WEB QUEST:
PARENTHOOD + CAREER = CHILD CARE

Learning Experience by Martha J. Antonello, Northport High School, Northport - East Northport NY School District Member of the New York State Academy for Teaching and Learning

LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Purpose: The goal of this learning experience is for students to become aware of the special challenges working parents of young children face.

With fewer traditional families and more dual-career families, the demand for quality child care services has increased significantly. The availability of good child care has not kept up with the demand. Parents want the right match between child and child care.

In the first part of the assignment the students will assume a role in a team of experts employed by a fictitious child care placement and referral service. Each student will be required to gather information concerning the clients and their child care needs. Each team member will be instructed to answer questions, compile and analyze data from assigned web sites on the internet.

Next, the student will complete a written report on their findings.

Next, the team will select a child care facility based on information gathered by all team members.

Finally, the team will visit the child care facility and complete a quality checklist. In a collaborative effort a formal recommendation will be compiled to be presented to the clients.

Guiding Questions: How is developmental well-being achieved through management of family resources (time, energy, economics)?

What caregiving conditions are necessary to promote a child’s health, safety and positive development?

What resources outside the family are available to support healthy family relationships and healthcare?

Experience:
· WEB QUEST

Connection to Course Curriculum: This Web Quest is written for the full credit Child Psychology and Development course offered in the family and consumer sciences area. It can be used as a cooperative group project. This learning experience is used as a summative assessment, completed at the end of an Infant and Toddler Unit Learning that includes all aspects of development.

PROCEDURE
Today, most American families rely on child-care providers to help raise their children, often beginning in the first weeks or months of life. Reliable, high-quality child care has obvious benefits for parents, by allowing peace of mind, and for employers by boosting productivity. Many new parents are apprehensive about starting their child care search. They wonder what they should do first, and what the overall process looks like. But just like any large project, evaluating child care options can be broken down into smaller more manageable segments.

The students become a team member employed by a fictitious child care placement and referral service, an agency designed to assist parents in selecting quality child care services for their children.

Each member of the team will select a role to be played for this project. The Finance Expert will determine whether it pays for both parents to work, a Family Counselor will assist the parents in identifying their “parent philosophy”, and lastly, a Child Care Consultant is responsible for identifying various child care options and the pros and cons of each.

After selecting their role, all members of the team will review the background information concerning the clients. Students will need to research (as a team) finances, parent philosophy, child care options and available facilities. The web sites available to the students listed in the Resource section will provide answers to these questions.

The team of experts will receive information on the clients. Once all the background information is collected, each expert will then be ready to research his or her particular area of expertise. Students will use the resources available to them in order to collect the necessary data.

When all information from each expert is collected, the students will proceed in compiling their written report. The report will include facts on the extra cost of child care, “parenting philosophy “, various child care options, and the pros and cons of each. The reports will be completed using any word processing software available, following the preestablished template.

The student’s final duty will be to select a local child care facility, visit the facility and complete a quality checklist.

After analyzing the situation, the team will present a final written recommendation for the clients based on their findings. The report will include findings on the extra cost of child care, “parenting philosophy “, various child care options, and the pros and cons of each. The final child care recommendation will include background information on the facility chosen and a completed quality checklist.

INSTRUCTIONAL/ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATIONS
The academically challenged students who utilize resource room assistance work closely with their teachers to complete their written piece. The teacher communicates regularly with the resource room teachers on student progress.

• Bilingual students are given a tutor to help complete their written piece. Translating the directions into the native language of the student may also be done by the ESL teacher
• Additional time is allowed for students as needed, allowing more time to complete the project and prepare the final copy for presentation.
• Physical modifications of the classroom setting are necessary for students with special needs. My classroom has tables, which are portable. The flexible furniture arrangement can accommodate students with mobility restrictions.
• Students who are visually or hearing impaired may need some modifications for portions of the lesson.
• Enlarged materials could meet the needs of students who need adaptation for vision.
• Seating placement within the room also accommodates some of these special needs.
  

