Human Growth and Development / Unit 4 HGD 0501 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
The NICHD Study and Head Start
The idea
The NICHD Study of Early Child Care, begun in nineteen ninety-one at ten US sites, followed children for fifteen years. Overall, children cared for by their mothers did not develop differently from children cared for by others. Family characteristics, such as parents' education, income and a supportive, enriching home, predicted development more strongly than childcare did. Quality mattered: higher-quality care predicted better cognition, language and school readiness, and lower-quality care predicted more behaviour problems.
In practice
Two toddlers, one at home and one in high-quality center care, arriving at school equally ready, with their families' resources making the larger difference.
Where people slip
The misconception is that day care harms attachment or development. The evidence points to quality and family, not to the fact of childcare. Head Start, begun in nineteen sixty-five, and Early Head Start for infants and toddlers are associated with better attendance, reading, emotion regulation and health, and lower rates of maltreatment.
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