Do you plan to make any changes re: childcare in light of the new study released today?

Question

The NIH study, the largest ever, found that the more time that children spent in child care, the more likely their sixth grade teachers were to report problem behavior. Are these findings likely to change your opinion on daycare? Will you be more likely to attempt to avoid it? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070326/ap_on_re_us/child_care_health;_ylt=Al6AL632KIpzTOuNiIq91blvzwcF

I've been pretty lucky with my youngest. No problems all through school. Varsity sports, honor roll and national merit. Of course, I DID stay home with her.

I don't have a point. I just asked a question regarding the results of a study that was in the news today. I'm certainly bashing no one. I am only asking for opinions.

In case it matters to anyone, my oldest child was in daycare---my youngest was not. I have drawn my own conclusions about the validity of the study from my personal experience. I'm curious about yours.

Answer 1

In answer to your question .. I was dumbfounded myself by these statistics .. I had to listen to a second report to see if what I thought I heard ..was what I heard .. I think this brings up a good point that possible not spending enough hours when the child is awake could cause future problems.. I am not sure the solution because most children are in daycare due to the need for the mother to work .. But it is something to really think over .. and maybe reconsider part of full time day care ..

Answer 2

LOL! Sixth grade WAS a rough year for my son!

But he's in 10th grade and getting Honor Roll and playing varsity sports, so I'm not too concerned. Perhaps this is related to the finding in the study that the child care kids had better vocabularies, too.

In his early years, he was in day care a couple days a week, and it gradually increased as he got older to the point of five 10-hour days by the time he was five years old. Our financial situation was such that we both HAD to work. I was in Grad. School during pregnancy and infancy, so that was part time; and we elected to live lean for the first three years so I could work just 3 days a week. Then the marriage fell apart, and I eventually had to revoke his father's visitation. Then his father died shortly after he started the 2nd grade.

I made it a point to keep him in child care in someone's home, and I was truly fortunate to find the woman we stayed with. She had a Master's in Early Childhood Education and ran the child care out of her home. Her husband was a chef, she had a huge yard, with a fenced-in pool, and best of all, she really was like a second mom to him. So I found the 'happy medium' between a home and an educational center.

I did not have any friends with children back then, so without child care, he would not have developed the same social skills. I also honestly believe that I would not have taught him as well as what he learned in the program he attended. In fact, it was the child care provider who caught on to my son's withdrawn and depressed behavior, and her telling me was the eye-opener I needed to asses what his father's substance abuse was doing to the family. And she was kind enough and loved my son enough to actually extend her hours for us when I became a single mother.

Once he started school, we used the school's before and after-care program, and he was often the first there and the last picked-up. The teachers there helped the kids with their homework (a BIG help to me, because I was very stressed at that time in life). The also grew attached to him, and I really don't think that it was detrimental to him.

So although I am finished with child care concerns, I would not suggest that people avoid it. I would just recommend that they really research places to ensure their child will be truly CARED for. And that they do whatever is possible to adjust their schedules so that they do some have time with their kids -- they grow up too quickly, and we never know what tomorrow will bring. It's about finding balance.

Answer 3

If children are acting up in school....school authorities are the adult and the child should be learning to take personal responsibility -there also- even given a consequence if needed. Consider the amount of time a child is entrusted to school authority. Since schools have had a bad reputation for passing the buck instead of dealing with a child, some even getting caught encouraging nasty behavior......this report adds another and is suggesting that's it's ok for a child to live in his/her past even IF they managed to learn it in child care...thought it was all the parents fault? It's because public schools are getting caught with their pants down....they are grasping at straws to cover up the facts that they've gone far beyond teaching children how to read, write, and problem solve in math and failed to do it with adult leadership.

Children are not little victims nor should they be taught to take on a victim mentality when the facts remain that not EVERY child is abused. *Parents* issues, such as one who drinks, has job problems, divorce, etc is not something for any child professional to be exploiting and children should not be taught that these issues are their issues nor excuses for them to feel depressed, ruin their lives, the drama, the saga. That suspiciously hands a child excuses to fail. All it's doing is encouraging children to lie even PROVOKE their parent if not place some parents in danger and disturbing the roles in the family. In other words, sets the stage for parental disrespect and in the case of a teen can cause suggested disturbances in the home. No wonder kids are so nervous these days...I'm finding it very hard to believe children and their families are not being used to generate government funds. It could be that children shouldn't be shipped to daycare to be parented. Possibly a healthier solution that *requires* a parent to work would be a mature grandparent or close relative as a first option. However, giving excuses to children when they misbehave needs to stop and leadership needs to begin in the case of any adult caring for a child and that includes discipline. Hey, for those who can't stomach leadership they should stay away from children.

If public schools have become a one-stop-shop for drama and blame-shifting people need to vote w/wisdom or this country is going to go to pot. Parents also need to raise their children to respect and sadly learn how to spot an adult that is behaving suspiciously and to disrespect that behavior....it's truly gone far beyond teaching children not to take candy from strangers.

Answer 4

My oldest son is a successful insurance agent at age 24. My middle daughter is a high school english teacher at 22. And my younger daughter is on the dean's list her freshman year of a big 12 university. They all went to day care. What's your point? Bash other parents? We all need to cooperate not compete. There is no one right answer for all families.