• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.91-98
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• 2004

Low birth rate problem in Korea has been mainly derived from the increasing number of female employment and the change of consciousness of female. According to the recent report, some other causes of low birth rate are from the difficulty of using childcare facilities with quality services and the relative lack of quantities of the facilities. The basic principle of childcare includes protection, education, nutrition, safety, service to parents, and correlation with community. Childcare has been deemed to be the social system even to guarantee the parents' right of work. Even though a lot of progress has been made in childcare facilities by changes for a long period of time, the research on the actual condition shows that there are relatively little changes of the space organization of the childcare facilities reflecting characteristics of community and developmental characteristics of infants and children. Now a days it has been appeared as a social problem that childcare has to be needed as a part of systematic education program for such an important infant era.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.205-223
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• 2011

This study examines diagrams of space organization and classroom activity zoning through Korean Childcare Accreditation Criteria, and compares space diagrams with childcare facilities in Daejeon, and looks at similarities and differences between them. Space diagram from accreditation criteria show the classroom, adjoining toilets, napping areas, and community areas for playing, reading, cooking, teaching and holding materials. Classroom zone diagrams show 8 activity zones for entering, washing and toilet, making art, playing, reading, studying science, resting, playing role and wooden block. Six case studies in Daejeon, Korea were surveyed and classified into big, medium and small size facilities by the number of children. The space organization of case studies are similar to the diagrams, except that outdoor playground and indoor playrooms were not large enough at the small and medium size facilities. Classroom activity zoning was very similar to the conceptions, excluding the playarea from classroom, integrating the rest areas for reading, subdividing art into music and art, science, and into math and science, roleplay into roleplay and wooden block. In conclusion childcare centers in Daejeon are designed to the concept diagram of the accreditation criteria, with some flexibility, exclusion, integration, and subdivision of space and activity zones. It has been requested as to make each criteria fit to the facility sizes-big, medium and small.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.691-711
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• 2011

This study examines the preliminary license and approval facilitation standards for improvements in quality for childcare centers focusing on the number of children, building space standards, facilities and equipment, and childcare program. Data from 48 caese was collected from childcare centers nationwide in Korea through a questionnaire and building plan. The first step for starting care licensing is to work out the ages and numbers of children within four or five age ranges. The second step is to work out the number of children as small, medium, or large considering staff to child ratios and building size. The Nnext step is to make a choice about childcare service quality classification as minimum, fair, or good, considering space requirements per child for the building, the classroom and the outdoor playground. The next step is to make a choice of space organization relating to service programs, considering the sleeping and eating area, indoor play area, toilet & washing facilities, classroom layouts such as cluster type, double zone type, single zone type, and others. Also, each room and entrance, office, kitchen, storage, laundry, teacher's area, and chilldren's area, need to be checked for space requirements and performances. The last step is to arrange the childcare program with the building and site plan. In conclusion childcare service quality will get better by upgrading of license regulation especially in minimum space requirements per child, corresponding with an increase in GNP and housing area per person. This is needed for childcare licensing in order to determine the quality level of childcare service.