Infant Child Care
Some of the fears and believes that parents have are: that child care harms children, that child care erodes family values, that children would not maintain the attachment to their parents, that parents know best what is best for the children, and that early childhood education is too expensive and parents would not be able to afford it. So let’s review each of them to discover the truth behind these believes and fears (Cleveland & Krashinsky). A common fear of misconception is that child care harms children; this fear might have been caused by ECE’ers who had poor practice and were the quality of care and education was very bad.
When child care is low quality it can impact the child in a negative way, but when the child care is high quality the child has very positive effects. For example, there was a Caroline Abecedarian experiment where the children were placed in a high quality daycare from infancy to 5 years old and these children were monitored until 21 years of age. These children showed higher cognitive abilities, better health and higher incomes; all these benefits are higher than the cost of high quality child care.
Also high quality child care can help offset the negative effects of dysfunctional families on children (Cleveland & Krashinsky). Some parents fear that child care centers might communicate liberal or secular values and believes in their children when their values are stricter; for this reason some parents refuse to put their children in child care. This fear is not founded because parents are the most influential people in the child’s life even when children spend much time in a care center; the child will continue to follow the values of his / her family.
Also for the parents that are concerned about exposing their child to different values it would be helpful to take the time to research care centers and enroll their child in one that has similar values to their own (Cleveland & Krashinsky). Some parents fear that the attachment between mothers and child would be damaged or broken, especially with the mother, if the child attends daycare and that this will bring negative consequences o the child’s development. But parents can rest assured that the attachment between child and mother will not be damaged because of daycare.
A study done by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) found that the attachment is only damaged when there is insensitive maternal care of young infants along with much time spent at the daycare or poor quality of the last. In contrary high quality daycares help offset the negative consequences of family- based risk (Cleveland & Krashinsky). Some parents believe that only they and not the government know what is best for their children.
These parents think that is only up to them to make the decisions about their child’s care arrangements, whether they decide to stay at home to care for the children or informal care. Parents want what is best for their children. But sometimes is hard to judge the quality of the child care. For example, the American Cost, Quality and Child Outcomes study compared the parents and experts rankings of child care and this study found a great discrepancy about the perception of quality between the parents and experts (Cleveland & Krashinsky).
The cost of high quality early childhood education is expensive but the return in benefits for the investment in this education are huge. In first place, having children in high quality child care allows the parents to return to the work force. With this parents can gain financial stability, and there is also a flow in taxes and revenues for the country. In second place, the children are better prepare for the school years, delays or issues can be identified and treated at an early age, the child forms better social relationships, and when that child becomes an adult his / her productivity is increased (Cleveland & Krashinsky).
Lower quality child care might be more affordable but this type of care usually is unlicensed and unregulated and there are many risks for the children’s life like abuse or neglect (Goelman) REFERENCES Cleveland, G. , & Krashinsky, M. (2003). Fact and Fantasy: Eight Myths about Early Childhood Education and Care Summary. The Early Childhood Educator, N/A (N/A), 18-23 Goelman, H. (2006,). Time to Get Past Child Care Myths. The Province, p. N/A McMullen, M. B. (1999). Achieving Best Practices in Infant and Toddler Care and Education. Young Children, N/A (N/A), 69-76.
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2002). Early child care and children’s development prior to school entry: Results from the NICHD study of early child care. American Educational Research Journal, 39, 133-164. Schiller, Pam. “Bright Beginnings for Babies. ” Child Care Information Exchange 3. 3 (2003): 8-11. Print Statistics Canada: Canada’s national statistical agency. (n. d. ). Statistics Canada: Canada’s national statistical agency / Statistique Canada: Organisme statistique national du Canada. Retrieved June 19, 2011, from http://www. statcan. gc. ca/start-debut-eng. html
