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Early Childhood Care

Easterseals' childhood care services provide welcoming settings where young children can experience positive learning and development.

Overview

Trusted by families for more than 100 years, parents can be confident that Easterseals' professional staff of early educators and therapists exemplify the difference that quality care can make in a child’s life. These services are available at many Easterseals locations across the country.   

Because caregivers are a child’s first and most important teachers, we partner with parents and caregivers early—providing tools, therapies, and inclusive learning environments that help children thrive while helping families navigate services with confidence. 

Empowering Early Development: The Impact of Early Intervention Services 

Early intervention services help infants, toddlers, and young children with developmental delays or other disabilities achieve cognitive, social, emotional, communicative, and physical development—while also supporting caregivers with guidance and care coordination along the way. Services may include:  

  • Occupational therapy to help infants learn to hold their bottle
  • Physical therapy to help them learn to roll over
  • Or speech therapy to help them learn to eat or speak. 

Most early intervention services take place in the home or at childcare facilities in the local community—where families and caregivers can practice strategies in real time and build confidence in daily routines.  

Early intervention helps to minimize the need for special education and related services once infants and toddlers reach school age. Early childhood intervention programs have been shown to yield benefits in academic achievement, regulating behavior, employment success, and more. 

Find Your Easterseals For Early Childhood Care

Children have the benefit of learning from teachers who are trained to work with different learning styles and provide individualized education plans (IEPs) that address the specific needs and goals of each student. Easterseals also helps families and caregivers navigate services and connect to local supports. Contact your local Easterseals to learn more.

Make the First Five Years Count: A Child Development Screening Tool 

Throughout the critical first years of life, early intervention services and support can have a significant impact on a child’s ability to learn new skills and overcome barriers to increase success in school and life. To help families make the most of these five years, we encourage parents and caregivers to stay informed, trust their instincts, and identify early signs of developmental delays so they can connect to supports as early as possible.  

Building a Strong Start with Childcare Options 

High-quality child care is a priority for parents of children with and without disabilities. Quality care often means offering a safe and friendly atmosphere, with approachable, well-trained staff, and a low child-to-caregiver ratio. Additionally, there is often benefit to placing children of all physical, emotional, and academic needs in the same learning environment.

Child care centers that meet this criteria are not always easy to come by, particularly for parents of children with disabilities. The Easterseals Child Development Center Network responds to these needs by offering top-quality childcare at centers across the country.  

What Makes Easterseals’ Childcare Different? 

Easterseals’ inclusive settings are designed to support the whole family—creating consistent routines, shared strategies, and trusted partnerships between educators, therapists, and caregivers. 

Placing children with and without disabilities in the same learning environment gives children the opportunity to be around other peers from many backgrounds. As a version of the real world in a smaller setting, these settings can help children to understand, respect, and accept each other early in life, teaching them age-appropriate communication and social skills. 

According to Vickie Robinson, a developmental therapist at Easterseals DuPage and Fox Valley, the benefits of child care include, “meaningful friendships; increased understanding and acceptance of others; respect for others with unique characteristics; an ability to help others; and the preparation of all students for adult life ....” 

In addition, children without disabilities have the benefit of learning from teachers who are trained to work with different learning styles and provide individualized education plans that address the specific needs and goals of each student. Early intervention services and therapies are provided as part of the school day for students who need them. 

Contact Your Easterseals About Early Childhood Care Services

At Easterseals, children with and without disabilities have the benefit of learning from teachers who are trained to work with different learning styles and provide individualized education plans that address the specific needs and goals of each student. Contact your local Easterseals to learn more. 

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