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Quality care has its ups and downs
New study details effects of day care on young children
BY JONATHAN SHUGARTS REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

High-quality day care can be beneficial to a child's social development in the formative early years after they are born, researchers say. But a lengthy stay in day care during the early years can also lead to attachment issues and behavioral problems later in life for some children.

Some parents can't afford high-quality care for their young children, which leads many to make a difficult choice: work more to afford quality care and spend less time with their kids or substitute quality care with what's affordable.

Longer hours at work for parents can mean longer hours in day care for children. But interaction with peers is a great benefit for young children who are in quality care, said Rhonda Griffin, the new director of Little People, a day care in Southbury."Children are more socially aware when they go to day care," she said. "You really learn a lot of social skills at day care."

Teachers at high-quality day care centers do more than just baby sit, she said. They'll
monitor a child's social growth and work to lengthen their attention spans by keeping them focused during activities."You have to have caring and devoted staff that don't want to just cash a paycheck," she said.

Another benefit is that teachers work with parents and local school districts to identify children who need additional social or academic help before they enter kindergarten, she
said.

But due to requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, children are being required to learn academic skills sooner, she said."Kindergarten has now become first grade," she said. "First grade has become second grade."

The federally funded National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has studied children and families since 1962. Starting in 1991, the institute began a comprehensive study of 1,300 children in day care who were 6 months to 4½ years old.

Although the study is still ongoing, its recent findings were released in 2006. Researchers found that up until they reached the age of 5, the average child spent 27 hours per week in center-based care.

The study also showed that "children who spent more time in child care were somewhat less cooperative, more disobedient and more aggressive at age 2 and age 4½, and in kindergarten, but not at age 3."

Children who averaged 30 hours of child care or more each week during their first 4½ years of life were somewhat more likely to show problem behaviors at age 4 and in kindergarten, the report also states.

But for some working families, having care is a necessity, as parents have to keep the electricity flowing and food on the table.Jennifer Randall, a teacher at the Glastonbury branch of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, a national day-care provider with eight locations in Connecticut, said some of the children in her care stay with her for most of the day

"I'm sure the parents feel bad dropping their kids off for 10 hours a day," she said. "But at the same time these parents need to work."

Mornings at the center include reading a book, or writing exercises, among other things. A couple of hours are set aside for nap time, while a large chunk of the day is spent in play. But having other children to interact with is one of the benefits quality care can offer.

"You need some form of social development," Randall said. "You need something, or else the kids get to kindergarten and can't socially interact."

But that benefit comes with the cost of parents missing some of a child's first moments while they are in day care. Randall toilet trains some of her students, takes photos of their accomplishments and watches as their young brains start to form.

"I feel like I'm raising some of these kids," she said. "I get them the bulk of the day, five
days a week."

Most parents leaving their children at the center are busy professionals, such as accountants and attorneys, she said.And some children develop an attachment to her and other teachers at the center. At the end of the day, some don't want to leave her care. That, Randall imagines, is heartbreaking for parents.

"It probably kills the parents when they don't want to leave or they're unhappy to see them," Randall said.

A large board displays the photos that teachers take of their students. It's kept so parents can see their child's progress at the center while they are away at work.

"I'm documenting their development more than they are," she said. "It's pretty much ascrapbook of their life at the center."

But quality care isn't without expense, as it can average roughly $10,000 per year.That can mean nearly 30 percent of a family's income can go to child care, said Peg Oliveira, a consultant for early care for Connecticut Voices for Children, a children's advocacy organization.

"You've got this system that everybody realizes is a public good," Oliveira said. "If parents didn't have child care, we wouldn't have the economy we do now."

State-funded education begins at age 5, but before that age parents are left to cover the cost of care, she said."Somehow at 5 we think it's appropriate, but at four, we don't," she said. "There needs to be a philosophical shift."