Child care taps into deep divisions within society – some stressing individual responsibility and others emphasizing our social or collective responsibility for one another.

We all share responsibility for children and raising the next generation. The following are frequently asked questions with suggested answers to assist you in navigating the societal divisions we face regarding this critical topic.

1. Aren’t we already pushing children with “too much, too soon”? Why should we start even earlier than Kindergarten?

• Funding for Pre-K programs and early education is a smart investment with one of the highest immediate and long-term rates of return. Investing in early childhood programs can actually reduce the costs of retention and special education, as well as long term incarceration costs and public assistance. If properly funded and managed, the average annual rate of return is $16 for every $1 invested in early childhood education.
  Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Study
• Many of the important skills that contribute to a child’s success in school and in life are developed before formal schooling begins. Children learn to listen to adults and follow directions, they learn to complete simple tasks independently, and they learn to work cooperatively with other children. Kindergarten is no longer focused on preparing children to succeed in school- they now have their own academic curriculum, standards, and testing procedures and 5-year-olds are now expected to have these preparatory skills.
• The earliest years are the most critical to children’s development. Nearly 90% of the core structure of the brain develops in the first three years of life. This “wiring” impacts the capacity to learn and develop social, emotional and cognitive skills.
  Source: The Future of Children
• Children acquire the foundation for desirable business skills such as communication, teamwork and critical thinking before age 5.
  Source: The Future of Children
• And yet, at the time when brain development is at its highest, our investment is at its lowest. For every dollar Virginia spends on a college student, only 5¢ is spent on a preschool child to support the fundamental early years.
  Source: Voices for Virginia’s Children
• All children are born ready to learn, but the achievement gap begins to show BEFORE Kindergarten. By giving children the school readiness skills they are expected to have before they reach kindergarten, we can address the “achievement gap” before it widens and costs society even more.
• Social and economic factors create major differences in the quality of early learning environments that result in serious learning gaps before children ever enter kindergarten.
  Source: National Association of State Boards of Education and US DOE’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Study
• Children who start behind typically stay behind. Children from low-income families begin school about a year behind, and skills at school entry are highly predictive of academic performance through high school.
  Source: Deborah Stipek in The Elementary School Journal
• Research shows that children from low-income families have an average of 800 word vocabularies, while their peers from higher income families have vocabularies of over 10,000 words.
  Source: Zero to Three

 

2. I pay enough taxes already, what is the benefit to funding early education?

• Money for education can be better spent. We would rather spend money on ECE instead of repeated grades and special education services.
• The older a child gets, the more money it takes to make a difference.
• Source: National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
• Results from the Perry Preschool Study showed that children benefit significantly from high quality early education experiences:
  • children are less likely to be placed in a special education program and had a significantly higher average achievement score at age 14 than nonparticipants;
  • over 65 percent of program participants graduated from regular high school compared with 45 percent of nonparticipants;
  • at age 27, four times as many program participants as nonparticipants earned $2,000 or more per month;
  • only one-fifth as many program participants as nonparticipants were arrested five or more times by age 27.
  
  Source: High/Scope Perry Preschool Study

3. Shouldn’t mothers be at home with their children?

• Early care and education can be an important support system for mothers who choose to stay home with their children, and plays an important role in ensuring that every child arrives prepared for success in school.
• Today, 70% of families are dual income families or are headed by a single working parent. In 1960, the exact opposite was true: 70% of families had one stay-at-home parent. The need for high-quality childcare has risen dramatically.
  Source: Parent’s Action for Children

4. Isn’t publicly funded childcare for low-income families?

• Smart Beginnings WT believes that ALL children have the right to be prepared and ready for Kindergarten, so we strive to make sure all families have access to affordable, high quality early care and education.
• School readiness is an issue that affects children from families of all income backgrounds. 49% of children who do not know the alphabet at the start of kindergarten come from middle and upper class families.
  Source: Pre-K NOW
• Low-income families are not the only ones in need of high quality care. Middle-income families are in a difficult position because they do not qualify for public care, but they cannot afford high quality private care—nor can they afford to have a parent stay at home.

