identifying the best child care program for your child isn't just about supervision. It's foundational to a child's learning and long-term success. Studies show that high-quality care led by responsive, well-trained educators builds language, thinking and social-emotional skills that prepare children for school and life. In this episode, we'll cut through the confusion and clarify what quality childcare really means, so families can make informed choices and choose programs supported by early childhood professionals and educators who provide safe and developmentally appropriate early learning environments.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:To guide us through this important conversation, I'm joined by Judith Sikora, one of the most respected voices in early childhood education. With over three decades of leadership at national organizations like Child Care Aware of America, judy has helped shape the way early childhood systems support children and families. Her work spans program quality improvement, family engagement and policy leadership. Today, she's here to share practical insights and key points that define what quality child care really looks like and how families can focus on what is important and what matters most to them and their family. Hi, judith, it is so nice for you to join us. Welcome to the Brighter Side of Education.
Judith Sikora:Well, thank you for inviting me, Lisa. It's a pleasure to be here with you today.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:When families are thinking about child care, what kind of first steps should they take?
Judith Sikora:Well, it's important to think about a couple of things initially before you even start looking at specific programs. But think about geography. By that I mean what your route is If you go to an office. What's your route that you're going to travel, you have to think about the logistics of how is this going to work every day. That's really primary, and you also want to have your child enrolled in a program that you feel really comfortable with and you feel that that's a really rich, loving and caring environment because you're bringing your child there probably every day. So I would say that that's really the top most important things to think of before you start digging into what's important in terms of what comprises a quality child care program.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:What does it mean when a program is licensed and why does it matter?
Judith Sikora:Every state has child care licensing regulations. Child care licensing regulations vary greatly sometimes from state to state, and that's something that's very searchable online. Childcare licensing is minimum safety and health standards for a program. It is not an indicator of quality. So that's where that's kind of the where you want to start the bar. You want to make sure that the program is licensed and we're going to talk about different kinds of programs.
Judith Sikora:Safety guidelines et cetera vary based on the setting, because the physicality of the settings are different. The staff of licensed programs are required to go through certain minimal trainings on a yearly basis safety refresher courses, trainings for all kinds of areas that have to do with the licensing requirements themselves. So that's usually pretty rigorous in each state. To become licensed, there's an application process in each state. There's an evaluation of all the documentation and then a representative from the licensing office will come and visit the site, talk with the person who is the owner if it's a family child care home the owner and or the director of the program and actually go through the whole physical site look for safety, look at amount of space per child sleeping areas basically, soup to nuts.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:I would assume background checks on staff.
Judith Sikora:Sure Background checks on staff, Also the records of training. What are all the procedures that staff follow for cleanliness of even the play tables where children are involved in activities, when food is being served? Washing hands policy, toileting policy, any kind of procedures or regular rituals that that program goes through with their staff and the children would all be reviewed by the official.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:What kind of quality standards for early childhood education programs are there?
Judith Sikora:It's categorical. So you would look in categories and there's physical space, right? So there's the indoor physical space. Is there enough square footage per child? Also, how many children to how many adults should there be? It may vary from state to state, but optimally the ratio of adult caregiver per child for infants should be no more than four to one, so one adult caregiver. Then of course at the age of three that increases to 12. That's optimum. So you want to know those ratios for that program.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:Are there any other quality standards?
Judith Sikora:Yes, there's standards for curriculum. There are some very high quality early childhood curriculum products that are out there that many programs ascribe to. They're wonderful. You want to know that the program is very aware of their pinning, whatever teaching strategies and how the materials are used and what the materials are in the program to where the child is developmentally. So a typical activity day for a two-year-old may be very different than what it is for a three-year-old, and so on and so forth. Every age and stage brings with it different teaching strategies that work best based on how well developed that particular child's brain is. And you also want to make sure that there's individualization in the instruction, so if children are really interested in dinosaurs, that that caregiver is reading a lot of books about dinosaurs to that particular child and finding some private moments to give that personalized attention to each child.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:Yeah, are there any other parts of quality standards that they should know about?
