Child Care Programs
Discover how one child care center uses ASQ to make a difference.
Woodbrook Early Education Center implemented ASQ® to ensure that each child they care for is prepared for school when they enter Kindergarten. Hear from Director Dawn Baker on the importance of early intervention and see how they’ve woven ASQ into their program.
The benefits of implementing ASQ in a child care program.
As a child care professional, you know how important it is to regularly check children’s development. Here are just a few reasons why child care programs like yours trust the easy to use, parent-completed ASQ for their developmental screenings.
ASQ helps with NAEYC accreditation and QRIS. Developmental screening is especially critical if, like many child care programs across the country, you’re seeking NAEYC accreditation or participating in a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS). You’ll need to show that your program is conducting regular developmental screenings—and you’ll want to be sure you’re using the very best screener available. Using a valid, highly reliable screening tool like ASQ is an important step toward higher QRIS scores in many states.
ASQ is parent-completed. Studies show that parents’ observations of their children are excellent predictors of developmental delays. Since ASQ is a parent-completed tool, it makes the most of families’ in-depth knowledge and helps them become active partners in the screening process.
It is easy for you to use, too. You can also complete ASQ to pinpoint children’s strengths and help identify children with developmental or social-emotional concerns. ASQ questionnaires are easy for busy child care professionals to complete. They’re fast and reader-friendly, and the tips and illustrations help you give the most accurate responses.
ASQ is family friendly, with fun learning activities. The ASQ system includes fun, simple, and inexpensive learning activities that you can use with kids during the day and parents can use at home. The activities cover the same five developmental areas screened with ASQ and help children progress in areas of concern.
It is culturally sensitive and appropriate. Not only is ASQ®-3 the most reliable, valid developmental screener available, it’s also been thoroughly reviewed for cultural sensitivity. Illustrations, wording, and examples in the ASQ-3 questionnaires have been refined according to user feedback, so parents of diverse backgrounds can give the most accurate responses.
It improves partnerships with families. ASQ makes it easy to share children’s strengths with families, which helps you improve your rapport with parents. With ASQ, parents also have an easy way to learn about developmental milestones and actively encourage their child’s progress.
ASQ helps you learn even more about child development. With ASQ’s clear picture of developmental norms at specific age intervals, you’ll expand and deepen your own knowledge about age-appropriate milestones.
Training DVDs and customized professional development are available. Child care staff with varying levels of education and expertise can use ASQ, typically with very little training. You can use the DVD training tools with your staff—they’re short, inexpensive, and can be viewed as often as needed. Or you can maximize your use of ASQ through customized on-site seminars or the annual training institutes led by the developers of ASQ-3 and ASQ®:SE. Whatever your needs, there’s an option for you!
