And child development

Today, about half of the nation’s mothers who have young children work outside the home while their children stay with substitute caregivers. Many of these children stay in day-care centers in which groups of caregivers care for children.

It is important that we determine what effects substitute caregivers will have on our children. Recent literature suggests answers to several important questions.

1. Does day-care experience damage the basic trust and security engendered by the attachment bond between mother and child?

A few studies have suggested that day-care experience can reduce the quality of the mother-child relationship. Most studies, however, have found no reduction in quality (Clark-Stewart & Koch, 1983). For example, one group of researchers compared infants enrolled in day-care centers with infants reared at home (Kagan, Kearstey, & Zelanzo, 1977). They found that day-care did not weaken attachments to mothers. Similarly, Farron and Ramey (1977) observed that although children prefer their day-care teachers over strangers, they still prefer their mothers over their teachers.

2. How do multiple attachments to day-care staff and mother affect social development?

On the one hand, some researchers have suggested that children in day-care may be less cooperative with adults (e.g., Schwartz, Strickland, & Krolick, 1974). However, other researchers have found that infants with day-care experience play more with other children and adapt more quickly to new environments (Kagan et al., 1977). It seems to be the quality, not the number, of attachments that makes the difference. Furthermore, a study by Moore (1975) suggests that the positive influence of day-care on peer relationships carries over to the teen years.

3. How does day-care experience influence cognitive development?

A recent review of studies on child care has addressed this question (Scarr, 1984). It seems that its effect is determined by a child’s background. Children from advantaged backgrounds perform well in school whether they are reared at home or in day-care centers. It seems, however, that children from disadvantaged background do better in school if they have had experience in day-care centers that provide structured educational programs.

4. What features of day-care will optimize healthy child development?

Most of the research on day care has evaluated high quality day-care centers associated with universities. We know little about day-care programs in underprivileged areas, and still less about the effects of leaving children with sitters, which is a popular alternative to day-care. Available data, however, suggest that children left with sitters do not do as well as children enrolled in day-care programs. In fact, a study in England found that one-third of the children who spend their day in a sitter’s home become withdrawn and passive (Bruner, 1980).

Such results raise the question of how to optimize the day-care experience. Psychologists have offered a number of suggestions: (1) To avoid severe separation distress, children should be enrolled in day-care either between 1 and 7 months of age or after they are about 18 months old; (2) each caregiver should be responsible for no more than three infants of toddlers; (3) class sizes for older preschoolers should not exceed 12 for 2- and 3-year-olds or 16 for 3- to 6-year-olds; (4) teachers should be trained in early childhood education; (5) the physical space should be safe and attractive, indoors and out; (6) a variety of play materials should be available; and (7) the children enrolled in the program should be happy and involved (Kagan et al., 1977; Ruopp et al., 1979).

Упр. 5. Письменно соотнесите английские словосочетания с их русскими эквивалентами:

1. to work outside	а. оценить высокое качество работы детских учреждений при университетах
2. recent literature	b. кажется, дело именно в качестве привязанности, а не в количестве ее демонстрации
3. to damage the basic trust	в. быстрее адаптироваться в новой среде
4. to reduce the quality of the mother-child relationship	г. дети из благополучных семей
5. infants enrolled in day-care centers	д. ослабить отношения между матерью и ребенком
6. it seems to be the quality, not the number of attachments	е. маленькие дети, посещающие детские учреждения
7. children from advantaged backgrounds	ж. нанести вред изначальному доверию
8. to optimize healthy child development	з. свежая литература
9. to avoid severe separation distress	и. иметь работу вне дома
10. to evaluate high quality day-care centers associated with universities	к. создавать наиболее благоприятные условия для развития здорового ребенка
	л. чтобы избежать сильных страданий, вызванных разлукой (с мамой)

Упр. 6. Письменно ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What is this article about?

2. How many questions does the author (автор) ask and answer?

3. Can day-care experience reduce the quality of the mother-child relationship? What are the results of studies of these problems?

4. What is the positive influence of day-care?

5. Do psychologists offer any suggestions to optimize the day-care experience? What are they?

Дата добавления: 2015-07-11