Child care quality in general, and caregiver-child interactions in particular, are salient predictors of children's outcomes. While the importance of process quality is well known, the complex relations between structural quality and process quality are far less researched in family child care, compared to centre based child care. Flanders shows…

Half of all infants and toddlers receive care in nonparental settings, such as centers and family child care (FCC) homes. On average, infants and toddlers spend more hours per week in care than preschoolers do. Yet infant-toddler care has been identified as lower quality than care for older children, suggesting that professional development (PD)…

A pioneer in the infant/family field in the United States, Magda Gerber was the founding director of Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE), known for its unique two-generation approach to the care and education of young children. This paper offers a summary of Gerber's teachings from the late twentieth century with citations pointing to their…

Research Findings: This study evaluated the effectiveness of 2 professional development interventions aimed at improving the quality of care provided by caregivers in ordinary infant-toddler child care settings, both center- and home-based. In all, 183 participants in a community college course on infant-toddler theory and practice, an in-service…

Child outcome studies consistently emphasize the effects of quality childcare on the early development of young children. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the effects of assessment training and digital media on teacher-child interactions measured using the Caregiver Child Interaction Scale (CCIS). The participants included six infant…

Age-appropriate activities for children and curriculum guidelines for mothers operating family day care homes for infants and toddlers were developed with the goal of improving the quality of day care programming. Curriculum goals were to (1) facilitate children's achievement of self-identity and self-esteem; (2) provide an outlet for creative…

Considers issues that challenge parents and professionals faced with the need for infant group care: nurturing in the infant caregiver, staff stability, economics of staff/infant ratios, the role of language in caregiving, altruism in babies, group versus individual time, control and power issues, caregiver training, and "people…

Training and education of infant and toddler caregivers is one important factor associated with the quality of child care they provide. In response to research showing that high-quality care supports positive development in young children, policymakers have established training and education requirements for licensed providers and launched…