Tom what does this mean? "The way to overcome this ignorance is to be proactive in educating others about the positive impact preschool teachers make on the lives of young children. All the research supports this."

What research are you refferring to?

I have to agree with JoAnn's on this. The child care industry has done this to themselves. The misues of the word teacher has finally been CAUGHT by big business.

In my State you can have a Center with three hundred kids and not have a single person in the building that has even a GED except for the director who has to have a high school diploma.

Every single center in my area calls their staff teachers. The staff can walk into the building without a high school education and not even a GED and within a couple of days of background checking and a physical they can be put into a room and be called Teacher from that day on. The amount of "education" they have to have is a two hour child abuse class and by the anniversary of their first year of service they have to have tweleve hours of CHILD CARE classes that are NOT college classes. When I say twelve hours I mean twelve sixty minute hours. THAT'S IT.

The state of Iowa does NOT regulate that term. The Centers use the word because it makes them money. It makes the parents feel like their child is with an educated person.

I can't speak to the home schooling part because I don't know their reasoning for that but I say cheers to them for taking a stand on this term that is so misused.

I hope you haven't been smitten by the research on poor kids and early childhood intervention. YES preschool is valuable to children who are the poorest of the poor and who live in underprivledged environments. Other than that subsect of the population, I haven't found any research to back up that preschool makes any signficant difference in any measurable life outcome for lower middle class, middle class, upper middle class, or wealthy children. That's the blunt of our kid population.

You said: Are Family Child Care Providers Teachers?
Jacqueline Crocker always thought so. She has been a licensed family child care provider in the Kansas City area for over 20 years. She is accredited by the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC)

Here is the NAFCC's Eligibility criteria: http://www.sncs.org/downloads/provid...pplication.pdf


Be at least 21 years of age. Have a high school diploma or GED.
Provide care to children for a minimum of 15 hours per week.
Provide care to a minimum of three children in a home environment.
At least one child must not reside in the provider’s home.
Be the primary caregiver, spending at least 80% of the operating hours actively involved with the children.
Co-providers must spend at least 60% of the time actively involved with the children.
Have at least 12 months experience as a family child care provider. Meet the highest level of regulation to operate a family child care program by the authorized regulatory body.
Be in compliance with all regulations of the authorized regulatory body . Have a favorable state and federal criminal history.
Be in good health in order to provide a nurturing and stable environment for children.
Maintain a current CPR and Pediatric First Aid certification. Adhere to the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct .

You see why JoAnn's doesn't accept that as proof of being a teacher?