Day Care
Daycare is defined as any situation where the child is cared for by someone other than its parents for some part of the day. It can be short term, such as a creche, or every day such as a nursery. Daycare can be privately run or government funded – there is increasing pressure over the provision of daycare due to families where both parents work
Research to daycare focuses on effects to the following areas of development:
· Social – interaction with others; relationship with family and peers
· Emotional – the child’s ability to cope with situations in a positive way; how confident they are; if they are independent
· Cognitive – how the child develops intellectually
You need to understand the effects of day care on development, and also to understand ways in which the effects of deprivation caused through day care can be reduced.
NICHD (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
Aim: A privately funded USA longitudinal study of the effects of daycare following 1200 children from birth until they started school.
Procedure: Data was collected using observations, interviews and surveys.
Findings: The study found three main effects:
· Length of time in daycare – children who spent earlier continuous time in daycare were more likely to have behavioural problems;
· Type of daycare – nursery type care (as opposed to in the home) led to improvements in cognitive and language development but increased behavioural problems
· Quality of daycare – low quality daycare was particularly bad for children who had mothers who lacked sensitivity. Good quality daycare depended on staff responsiveness and attentiveness and a stimulating environment. If it was good quality this led to higher cognitive and language functioning.
Conclusion: A number of factors affect daycare – length, type and quality.
Evaluation:
Generalisability: Low as sample did not take into account background; also based in the USA so may only relate to US culture
Reliability/Validity: used a range of methods to gather data – if same conclusions can be made it is reliable and valid. Control of pp variables as it was longitudinal which also makes the data more reliable
May be due to temperament – not all variables are controlled such as temperament, parenting style, attachments, so may not be reliable and cannot generalise findings
EPPE Project (Sylva)
Aim: Government funded UK longitudinal study of 3000 children from 3 to 7 years old to look at impact of social and intellectual development.
Procedure: Participants were from many different social backgrounds and there were two main groups studied – children in some form of daycare and children who stayed at home (acted as a control group). Observations and interviews were conducted with parents and practitioners. SATS data at the end of KS1 was also used.
Findings: High quality care improved social, intellectual and behavioural development. The earlier the child started daycare the better (before the age of 3). The longer the child had been in daycare the better their sociability, concentration and independence. Long term attendance compared to part time attendance had no effect. Disadvantaged children were better off in good quality daycare, especially if it consisted of a range of social backgrounds. The effects of daycare had long lasting effects and children who attended daycare scored higher in literacy and maths in their SATS.
Evaluation:
Generalisability: Took into account social background and had a control group; large sample size; however UK based
Reliability/Validity: used a range of methods to gather data – if same conclusions can be made it is reliable and valid. Control of pp variables as it was longitudinal which also makes the data more reliable
May be due to temperament – not all variables are controlled such as temperament, parenting style, attachments, so may not be reliable and cannot generalise findings
Government funded – may be biased
Andersson (1992)
Longitudinal study of 112 Swedish children throughout the first 8 years of life found that children who attended daycare at an earlier age were rated as more socially advanced than those who started late or stayed at home. They were also more outgoing, had more friends and better social skills.
Belsky & Rovine (1988)
Studied the effects on attachment from 2 longitudinal studies of effects of daycare. They used the strange situation to analyse attachment types when the children were 12-13 months old. They found a higher incidence of insecure avoidant attachment types between the child and mother if the child had experience more than 20 hours of non maternal care.
Factors that affect daycare
• Staff to child ratio
• Staff turnover
• Time spent in daycare
• Age of starting daycare
• Staff
• Stimulation
• Temperament
Daycare is defined as any situation where the child is cared for by someone other than its parents for some part of the day. It can be short term, such as a creche, or every day such as a nursery. Daycare can be privately run or government funded – there is increasing pressure over the provision of daycare due to families where both parents work
Research to daycare focuses on effects to the following areas of development:
· Social – interaction with others; relationship with family and peers
· Emotional – the child’s ability to cope with situations in a positive way; how confident they are; if they are independent
· Cognitive – how the child develops intellectually
You need to understand the effects of day care on development, and also to understand ways in which the effects of deprivation caused through day care can be reduced.
NICHD (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
Aim: A privately funded USA longitudinal study of the effects of daycare following 1200 children from birth until they started school.
Procedure: Data was collected using observations, interviews and surveys.
Findings: The study found three main effects:
· Length of time in daycare – children who spent earlier continuous time in daycare were more likely to have behavioural problems;
· Type of daycare – nursery type care (as opposed to in the home) led to improvements in cognitive and language development but increased behavioural problems
· Quality of daycare – low quality daycare was particularly bad for children who had mothers who lacked sensitivity. Good quality daycare depended on staff responsiveness and attentiveness and a stimulating environment. If it was good quality this led to higher cognitive and language functioning.
Conclusion: A number of factors affect daycare – length, type and quality.
Evaluation:
Generalisability: Low as sample did not take into account background; also based in the USA so may only relate to US culture
Reliability/Validity: used a range of methods to gather data – if same conclusions can be made it is reliable and valid. Control of pp variables as it was longitudinal which also makes the data more reliable
May be due to temperament – not all variables are controlled such as temperament, parenting style, attachments, so may not be reliable and cannot generalise findings
EPPE Project (Sylva)
Aim: Government funded UK longitudinal study of 3000 children from 3 to 7 years old to look at impact of social and intellectual development.
Procedure: Participants were from many different social backgrounds and there were two main groups studied – children in some form of daycare and children who stayed at home (acted as a control group). Observations and interviews were conducted with parents and practitioners. SATS data at the end of KS1 was also used.
Findings: High quality care improved social, intellectual and behavioural development. The earlier the child started daycare the better (before the age of 3). The longer the child had been in daycare the better their sociability, concentration and independence. Long term attendance compared to part time attendance had no effect. Disadvantaged children were better off in good quality daycare, especially if it consisted of a range of social backgrounds. The effects of daycare had long lasting effects and children who attended daycare scored higher in literacy and maths in their SATS.
Evaluation:
Generalisability: Took into account social background and had a control group; large sample size; however UK based
Reliability/Validity: used a range of methods to gather data – if same conclusions can be made it is reliable and valid. Control of pp variables as it was longitudinal which also makes the data more reliable
May be due to temperament – not all variables are controlled such as temperament, parenting style, attachments, so may not be reliable and cannot generalise findings
Government funded – may be biased
Andersson (1992)
Longitudinal study of 112 Swedish children throughout the first 8 years of life found that children who attended daycare at an earlier age were rated as more socially advanced than those who started late or stayed at home. They were also more outgoing, had more friends and better social skills.
Belsky & Rovine (1988)
Studied the effects on attachment from 2 longitudinal studies of effects of daycare. They used the strange situation to analyse attachment types when the children were 12-13 months old. They found a higher incidence of insecure avoidant attachment types between the child and mother if the child had experience more than 20 hours of non maternal care.
Factors that affect daycare
• Staff to child ratio
• Staff turnover
• Time spent in daycare
• Age of starting daycare
• Staff
• Stimulation
• Temperament