"A Downside to Day Care?

A new study finds that children who regularly attend day-care centers develop more behavioral problems in kindergarten than those that don’t."

I just want to highlight three answers because in California we were inundated with information by First 5 regarding how our children MUST be in preschool, which I understand is very different from Day Care, but there is a point to this, and that Day Care is perfectly fine for your child, in fact it is better for them than just being home all day for a variety of reasons. From talking to friends in other parts of the country, this is particularly acute in California.

"Newsweek: Most of the kids in your study spent a year or two at a day-care center prior to entering kindergarten. How did that affect their behavior later?
Burchinal: For those kids who have one or two years of day care, their level of problem behavior is typical. For children who spent more than that in center-based care, teachers report slightly more disruptive behaviors than are typical. In other words, the more time in day care, the more likely these kids showed problem behaviors.

Any idea why?
We did not look at why in this study, but other people have looked at this question and have some ideas. [One suggested reason is that] there’s been a move to make child-care programs more academic. Kids are supposed to start school knowing numbers and letters before kindergarten, and this process gives them less free time and forces them to do a lot more large-group activities and worksheets. It’s really hard for a 3- or 4-year old to sit and listen to the teacher talk for extended lengths of time. This may lead to more acting out. Another hypothesis is that child-care centers tend to not pay their staffs very well and there’s a lot of turnover. It’s very hard to keep well-trained staff members, and teaching good behavior to a group of kids requires a lot of training.

And you found that kids who never go to day care are the most well-behaved?
Yes, they show the fewest problem behaviors."

The article goes on to clarify that the parenting that helps is the one where the parents enjoy their children, spend time with them teach them etc is helpful to their children.

I always knew I was not harming my daughter by being a stay at home mom - gee, maybe I am actually helping her!

I would encourage you to read this short, one screen article.

More about this at Crystal's too - I would love some tax relief for choosing to stay home to care for my family.