Well THAT was Enlightening

[Josiegirl]

I attended a workshop last night about STARS and the Environmental Rating Scale, feeling I'd be well equipped to walk away from it with a good feeling about going for my next level Star. All I can ask is why in he!! do they have to make everything so difficult? And while the teacher was very nice and nervous herself(which I always find endearing) it was hard to understand a lot of her explanations.

They stay for 3 hours and just kind of stay out of the way. It drives me absolutely crazy to have the state licensing inspection every year and that only takes about 30-60 minutes.
I need to get the FCCERS book so I can see where I stand. If I do decide to go through with it at least I won't need another one for 3 more years.
I didn't know this but you can request they come out and do an unscored assessment so you can learn where to improve and how. Then call again 6 months later and do the real deal.

[Josiegirl]

I do need to add that what she said about free play was something we all agreed with. They require 3 hours out of a 9 hr. day to be strictly free play. More important than crafts(that she even said were parent pleasers), and more important than so many other things we tend to make our daycares into. She even said more than structure. IF we spend the majority of our day outside then we do need to bring some of our indoor things outside to include the play out there.

[spedmommy4]

It would be a good idea to get a preview to see where you stand. Also, buy the current book and read through it. A LOT of the fccers is counting to ensure you have a certain number of everything. (Eg: diverse pictures, kids art on the wall, math manips, etc) And counting to make sure you wash your hands for 30 seconds, sanitize for exactly two minutes, stay outside for x amount of time, and have x amount of free play. The rest of the fccers assesses for positive interactions with the kids and families. If you know what they are looking for, you'll do fine.

[Annalee]

I attended a workshop last night about STARS and the Environmental Rating Scale, feeling I'd be well equipped to walk away from it with a good feeling about going for my next level Star. All I can ask is why in he!! do they have to make everything so difficult? And while the teacher was very nice and nervous herself(which I always find endearing) it was hard to understand a lot of her explanations.

They stay for 3 hours and just kind of stay out of the way. It drives me absolutely crazy to have the state licensing inspection every year and that only takes about 30-60 minutes.
I need to get the FCCERS book so I can see where I stand. If I do decide to go through with it at least I won't need another one for 3 more years.
I didn't know this but you can request they come out and do an unscored assessment so you can learn where to improve and how. Then call again 6 months later and do the real deal.

I feel for ya! Still waiting on my scores. Also, we limit our outside play to 1 hour daily because we meet the counted requirements of materials on the inside and we have to get that 3 hours of accessible time to these materials daily. I do not meet those requirements outside......near impossible the way they score here....bringing those materials to non-mobile infants is also quite the challenge! Good luck!