Better Beginnings, an Arkansas Department of Human Services program, connects Arkansas families with information and care that helps them experience a safe, happy, healthy childhood. Better Beginnings is designed to improve the quality of childcare and early childhood education programs across the state. Better Beginnings distinguishes the quality of each Arkansas child care facility by a 1, 2, and 3-star rating system.

High-quality child care and early childhood education set the stage for how well our children learn, how they think of themselves, and how they interact with their world. As parents, child care providers, educators, and citizens, we are responsible for making sure all of our children have the very best experiences they can. Better Beginnings, Arkansas’s Quality Rating Improvement System, has been developed to do just that!

Arkansas’s Quality Rating Improvement System verifies that your facility offers the following to its children:

• A program that views parents as an essential part of their children’s early education;
• An environment that supports each child’s physical, social, and emotional development in their care;
• An educational program that prepares children for success in school;
• Trained professional staff who know how to work effectively with the families of the children in their care and who continue to pursue professional development in the early childhood education field.

(NAEYC) National Association for the Education of Young Children:

Research shows a direct correlation between high-quality early learning and children’s positive long-term outcomes in life, including increased educational attainment, healthier lifestyles, and more successful careers. NAEYC Accreditation helps teachers and other staff at early learning programs develop a shared understanding and commitment to quality. The accreditation process leads to increased staff morale, more excellent staff retention, and a more positive, energetic work atmosphere overall—enabling centers to provide a solid foundation for all children’s success in life.

NAEYC Accreditation helps families recognize quality early learning programs and feel comfortable knowing that their children receive a high-quality, research-based education that will prepare them for future success. NAEYC Accreditation offers programs access to continuous quality improvement, the latest research on best practices, training, technical assistance, visibility on family-focused search engines (including NAEYC’s own program search database), and much more.