Child Care = Good Speech & Bad Behavior?

The National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) just released the findings of its Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). The full study results are published in the March/April issue of Child Development.

Research for this study started in 1991, when parents of 1,364 children in 10 locations around the US were asked to participate. Each of these children were cared for by someone other than their mother for at least 10 hours per week. This included care by fathers, grandparents and other relatives. The study evaluated these children’s academic achievement, and intellectual functioning from kindergarten through fifth grade as well as their social development through sixth grade.

Here is an quick overview of the findings:

• Children with a higher level of child care showed better than average volcabulary skills than other children.
• Children would spent more time in child care centers showed more of a pattern of “problem behavior” through the sixth grade than did children cared for my their mothers. This included aggressive and disobedient behavior.

To be completely fair, the researchers also found that the level of problematic behavior in children cared for in child care centers was hardly discernable, yet was present. More study will no doubt be conducted on this and we will keep you updated on the findings.

What are your thoughts on this study? Share your comments with us.