Judith Sikora:Yes, there should be a schedule for the day Should be the teacher or teachers should be planning. Not in terms of rigidity, because you want to be flexible with very young children. You also want to make sure that there should be some outdoor playtime in a very safe, secure environment every day, 12 months out of the year, even in the very cold weather.
Judith Sikora:It's actually very good for children to get really bundled up even if it's for about 10, 15 minutes, and run around outside bundled up in their snowsuits, because that fresh air is really good for their lungs and it's good for health and overall wellness. And very young children need a lot of physical exercise. Outdoor play is just as important as any other part of the schedule, Resting schedule too. Just as you want rigorous physical activity, you want to make sure that there's a time for children to rest.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:Are there quality standards that programs can achieve?
Judith Sikora:Yes, there are a lot of accreditation programs on the national level that are available to programs that are really aspiring in a very voluntary way to the highest standards for a child care program. If they are accredited they are able to display that logo on their brochures. On their website, for instance, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has an accreditation process that programs can go through and that is the highest seal of quality in terms of documenting a quality program.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:Do teachers have preschool certification to teach in those types of environments you want to make?
Judith Sikora:sure the staff that are working with your children have a background specifically in early childhood education and or experience in preschool. In preschool, Having been a former college professor in early childhood programs, I will say that it's preferred to have early childhood education because when professionals are trained in early childhood education, as opposed to elementary ed, it's really so different. It's like comparing elephants to apples educating three and four-year-olds as opposed to six and seven-year-olds. Their brains are so different and the strategies are different. The whole day is configured very differently. So if your staff in your program that's serving your child has early childhood education background, that's a really good situation for you, your child and your family.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:What kinds of child care program settings are available to families, and what are the key differences between them?
Judith Sikora:I would say that there's three general categories. One is called center-based care. That would be where there's a separate program. It might be church-affiliated, it's a building, a physical space that's specific for child care. Then there is a family child care home, which, by the way, there is a family child care licensing process. States have that. And the third setting would be friend and family care, which that would be an unlicensed situation.
Judith Sikora:That's a close friend or a family member and while I think it's great a lot of families have the advantage of having very, very close family that they trust their children with every day or as they need to for their work schedule, I think it's important not to make assumptions. It's important for you to really know that person and understand if they have that ability to really care for a very rigorous preschooler. You know your child, what they can get into throughout the day, just really know your provider, and that will bring that peace of mind for you. If you do not have that resource, then relying on family child care home and a center-based program are great solutions and it depends on both your comfort level but also to the personality of your child in terms of which setting you'd like to have, thinking about the physical space.
Judith Sikora:When a family child care home it's in someone's home. So if you have a child that needs to develop friends but you think maybe a center-based program, the large physical space of a center-based program, would be too overwhelming for your child, maybe family child care home might be a good alternative to start off with child care because it's less stimulation, it's a smaller physical environment, there'd be less children. Maybe you feel like your child is very rigorous, wants to make a lot of friends and you think let's try the center-based, see how that goes. But socialization in these ages, as you can imagine, is really important for children. So choosing that setting that aligns with the temperament of your child is really, really important.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:I did a lot of neighbor care and family and then we didn't go to any center-based until three years old. So it's good to know that there are these options, you know, when they're so young to infuse both education and care into the environment, with having consistent care around the year to depend on as a parent who needs to go to work.
Judith Sikora:Right. Ask for a copy of the program's policies and procedures. You know pick up and drop off procedures, sick child policy, plus to know the specific early childhood programs. Every state has child care resource centers and there's two different acronyms that go with that CCRCs child care resource centers or CCRNR's Child Care Resource Referral Agencies. They go by those two tag names. Google that for your area. What will come up is an agency that can provide information to you based on your specific needs. Say, okay, I'm looking for licensed center-based programs in this particular county, can you help me? And there are people live, human beings, that will answer the phone and help you navigate that in terms of locating those programs to see, and they will also give you a specific list of licensed programs. State websites will do that as well. Don't overlook it's really great to tap into your local child care resources.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:So what is Head Start, and how does that fit into all this?
