Together, let’s celebrate child care providers on National Provider Appreciation Day^® — Friday, May 8, 2020. Whether you are part of a Child Care Resource and Referral agency (CCR&R), a business, a non-profit organization or a family who has relied on a child care provider, you recognize the important role providers have in caring for our nation’s children. They nurture and educate our youngest citizens while supporting parents who want or need to be part of our nation’s workforce.

Honoring child care providers will take on a more profound meaning for many this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Child care programs have been faced with many challenges: making difficult decisions about whether to close their doors or remain open to provide emergency care for essential workers, dealing with financial uncertainty, keeping informed on rapidly changing protocols, navigating financial relief programs and much more. Despite the challenges, child care providers continue to take steps to do what is best for children and families. Providers are among this country’s unsung heroes. 

By Aly Richards, CEO of Let’s Grow Kids and Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D., Executive Director of Child Care Aware^® of America

Any discussion of essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic should include the child care providers who are caring for the children of first responders, health care workers and other essential service workers. These providers are putting their own and their families’ health at risk and helping us through this pandemic. We must provide them with the financial, health and safety resources they need as essential personnel.   

When states ordered that K-12 schools close and colleges shuttered their campuses – steps taken to slow the spread of COVID-19 — technology stepped up. Students in communities across the country are continuing their learning virtually, in the relative safety and comfort of their homes.   

But what about our youngest learners? It’s just as important that toddlers and preschoolers keep learning, and that they maintain schedules and routines. With so many early care and education (ECE) programs temporarily (we hope) closing, it’s been difficult for both parents and their young children. There’s now an alternative for those families – a Pop-up Early Learning Program developed by an Atlanta-based school. 

You do so much to support the kids in your care. It’s not the kind of care you can put a price on in normal times, let alone during a public health crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. This is when all the handwashing lessons, the cover-your-mouth-when-you-cough lessons and the be-nice-to-your-neighbors lessons really matter. The support and leadership you provide will resonate for the rest of your kids’ lives.

Every child deserves the chance to eat healthy food and play every day. Because 60 % children under age 6 spend much of their time in care outside of their homes, early care and education (ECE) settings are important places for children to build healthy habits.

COVID-19 has changed the day-to-day lives of many families with babies and young children. Some parents are seeking ideas for additional ways to interact with their children because they are now working from home or spending more time at home because of social distancing. On the other hand, some parents may have less time with their children because they are working on the front lines of the pandemic: health care professionals, emergency responders or other workers in essential businesses or services. For all families, everyday routines such as mealtime, playtime or bedtime – or even diaper changing – offer opportunities to connect with children and build their developing brains. Vroom^®, a global early childhood initiative, offers free tips to parents on how to add learning to daily routines.