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By Ellen Keelan, in collaboration with Windham Child Care Association Permission for publication elsewhere is freely granted, so long as credit is given to Ellen Keelan, Windham Child Care Association, and the Brattleboro Reformer. 3. Child Care in Crisis: High-quality care critical, but hard to find How important are children's early learning experiences on their lifelong success? It's an issue that has for years gone from speculation to hot debate. Now, scientists and educators alike are coming squarely down with their verdict: the early years aren't just important -- they're essential. "The idea of capturing children early is really crucial," says Bruce Garrow, principal of Newfane Elementary School. "It's like anything else -- if you start early, your results are much better. Before five years old, a child's brain is really elastic and ready to learn. They can learn good habits or they can learn bad habits." Research on brain development shows that the years before kindergarten, especially those from zero to three, are the prime time for learning. During the first few years of life, the brain forms connections more rapidly than at any other time. But as an individual grows, the brain conserves energy by shutting down connections that aren't regularly used, maintaining only those connections that are. Skills that have been neglected may take years to recover, often at high cost to society. Studies that trace groups of children over a number of years find that those who do not benefit from high-quality early care and education need more remedial assistance and repeat school grades more often than their peers. In time, they earn less and are more likely to become teen parents. One well-known study showed that every dollar spent on high-quality early education saved seven dollars in special education and other social programs -- including incarceration costs. This link is backed up by Brattleboro Police Chief Dick Guthrie. "I'm a firm believer in education at an early stage. I think when these kids get into kindergarten, the learning process is easier for them. They don't get frustrated and become quitters, and don't act out on someone else. As a result, it saves us a lot of problems." But with prices high and options limited, families looking for quality child care don't always find it. "The reality is that most early care and education in the U.S. is substandard," says Leah Bratton, Early Childhood Coordinator at Brattleboro's Early Education Services. "A study from the University of Colorado found that only one out of every seven early childhood centers provided a level of quality that promotes healthy development and learning." Part of the problem, says Bratton, is that with no federal regulations in place to ensure quality of care, it's up to each state to devise its own set of rules. While these dictate minimal standards for cleanliness, safety and number of children per adult caretaker, they often don't address children's educational or psychological needs. "Vermont's standards are pretty good," says Bratton. "But in many states the requirements and regulations are appallingly weak -- even non-existent. And even these bare requirements are hardly enforced. Essentially, our country is ok with putting young children on a daily basis in places that can harm their development." How do parents sort the good programs from the not-so-good? "Often parents judge a child care program on whether they and their child feel comfortable in that setting," says Janice Stockman, of the Head Start Collaboration Project. "That could mean they're in a program that has aspects of high quality, but I don't think it always does. You really need to talk with the center director. And it's always useful to talk to an organization that knows about issues of quality, like Windham Child Care Association, Early Education Services, or the Family Infant Toddler Program." Increasingly, parents can look for centers accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Accreditation, as opposed to state licensing, is a voluntary process that looks at an early childhood center from top to bottom, judging it in areas ranging from the physical facilities to how well teachers focus on children's individual needs. "The accreditation process looks at programming and staffing, how the staff works as a team, and at developmentally appropriate curriculum," says Kathi Apgar, president of NAEYC's Vermont affiliate, VAEYC. "Nothing in the state licensing regulations looks at that." | |||
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