5. What is the difference between “early education” and “day care”?

High quality early care and education provides children with developmentally appropriate experiences in a stimulating environment with qualified, responsive teachers. These early experiences help children develop a foundation of social, emotional, critical thinking, and pre-academic skills that they will be expected to have when they enter Kindergarten. Quality early care and education prepares children to succeed in school and in life.
Source: The Science of Early Childhood Development, From Neurons to Neighborhoods


6. Aren't all licensed centers "high quality"?

• Licensed and regulated centers, along with family home providers, are required to maintain a minimum set of health, safety and training standards. This does not ensure that the centers are high quality.
• Childcare centers and family care homes that are “accredited” have gone beyond the minimum licensing standards and have voluntarily met the standards set by national childcare organizations. These standards often include professional development requirements, child development training, and positive discipline programs.
  Source: Child Care Aware
• Less than 10% of childcare centers are accredited and only 0.8% of family care homes are accredited.
  Source: National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies
• Currently, Virginia does not have a Quality Rating System (QRS) in place to evaluate different centers based on the level of quality of care and education they provide. If Virginia were to implement a QRS, parents would be able to use this system to make informed decisions about childcare options.

7. What is high quality?

Whether your child is spending time at home or with a child care provider, his or her surroundings should provide an opportunity for learning. A high quality early learning environment should provide:

• Healthy and safe surroundings
• Consistent routines
• Stimulating and interactive learning experiences
• Responsive and consistent caregivers
• Positive adult-child interactions
• Opportunities to explore and play
• Parental involvement

8. What is a ready child?

A ready child:

• Feels excited and comfortable about starting kindergarten
• Loves to explore and discover
• Feels good about himself/herself
• Feels trust in other adults
• Knows who they are and where they come from
• Feels safe and knows how to keep himself/herself safe
• Feels good and is healthy
• Is familiar with words, symbols and books

9. What is social-emotional development?

Social and Emotional development involves the acquisition of a set of skills. These include the ability to:

• Identify and understand one's own feelings
• Accurately read and comprehend emotional states in others
• Manage strong emotions and express oneself in a constructive manner
• Regulate one's own behavior
• Develop empathy for others
• Establish and sustain relationships
  These skills help promote a range of positive behaviors beginning before children enter kindergarten and extending into adult life. Improper social and emotional development can result in problems in school and later life.
  Source: Promoting Children's Social and Emotional Development through Preschool, The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)

10. How are all the developmental areas linked? Is one area more important than the others?

Each of the developmental areas carries as much importance as the others. It’s the “whole child” we must consider.
The Virginia Early Childhood Alignment Project produced a guide called Milestones of Child Development: A guide to Young Children’s Learning and Development from Birth to Kindergarten. This is a comprehensive reference guide to understanding child growth and development. It is designed to help persons caring for children to meet a child’s emotional, cognitive, and physical needs. Download the guide at: www.dss.virginia.gov/files/division/cc/publications.

11. Can high quality early care and education really keep children from later criminal activity?

• High quality early care experiences are a research proven deterrent to later criminal activity. America’s law enforcement community has recognized that the effort to funnel children away from crime must start in the early years.
• Fight Crime: Invest in Kids takes a hard-nosed look at crime prevention strategies, informs the public and policymakers about those findings and urges investment in programs proven effective by research. To learn more about Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, check out their website at www.fightcrime.org.

12. Where can I find information and resources focusing on Infant and Toddler care?

• Most educational, economic, and neurological experts now agree that the first five years lay the groundwork for children's emotional, social, language, cognitive, and physical development - all critical elements for school readiness and life success.
  Thrive By Five: www.thrivebyfivewa.org
• Advancing knowledge of early learning and the importance of parenting in the first years of life, Talaris works to improve the healthy social, emotional and cognitive development of children from prenatal through age five.
  Talaris Research Institute: www.talaris.org
• Zero to Three's mission is to support the healthy development and well-being of infants, toddlers and their families. Zero to Three is recognized as the nation's leading resource on the first three years of life.
  Zero to Three: www.zerotothree.org