Effects of Day Care on Children's Development

Introduction

The outcomes of children are greatly influenced by the various environments they encounter, most importantly family and child care settings. This is why there has been increasing research interest in the consequences of child care experiences on children's development. The experiences at day care not only promote school readiness skills in children, but the quality of child care experiences also influences cognitive and social skills during the preschool years, through the transition to school, and into the elementary school years (Peisner-Feinberg, 2004).

Such concerns hold significant importance because children who fail to acquire basic skills at an early age are less capable of navigating life effectively as adults. These children find fewer opportunities for advancement because they are not prepared for the world of work. Researchers suggest that children who do not succeed in mastering basic skills by 4th grade are more likely to face a number of problems in later life, including "dropping out of school, abusing substances, and becoming pregnant while still in their teens" (Finn-Stevenson & Zigler, 1999). Without a doubt, the experiences at home or at a day care facility — where children spend a considerable portion of their early lives — influence their acquisition of the basic skills significant for later achievement and success in school.

In reality, the majority of children do not learn to read or write until they are enrolled in school. However, they begin learning and understanding the world from the moment of birth. With the passage of time, they become progressively more competent at organizing their knowledge. It is during these early years that they also acquire remarkable social and language skills that later serve as the foundation for their ability to benefit from formal education (Finn-Stevenson & Zigler, 1999).

What Is Day Care?

Child or day care can be described as care for young children provided by adults who are not their parents. Relatives, nannies, or home care providers offer informal child care, usually in a home setting, whereas formal child care is provided by trained and untrained caregivers typically in school or care center environments (McCartney, 2004).

Currently, child care is a common part of children's lives in the majority of Western countries. During their first year of life, most preschoolers are placed in some type of child care for a minimum of ten hours per week. A large proportion of families with young children rely on day care as a support for maternal employment. Early childhood education is also a component of formal child care; indeed, it is frequently difficult to distinguish between child care, nursery school, and preschool curriculum and activities.

Over the last three decades, there has been a rapid increase in maternal employment, which has consequently resulted in greater dependency on child care for young children aged 0–5 years. This increase represents a remarkable shift in child-rearing practices and has prompted considerable concern regarding the risks that child care may pose to healthy child development (McCartney, 2004).

Parental Concerns About Day Care

Parents have always been greatly concerned about the benefits and disadvantages of sending their children to formal day care. The first issue is whether removing children from parental care for several hours each day results in long-term emotional consequences, or whether interaction with other children and caregivers improves social skills and confidence. The second issue concerns school outcomes for children who attend day care. Parents are understandably concerned about whether exposure to pre-school learning leads to improved, unchanged, or poorer educational results in later school years.

A pre-school program is typically characterized by indicators such as "early literacy, ability to follow instructions, and conformity to adult expectations" (Goldschmied & Jackson, 2003). It is important to understand that the child develops as a unique individual with his or her own dynamic capacity to learn and grow, and needs adults as supporters rather than as lecturers (Goldschmied & Jackson, 2003).