Friday, December 21, 2007
Child Care good for children in Australia...
The following article is probably not news to anyone in the early childhood profession. Quality child care has a positive effect on the children involved...
The following article is probably not news to anyone in the early childhood profession. Quality child care has a positive effect on the children involved...
Childcare good for kids
December 19, 2007 - 6:44PM
Working parents can shake off any guilt about leaving their children in childcare all day, after a new Australian study found it actually helped their social development.
Preliminary results from the nationwide, long-term study found attending childcare in Australia generally had a positive effect on children's social and emotional wellbeing.
The results differ from similar large-scale studies conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom, but the researchers think the difference could be due to consistently higher standards of care offered locally.
Charles Sturt University early childhood education researcher Linda Harrison found children aged two or three who attended more hours in centre-based childcare were more socially competent. Associate Professor Harrison, who is analysing the results of the ongoing federal government-funded study Growing Up in Australia, said her preliminary findings showed no evidence that longer hours in care were linked to poor outcomes for children.
"In fact, the results of this large study indicate the reverse," Prof Harrison said. "Children who attended more hours in centre-based childcare were more socially competent and children who received more hours in home-based childcare had fewer behaviour problems. These findings, which differ from US and UK research, can be partially explained by Australia's national system of quality assurance, which monitors levels of quality in all childcare centres and family day care homes."
The results showed that using a combination of types of care, such as a childcare centre as well as a relative or friend, could particularly benefit children.
Higher quality care was also linked to better outcomes for children.
"When carers spent more time actively engaged with children, children had higher ratings on measures of social and emotional adjustment and development through play," Prof Harrison said.
Growing up in Australia began in 2003/04 and will follow 5,000 children then aged less then 12 months and 5,000 aged four until 2010/11.
// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 2:11 PM 
