| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : OCTOBER 18, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| BUSINESSWEEK LIFESTYLE
Avoiding the Day-Care Nightmare Good centers can help kids flourish. Here's how to find them When Ed Sager pulled his son, Ian, out of one day-care center and enrolled him in another, the Ballston Spa (N.Y.) resident was amazed at the difference the move made. Almost immediately, the toddler's vocabulary exploded, and his concentration improved. ''He loved to talk about the things he did during the day, whereas at the previous place, you had to hammer it out of him,'' Sager says. Unfortunately, when it comes to child care, quality is in short supply. Only 11% of the 1,103 families in a 1997 study by the Washington D.C.-based National Institute of Child Health & Human Development were judged to have excellent child care. An additional 32% of the arrangements were rated good. But 51% were deemed fair, and 6% were considered poor. Quality is in especially short supply among day-care centers, the study found. That's significant because high-quality day care can promote a child's thinking, language, and social skills. Indeed, the NICHD found that among 3-year-olds in child care at least 10 hours a week, those in day care had better cognitive and language skills than those cared for by relatives and babysitters. Good group care also was linked to fewer reports of problem behavior at age 3. ''A high-quality day-care center is your best bet for good cognitive and language development,'' says Margaret Tresch Owen, a University of Texas at Dallas psychology professor who contributed to the study. When it comes to day-care centers, a good place to start is with accreditation. At least four organizations give their stamp of approval to early childhood programs that meet high standards, such as high ratios of staff to children (table). This credential is in addition to licensing (requirements vary by state). Still, accreditation is voluntary, and only about 6,000 of the nation's estimated 90,000 to 102,000 day-care centers are certified by the National Association for the Education of Young Children in Washington. Although accreditation seems to protect against the worst programs, it does not guarantee the highest quality. A 1996 NAEYC study of 92 programs rated 61% of those with accreditation good or excellent. None was deemed poor, but the remainder were fair. Even if a program is accredited, parents should visit for an hour or more to make sure that it satisfies their standards. Ask for a tour and sit down with the director. One key issue is hygiene. Are toys scrubbed daily? Do teachers wash their hands after changing diapers? Then, ask about staff turnover. Centers that provide benefits and higher wages are better able to reduce defections, which threaten child development by severing the bonds that kids form with caregivers. Margi Walsch switched her 26-month-old twins, Katelin and Megan, from one suburban Pittsburgh center to another after the girls had at least nine teachers in nine months. ''We would start liking them, and they would leave,'' Walsch complains. YARDSTICKS. Her experience is not unusual. With unemployment low and salaries for the best-paid staff languishing at about $19,000, 31% of the nation's day-care workers left their jobs in 1997--the most recent year for which figures are available, the Center for the Child Care Workforce says. That's up from 26% in 1992. Another yardstick of quality is the ratio of staff to children. Although state rules vary, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends one adult for every three infants, four 2-year-olds, and seven 3-year-olds. Programs should also be able to articulate a child-care philosophy. Debra Lazarus, a day-care teacher for 13 years who works near Boston, recommends centers that are flexible enough to tailor activities to the childrens' interests. Open-door policies that permit parents to come and go anytime are another must, as Eve Kennedy-Spaien discovered when a suburban Boston center told her she could stay only 15 minutes after dropping off her infant son, Evan. ''They said it helped with the transition for the kids,'' the occupational therapist says. ''But I wanted to make sure he was safe and find out what his day would be like.'' Instead, Kennedy-Spaien placed Evan on waiting lists at two centers with open-door policies. Some centers even install cameras so parents can monitor their kids via the Internet. Quality programs aren't necessarily cheap. In 1998, the average cost of day care ranged from $4,000 to $10,000, according to the Children's Defense Fund. But the best programs tend to fall on the higher end of the range. Ask whether your employer has a flexible spending plan, which defrays some of the cost by allowing you to use pre-tax money to pay the bills. But before paying tuition, spend time in the classroom. Although teachers might be on their best behavior, it's hard to sustain a false impression for long, says Cathryn Booth, a professor at the University of Washington and an NICHD study contributor. When compiling the NICHD study, Booth and her colleagues devised a system to judge the quality of interactions between children and staff. Their criteria can serve as a checklist for parents comparing centers--or any form of care. While observing, look for instances in which caregivers respond to or ignore fussing or crying. Add pluses if a teacher smiles at, listens to, asks a question of, or responds verbally to a child, or sings or reads aloud. Physical contact, such as holding, is positive, as are efforts to encourage a skill, whether by counting with a toddler or aiding an infant struggling to walk. Also note negatives, such as restrictions on activities or mobility and sharp or critical speech. Hitting, shaking, and other forms of abuse are obvious red flags. But so are punishing without explanation and ignoring a child. Even if you find a center with all the right features, don't ignore nagging doubts. Selecting a center is a nonscientific process. In the end, pay attention to your gut feelings about whether your kid will thrive. By ANNE TERGESEN _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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