Profiles child care arrangements in the United States. Specifically describes care by parents, care by relatives, care by non-relatives, and care in centers. Focuses on trends related to child care arrangements of preschool children in the 1990s, use of child care centers by legal status, and the economic impact of child care. (SD)

Examined children's play in indoor and outdoor environments at a New Zealand child care center. Identified four dimensions of difference illuminating the relationship between outdoor and indoor playspaces and the play occurring there: physical versus constructive play, change and stability continuum, freedom and control dimension, and differences…

Highlights issues related to the increase of non- traditional families and challenges child care directors to learn about these families. Guides directors in developing good relationships with parents, children, and their own staff and provides a list of sample questions to get information. Includes a 16-item bibliography for further information.…

In 2001, the authors assessed the quality of care provided to children in 51 care groups from 39 child-care centers in The Netherlands using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (T. Harms, D. Cryer, & R. M. Clifford, 1990) and compared the results with the quality of child care assessed in 1995 (M. H. van IJzendoorn, L. W. C. Tavecchio,…

This study examines teachers' beliefs and their practices of emotional socialization in three child care centers. Interviews with teachers revealed that teachers shared some, but not all, of their beliefs with regard to their role in children's emotional development and views of their own socialization practices. The findings from classroom…

Serving as a vehicle for raising the profile of and thereby gaining recognition for the important research and development work being conducted in Canada in support of children and families, the "Research Connections Canada" series compiles research and/or development papers as well as background papers, analytical literature reviews,…

This report compiles standardized data on child care supply and requests for care in California. The report provides county and statewide information based on responses from about 42,000 child care providers and more than 55,000 parents over a 3-month period and on data from state and federal government agencies, including: (1) demographic…

This manual describes the procedures for administering and coding the enactive social knowledge interview for preschool children. This interview is comprised of two segments, an enactive procedure and a reflective procedure using line drawings. The purpose of this interview is to assess preschooler's responses to hypothetical social situations.…

Associations between early child care and children's functioning though the end of third grade were examined. Some of the relations that had been detected before children's school entry were maintained. Higher-quality child care continued to be linked to higher scores in math, reading, and memory. More time spent in center care was associated with…

This manuscript describes the implementation of looping or continuity of care in a high-quality child care facility. Through interviews with parents and teachers, themes were identified including the advantages (stability and continuity of care, ease in transition, anticipating children's needs, parent friendships and networking) and challenges…

Perceptions of childcare center directors in for-profit and non-profit childcare centers were examined. Previous research indicates that childcare employees are poorly compensated, not properly trained, and dissatisfied with their work environment. This study explores further into the training, work environment, and job satisfactions of childcare…

This paper presents the main results of a comparative study carried out by a French-Japanese research team. Its focus is the daily life of under-ones in day care centres in two cultural contexts--France and Japan. Based on three kinds of data--official texts, videotaped observations and caregivers' discourses--the study highlights the links…

One of the very unique characteristics of child care boards is the prevalence of parent volunteers serving as board members. When parents serve as board members, a number of challenges are created. Because most parents do not have previous board experience and they are both clients as well as trustees, there is the potential for conflicts of…

The psychometric properties of the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) (Bricker & Squires, 1999) used in a French-Canadian preschool population were compared with psychometric data derived from U.S. normative studies. The ASQ was translated into French (Bonin, Robaey, Vandaele, Bastin, & Lacroix, 2000) and used in four early childhood…

As part of Louisiana's efforts to expand and improve the quality of its early childhood programs, a committee of educators from across the state collaborated to develop standards for programs serving 4-year-olds. This guide presents program standards to assist the ongoing development, evaluation, and improvement of early childhood center-based…