Child Care and Early Education Research Connections

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The child care & early education glossary defines terms used to describe aspects of child care and early education practice and policy; the research glossary defines terms used in conducting social science and policy research, for example those describing methods, measurements, statistical procedures, and other aspects of research.

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
Scaffolding
Refers to a method of teaching new concepts that typically involves leveraging skills and knowledge that children already have. An example of scaffolding might involve asking leading questions to allow a child to come to the correct conclusion or outcome on his or her own.
School Age Child Care
Child care that takes place outside of regular school hours for children over the age of 5. See related: Out of School Time (OST) child care; After-School Program.
School Based Child Care
Child care programs that occur in school facilities.
School Readiness
A term to describe the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to successfully transition to, and perform well in, the early school years. School readiness is typically determined based on children's developmental status and progress in the following five domains: language and literacy development, cognition and general knowledge, Approaches to Learning, physical well-being and motor development, and social and emotional development.
Self Regulation
The ability to control one’s emotions, behaviors, and thought processes in order to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Examples of self-regulation in children include being able to wait a short time for something they wants and calming oneself down after becoming upset. See related: Executive Function.
Separation Anxiety
Anxiety or distress experienced by a child when separated from a primary caregiver or attachment figure. Separation anxiety typically starts around 8-12 months when infants/toddlers develop an understanding of object permanence (that things and people exist even when they're not present).
Sick/Ill Child Care
Non-medical child care services provided to a children with mild, temporary illnesses, that prevent them from attending regular child care programming. Sick Child Care is sometimes referred to as "mildly ill child care."
Sliding Fee Scale
A formula for determining the child care fees or Copayments that families are required to pay their child care provider, usually based on family income. Families that are eligible for CCDF-subsidized child care pay fees according to an income-based sliding fee scale developed by the state, territory, or tribe.
Social Impact Bonds (SIB)
An innovative financial tool, sometimes referred to as "Pay for Success" financing, that enables government agencies to pay for programs that deliver results. In a SIB agreement, the government sets a specific, measurable outcome that it wants achieved in a population and promises to pay an external organization/intermediary if, and only if, the organization accomplishes the desired outcome. Through SIBs, investors provide the working capital for the external organization to hire and manage social service providers. Then, if the deliverables are met, the government releases an agreed-upon sum of money to the external organization, which then repays its investors with a return for taking on the upfront risk.
Social-Emotional Development
Refers to the development process whereby children learn to identify and understand their own feelings, accurately read and comprehend emotional states in others, manage and express strong emotions in constructive manners, regulate their behavior, develop empathy for others, and establish and maintain relationships.
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