Judith Sikora:Okay, there's Head Start and then there's Early Head Start. It's age specific, so Early Head Start is infancy through the age of three, and then Head Start is for preschoolers, age three through five. Both Early Head Start and Head Start are the only direct federally funded early childhood programs in our country. They are programs that are income-based, so it's based on a family's income sliding fee scale, that sort of thing and they're comprehensive services programs. By that I mean that there's parent education, there are educational programs for the children, but there's also a very high component of parent involvement in both Early Head Start and Head Start programs. In order to maintain their status as an early Head Start or Head Start program, there are rigorous program performance standards which these programs must adhere to. I used to be quite involved with early Head Start and Head Start in the review process, so it's very rigorous and it's a great option for families that have a limited income.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:If you were looking at a center, would it just say that they are a Head Start facility? Or can they be a private entity and then have Head Start qualifications and certifications and then other quality markers as well? So can you accept Head Start but also serve anybody who walks in the door?
Judith Sikora:Sometimes there are programs that have those blendings where they are considered a Head Start grantee and they can also be serving more children that are not receiving Head Start and or early Head Start funds for as well.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:Okay, a parent is at the child care program. What should they be looking for and what kind of questions should they be asking?
Judith Sikora:So do you have a copy of your policies and procedures that I can review and see if I have any questions about that's the first question. You want to look at the qualifications of the staff. You want to look at the physical space. Does it look very clean? Do you see staff cleaning tables in between activities? They're prepping for a snack or lunchtime. What rituals are they going through to make sure that things are sanitary and that there's no health risks? You want to see that cleaning materials and solutions and things like that are in locked cabinets, labeled so that they can't reach that.
Judith Sikora:What's the policy procedure for parents coming to visit Like? What are their procedures for parent involvement? Think about what your needs are, and that will drive a lot of the questions that you ask if they are serving food. This is a quick example. My child is trying a new food. You know what's your policy with that? How do you proceed with that? Because you know our eating patterns with families are very, very different and we want our own patterns to be respected. There may be certain foods that you don't want your child to ever eat, right Because of your own beliefs. I also think something that is really not as scripted but I think is really important is, you know, we all have our inner I call it my gut, but my that feeling.
Judith Sikora:When you walk into a program, how does it feel to you? Does it feel like a friend place? It shouldn't feel regimented, but it should feel ritualized to a certain extent because staff are following certain procedures, right. But you know, when children have a need, do you see the staff saying excuse me, wait one minute, I'm talking to John, I'll be with you in a minute. And then they do circle back and respond to the child. So are the staff responsive? Do they put their arm around the child's shoulder when they're talking to them to help with eye contact? And I would strongly suggest that you do observe them during a normal day.
Judith Sikora:It's also important to understand that when you add a stranger into a room, it changes the dynamics of the children. Little ones will come up to you, say hi name is, are you going to stay here? You know which? It'll be a little different. So just know that your insertion into that space changes the human dynamics that are happening. But you're still going to get a good indicator of how a normal period of time proceeds in a classroom if you observe.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:What would you look for in regards?
Judith Sikora:to toys, oh well, we want them to be developmentally appropriate. We want them to be clean. It's different for different ages and stages, for infants and toddlers. When you're talking up to age three in particular, you know children are still very oral and that's normal because children are very tactile. So you want to, you know you want to know what the toy cleaning procedure is, because you know children are putting things in their mouth.
