Strange Machines

New findings on an old argument. Essentially parenting still matters most. They emphasise quality parenting.

Do note that the study has only tracked the children till they are 12 so far. It still cannot tell us how they will be when they are adults.

“Parenting quality significantly predicted all the developmental outcomes and much more strongly than did any of the child-care predictors,” the researchers wrote.

The source of the fuss is the latest installment of a long-running $200 million effort by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Since 1991, a team of researchers has been tracking more than 1,300 children, following them from infancy through various child-care settings (home with mother, home with another relative, home with nanny, or at day care) and into elementary school. In the March/April issue of Child Development, the team asks “Are There Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care?”

To answer that question, the researchers report their findings about the kids’ academic achievement and behavior through sixth grade. The study controls for a host of variables, like socioeconomic status, quality of parenting (annoyingly, this measure involves only mothers), quality of child care, and quality of the elementary-school classroom. It’s all very well-done and careful.

The higher-than-average incidence of bad behavior showed up only among kids who spent three or four years in day care before the age of 4½.

The kids with more reported behavior problems in elementary school were the ones who spent three or four years in day care and whose care was, on average, of lower quality.

“We found that more time in day-care centers correlates to higher problem behavior scores,” (the study’s author, Margaret) Burchinal said. “This raises the question whether it could be the quality within those centers” that accounts for the effect.

Burchinal points out that on average, day care for infants and toddlers is worse than for preschoolers. It’s more expensive because states require more staff for babies. And the littlest kids don’t get much out of being in a group like the older ones do. The youngest thrive on one-on-one attention, and it takes considerable skill and experience to deftly juggle the needs of a bunch of them. So maybe the real lesson here is a reminder: Day care for infants and toddlers is the hardest to do well. And lower-quality care, coupled with three or four years spent at a center, doesn’t appear to serve kids quite as well as other arrangements (though the difference in slight).

Still, the study’s results, properly explained, do not suggest that kids who spent a year or two in day care when they are 3 and 4—or, in my opinion at least, kids who go to excellent day care for longer periods—will talk back to their teachers and throw more than their share of spitballs when they get older. These kids will behave themselves just fine. As long as their parents don’t screw them up.

(Source and full article: The Kids Are Alright on Slate)