| Ever since women entered the workforce, the great | | | | showed that those children who spent a great amount |
| daycare debate has raged on. Parents, scholars and | | | | of time in a lower quality daycare displayed more |
| politicians have argued the pros and cons of external | | | | instances of aggressive behavior and demands for |
| childcare facilities until families are absolutely certain | | | | constant, individual attention, a trend that continued |
| placing their child in day care results in either an infant | | | | through the sixth grade. This behavior may stem from |
| prodigy or a teenage delinquent. | | | | the need to compete for attention from a very young |
| As with any issue, the truth has been found to be | | | | age, and is displayed in children of large families as well. |
| somewhere in between. Day care can be a | | | | Those children who are quiet and well behaved are |
| tremendous opportunity for a young child to learn | | | | set to the side while the teachers struggle to deal with |
| social skills, expand their vocabulary and learn to | | | | the children who are not so self sufficient; is it any |
| function as an individual away from their parents; | | | | wonder, then, that this often results in these children |
| constant interaction with their peers allows them to | | | | learning to emulate the less than savory behavior of |
| develop a respect for the opinions and emotions of | | | | their peers, whom they see receiving the individual |
| others, learn the value of teamwork, and to form | | | | attention they crave? |
| friendships that will often carry into their school years. | | | | The key to a positive day care experience is to |
| They are also given an opportunity to learn basic | | | | carefully screen any day care before a child is |
| academic skills at an earlier age, and adapt to the | | | | enrolled. The school should have a low staff to child |
| more rigid structure of a classroom environment prior | | | | ratio, with one adult to every two or three children at |
| to entering Kindergarten, easing what is often a difficult | | | | the infant level, gradually rising as the child increases in |
| transition for children who are kept at home in their | | | | age but still sufficient for individual attention. The |
| preschool years. | | | | teachers should display a genuine love for the children, |
| On the flip side of the coin, not all day care providers | | | | with experience and training in child development and |
| are able to give the high quality of attention and | | | | psychology, allowing them to quickly detect a problem |
| education necessary for growth and adjustment. This | | | | with a student before it becomes uncontrollable. |
| is often due to an inadequate amount of staff for the | | | | Parents should remain in contact with the child's |
| number of children a facility cares for. Many times by | | | | teacher, receiving progress reports and observing |
| the time a child reaches preschool age there is only | | | | classroom behavior on a regular basis. Any instance in |
| one teacher responsible for up to fifteen students, if | | | | which a parent is deliberately left "out of the loop" in |
| not more (licensing guidelines state that there should be | | | | their child's education, even at this early stage, is cause |
| no more than fifteen students per teacher at the four | | | | for concern, and should be considered an immediate |
| and five year old level; however, a fluctuating | | | | warning sign that all is not as it should be. In this case |
| population of drop-in students may cause this number | | | | knowledge is power, and allows a child to quickly be |
| to be nothing more than a myth). The results of a long | | | | removed from an unsuitable situation before damage |
| term study done by the National Institute of Health | | | | is done that is irreversible. |