Judith Sikora:With preschoolers you want to see a variety of toys that are available. Things are neatly stacked on shelves. Maybe they're labeled with a picture and a word, easily accessible. Children are encouraged to clean up. Cleanup time is part of the learning process. So after they're playing in blocks, they are putting the blocks away. There's usually shape and picture labels along shelves to guide children so they know it doesn't take them very long to figure out how to do that.
Judith Sikora:You don't want to really see too much done as a whole group setting. You want to see activity tables where children can freely go from one activity table to another, because children in the preschool ages older twos up through five-year-olds they have a shorter attention span. What we're trying to do is grow their attention span as their brain develops. So you want to see that they have choices Blocks. There should be wooden blocks. There should be a family living center where they can pretend and have, dress up clothes and work through their communications and their social skills. You want to see manipulative areas where there's wooden puzzles and toys that they can stack, sorting activities based on their whim. They can sort according to color or size or physicality somehow, or shape. So good time to throw in.
Judith Sikora:What's really most important at these ages is to help children develop their problem-solving skills and their communication skills. Very often parents they think that this is the most important thing for children to know their colors, their shapes, their alphabet letters and their numbers. Those are very important elements of rote knowledge. However, those will kind of organically come when the child is exposed to these things and in the context of a really rich, healthy social environment where they can develop their communication skills. So I wouldn't be very fixated on that. Like drilling children with that, their exposure to it. They're going to be curious and when they're curious about something you pick up and say did you want to know more about that? Well, let's talk about this. So like taking their lead is really the best way because when they're interested they're going to learn more when they're initiating that interest, they're going to learn.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:That's good to know Now you've worked extensively in designing resources that support quality improvement. What strategies have you seen work best for elevating standards in child care programs?
Judith Sikora:I think what's most important is that the staff who are qualified in early childhood education.
Judith Sikora:It's not an easy job. It's constant multitasking, it's keeping up on your own professional education, it's changing course in a split second, sometimes based on the circumstances. So it's a stressful job and I think what's most important for early childhood programs is when the staff know that they are supported, that people get it in terms of the rigor of their job and communicating as much as parents and families would like regarding how that child's day was what they did. That was new that day. Early childhood professionals overall are very dedicated and they really love families. They're there because they really want to be part of that happening.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:As we wrap up, do you have any advice for families regarding child care and educational development? And then those sites. What website is that and what kind of checklists and?
Judith Sikora:then those sites. What website is that and what kind of checklists? Okay, the website is childcarewareorg and if you search, there's a parent portion in that website and in there you can look up child care program checklists and they'll have checklists. There's a quick checklist. The quick checklist is for if you have to make a quick change in care absolutely what you need to look for, and there's also a breakdown list based on age range. So there's infant and toddler checklist, there's a preschool checklist and then there's a before and after school care checklist too. Parents can go to that and review as part of their preparation before they go to individual programs to check out.
Judith Sikora:I think overall, we really have to listen to our intuition. How does it feel? Does it feel friendly? Does it feel welcoming? Do people look at you and smile? You know, and just get a good overview before you dig in and you start looking at those checklists? Or you're reviewing policies and procedures because you know your child best and a program that respects that. You know your child best. That's what's to look for, because there'll be times when you need to interact or there may be some miscommunication and you want to know that they will be responsive and really hear you. That's part of shopping for a program. Everyone can have great days.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:Well, thank you so much for joining us today and for sharing all of your expertise and practical guidance with quality measures and what to be asking. Thank you.
Judith Sikora:Well, thank you for having me, Lisa. It's been a pleasure talking to you.
Dr. Lisa Hassler:If today's conversation helped clarify what quality child care looks like. Share this episode with someone who might be starting their own search. If you have a story about what's working in your schools that you'd like to share, you can email me at lisa at drlisahasslercom, or visit my website at wwwdrlisahasslercom and send me a message. If you like this podcast, subscribe and tell a friend. The more people that know, the bigger impact it will have, thank you, affecting positive change.
Judith Sikora:So let's keep working together to find solutions that focus on our children's success.
