Children and Day Care: Lessons from Research

Are there differences in the development of children in different types of day care? Does it matter how old children are when they begin attending day care? How does the behaviour of carers affect the development of children in their care? How do children who have been in day care fare when they go on to school? These and many other questions relevant to child development are being asked now that more children spend some of their pre-school years in day care. This is a book about research relevant to the development of these children.

The way in which children are cared for changes over time and differs from country to country. The book discusses the variety of these arrangements and illustrates some of the differences in the typical daily experiences of young children in day care in Britain. Against this background the main part of the book is devoted to a review of the results of a large number of research projects in day care. The discussion of research is preceded by a short description of the normal course of child development

during the pre-school years.

Children and Day Care presents some challenging ideas for the future of services for young children and for the future relationship between research and people working in day care.

The authors have considerable experience of research in day care for young children and have taken part in a major longitudinal study of day care in Britain. This book will be relevant to all those who work with young children, or who are concerned in any way with providing the best possible services for them.