TIME REQUIRED
Planning and preparation for the teacher:

• Duplication of student packets: (1 hour)
• Explanation of Web Quest Assignment (30 min)
• Assessment of individual Web Quest Assignment (2 hours per class)

Planning and preparation for the student:

• One 40-minute class period is needed to introduce the Web Quest Assignment, the criteria for completion and the assessment tool.
• Students have two consecutive days, two 40-minute class periods, in the computer lab to complete their research on the internet. They will use this time to confer with other team members and share information.
• Students have one day in the computer lab to work with their team to select a child care facility and make arrangements for a visit.
• Students have one week to schedule a visitation at a child care facility and compile the information for their child care recommendation. They refer to the performance level rubric to make sure that all criteria have been met. The child care recommendation is placed in its cover and is ready to hand in for evaluation. Students complete a collaborative rubric for each member of the team.
• During a 40-minute class period students share their finished child care recommendation with their classmates. Students reflect and share some of the positive features of the finished product.
  

ASSESSMENT PLAN

Formative Assessment Strategies
Observations of student comment during class discussion.

Summative Assessment Strategies
Students submit the following work samples:
Completed Child Care Facility Quality Checklist
Completed Child Care Recommendation
Completed Collaboration Rubric

Summative Assessment Strategies
Specific Rubric for Scoring Child Care Recommendation

STUDENT WORK
Sample Child Care Recommendations in a separate section
Rubric for scoring

Student Packet
Web Quest:
Parenthood + Career = Child Care

Name_________________________________Date____________Period________

Introduction
Today, most American families rely on child-care providers to help raise their children, often beginning in the first weeks or months of life. Reliable, high-quality child care has obvious benefits for parents, by allowing peace of mind, and for employers by boosting productivity. Many new parents are apprehensive about starting their child care search. They wonder what they should do first, and what the overall process looks like. But just like any large project, evaluating child care options can be broken down into smaller more manageable segments.

Task
The TLC, Child Care Placement and Referral Services, Inc employ you and your team members. TLC is an agency designed to assist parents in selecting quality child care services for their children. Private consultations are given in order to determine which programs will best meet the needs of both parent and child.

Your expertise is needed immediately! You will be introduced to the clients today. Sessions have been scheduled with the Finance Expert, Family Counselor, and Child Care Consultant within your team. Once you have compiled the necessary information on family finances, parenting philosophy, and child care options, your team of experts will be presenting all the gathered information into a written report. Your final duty will be to select a child care facility, visit the facility and complete a quality checklist.

Resources
Following is a list of web sites that will be valuable to each member of the team while compiling data.

Family Finance Expert
* Should Both of You Work?
- Offspringmag.com
>click on the briefcase, complete activity, and print

Family Counselor
* Finding Care/Tools
* What Type of Care is Good for You?
- careguide.com
>click on child care, click on finding care, scroll to toolbox, click on quiz: "What Type of Care is Good for you?” answer and print

* Finding Care/ Articles
* What’s Your Parenting Philosophy?
- Careguide.com
>click on finding care, click on articles, scroll to “Getting Ready for Care”, click on “What’s Your Parenting Philosophy?” answer and print

Child Care Consultant
* What are the Child Care Options?
- careguide.com
>click on Child Care, click on Finding Care, click on Articles, scroll to Care Options, click on “What are the Child Care Options?” “Pros and Cons of Care Options”, fill out graphic organizer

* Pros and Cons of Care Options
- careguide.com
>click on Child Care, click on Finding Care, click on Articles, scroll to Care Options, click on “Pros and Cons of Care Options”, and fill out graphic organizer

All Members of the Team
* Finding Care/ Child Care Search
- careguide.com
>click on Child Care, click on Finding Care, click on Search for Child Care, select an area to visit

* Finding Care/Tools
- careguide.com
>click on Child Care, click on Finding Care, click on Search for Child Care, click on Checklists, print checklist

The Process

1. First you will be assigned to a team of 3 students. As a team each member should choose a role they would like to play for this project. You will need a Finance Expert who will determine whether it pays for both parents to work, a Family Counselor who will assist the parents in identifying their “parent philosophy”, and lastly, you will need a Child Care Consultant who will be responsible for identifying various child care options and the pros and cons of each.
2. After selecting your role, all members of the team will review the background information concerning the clients. You will need to research (as a team) finances, parent philosophy, child care options and available facilities. The web sites available to you through the Resource section should provide answers to these questions.
3. The team of experts will meet with and interview the clients. Once all the background information is collected, each expert will then be ready to research his or her area of expertise. Use the resources available to you in order to collect the necessary data.
4. When all information from each expert is collected, it will be time to proceed to compiling your written report. The report will include facts on the extra cost of child care, “parenting philosophy “, various child care options, and the pros and cons of each. Your reports will be completed using any word processing software available to you, following the preestablished template. Feel free to copy the outline provided into your software program to work from.
5. Your final duty will be to select a local child care facility, visit the facility and complete a quality checklist.
6. After analyzing the situation, your team will present to the clients a final written recommendation based on your findings. The report will include findings on the extra cost of child care, “parenting philosophy “, various child care options, and the pros and cons of each. The final child care recommendation will include background information on the facility chosen and a completed quality checklist.

