I am a registered ECE Serendipity ...and while I agree that experience and firm understanding of child development is important to the quality of care as we learn as we perfect our programs ... I do feel you can acquire th knowledge and skills to provide quality child care that without having your ECE or post secondary education... plus I have peers with thier ECE who are not particularly best practice cause they do not have skills to transfer theory into practice .... some people are just naturals at providing care to others!