Evaluation
You will be evaluated on your individual level of cooperation and participation, the quality of the information gathered for your particular role, as well as the content and quality of your group’s final report and recommendation. A rubric for this project was created in order for you to better understand the requirements and how you will be evaluated on your overall project.

Conclusion
Congratulations, you are now equipped with the tools necessary to select quality child care. By going through the process you have just completed, you should now be more aware of

• The need to review family finances
• The role “parenting philosophy” plays in the selection of child care
• The pros and cons of various child care options
• The components of quality child care
• Child care planning information resources that are available on the internet.
  

RESOURCES:

Agencies and Organizations List
http://careguide.com/j.cgi?U_Type=MIPCL&T_Src=cg2&Ofn=c_fc_home_2000_3cwwn.html&l

Child Care Checklist http://careguide.com/j.cgi?U_Type=MIPCL&T_Src=cg2&Ofn=c_fc_home_2000_3cwwn.html&l

Should Both of You Work?
http://offspringmag.com/tool/work

What are the Child Care Options
http://careguide.com/j.cgi?U_Type=MIPCL&T_Src=cg2&Ofn=&l_AcctNumber=&R_Sstate&T_:

What Type of Care is Good for You?
http://careguide.com/j.cgi?U_Type=MIPCL&T_Src=cg2&Ofn=c_fc_home_2000_3cwwn.html&l

What’s Your Parenting Philosophy?
http://careguide.com/j.cgi?U_Type=MIPCL&T_Src=cg2&Ofn=&l_AcctNumber=&R_Sstate=&T_:

REPORT TEMPLATE

Please establish the following guidelines while compiling and presenting information on your final report. Be sure to use complete sentences and thoughts in your writing; do not simply state a reply to what is being asked. Please include the headings in your actual report, as outlined.

I. Your Client

a. What is the family dynamics of your client?

1. How many children?
2. What are the ages of the children?
3. How many parents are living in the house?

b. How would you describe the second salary career?

1. What is the annual salary?
2. Where is the work place located?
3. Is the position full time or part time?
4. What is the typical length and time of day of work?

II. Finance Expert

a. What financial information is needed to determine if both parents should work?

1. What is the second salary?
2. Can you list the tax expenditures and what they represent?
3. What are the estimated child care expenses?
4. What is the cost of commuting?
5. What other expenses are associated with working?
6. What would the actual cash flow be from the second salary?

b. What conclusion can you draw from the financial analysis of your client?

c. Are there non-monetary reasons for he second salary and how important are they?

d. What is your final recommendation?

III. Family Counselor

a. What type of Care is Best for the Client?

1. What kind of environment is best for the child?
2. Is there flexibility in terms of pick-up and drop-off times?
3. What is the ideal child care group?
4. What kind of training should the child care provider have?
5. Is state regulation a concern regarding child care?
6. What conclusions can be drawn from this survey?

b. What is the client’s parenting philosophy?

1. How should the child be physically comforted?
2. What system of discipline should the child care provider use?
3. Should rewards be used for positive behavior? What type of rewards?
4. What behaviors should be encouraged?
5. How should the issue of bad language be addressed?
6. How much television and what types of shows should be watched?
7. What attributes are important in the child care provider?
8. How should the child be taught?
9. Is the child care provider's religion a deciding factor?
10. Who will determine the schedule for the child?
11. How can the child care provider be a role model for the child?
12. What conclusions can be drawn from this parenting philosophy questionnaire?

IV. Child Care Consultant

a. What are the child care options available to the client?

1. What does In-home Care consist of?
2. What does Family Day Care consist of?
3. What does Center Care consist of?

b. What are the pros and cons of care options?

1. What are the pros and cons of In-Home Care?
2. What are the pros and cons of Family Day Care?
3. What are the pros and cons of Center Care?

c. What would be the best child care option for the client?

V. Facility Selection and Quality Checklist

a. What are the results of the child care search?

1. What surrounding area did your search include?
2. What facilities match the needs of the client?
3. What information were you able to obtain from the search and the facilities web sites?
4. What facility was chosen for the client?
5. Based on the team member reports; why is the facility choice the best possible one for the client?

b. How did the visitation and checklist compliment the final decision?

REFLECTIONS BY THE TEACHER:

First envisioned by Bernie Doge, at San Diego State University, Web Quests are classroom activities that allow students to explore concepts and lessons related to the curriculum by using the Internet as a primary source of information. The idea behind a Web Quest is that, students working together in small groups of three to five, are faced with a problem to solve or information to gather. Web Quests can be used to develop knowledge and skills around any subject, any discipline.

There is so much information pertaining to parenting available on the inernet. The Web Quest allows the students to explore, extrapolate and analyze information that can be used to solve a current parenting problem, quality child care.

The goal of this learning experience is for students to become aware of the special challenges working parents of young children face. With fewer traditional families and more dual-career families, the demand for quality child care services has increased significantly. The availability of good child care has not kept up with the demand. Parents want the right match between child and child care. The Web Quest leads the student on a step by step decision making journey that parents must do to ensure a safe, healthy, and stimulating environment for their children during the hours that child care is needed. Its important for the students to become aware of the internet and the value of the information that can be utilized during such a process.

The students were stunned by the costs involved for quality child care. They arrived at a bottom line; just how much of the second salary would be available to the couple after taxes, child care costs, and expenses pertaining to work. Students were faced with the reality that parenthood plus career is not such an easy equation to solve. As more and more females select higher education and embark on careers of their own it becomes increasingly more difficult for them to make these child care decision. They love the parent role but they equally love their career. This assignment helped students become aware of the challenges that lie ahead.

STANDARDS AND COMMENCEMENT LEVEL INDICATORS:

NYS Health, Physical Education and Family and Consumer Science
Standard 2: Students will acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment.

FCS a. Students understand the stages of child development and apply this knowledge to activities designed to enrich the physical, social, mental, and emotional development of a young child.

FCS b. Students apply housing principles (e.g., design and safety) to meet the needs of family members of all ages and abilities.

Standard 3: Students will be able to manage their personal and community resources.

FCS a. Students analyze a wide range of factors related to managing personal resources to balance obligations to work, family, and self.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND OCCUPATIONAL STUDIES
Standard 3a: Students will demonstrate mastery of the foundation skills and competencies essential for success in the workplace.

Technology 5A. Students apply their knowledge of technology to identify and solve problems.

Managing Information 6A. Students use technology to acquire, organize, and communicate information by entering, modifying, and storing data.

MATH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY
Standard 2: Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

Information Systems 1C. Students access, select, collate, and analyze information obtained from a wide range of sources such as research data bases, foundations, organizations, national libraries, and electronic communication networks, including the internet.

NEW YORK STATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

1.1d. Students make distinctions about the relative value and significance of specific data, facts and ideas.

1.2a. Students write and present research reports, feature articles, and thesis/support papers on a variety of topics related to all school subjects.

1.2d. Students support interpretations and decisions about relative significance of information with explicit statement, evidence, and appropriate argument.

Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

3.1a. Students analyze interpret, and evaluate ideas, information, organization, and language of a wide range of general and technical texts and presentations across subject areas, including technical manuals, professional journals, political speeches, and literary criticism.

FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES EDUCATION NATIONAL STANDARDS

Comprehensive Standard 15.0: Evaluate the impact of parenting roles and responsibilities on strengthening the well-being of individuals and families.
Standard 15.1: Analyze roles and responsibilities of parenting.

15.1.2. Examine expectations and responsibilities of parenting.

15.1.3. Determine consequences of parenting practices to the individual, family, and society.

Standard 15.2: Evaluate parenting practices that maximize human growth and development.

15.2.1. Choose nurturing practices that support human growth and development.

15.2.5. Determine criteria for selecting care and services for children.

Standard 15.3: Evaluate external support systems that provide services for parents.

15.3.1. Assess community resources and services available to families.

15.3.2. Appraise community resources that provide opportunities related to parenting.

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