ED388402 PS023674
Title: The Study of Children in Family Child Care and Relative Care.
Highlights of Findings.
Author(s): Galinsky, Ellen; And Others
Author Affiliation: Families and Work Inst., New York, NY.(BBB29132)
Pages: 44
Publication Date: 1994
Available from: Document Not Available from EDRS.
Availability: Families and Work Institute, 330 Seventh Avenue, New
York, NY 10001 ($18, plus $3.50 shipping and handling. Discount on
orders of 5 or more copies).
Language: English
Document Type: Book (010); Numerical/Quantitative Data (110); Reports--Research
(143)
Geographic Source: U.S.; New York
Journal Announcement: RIEMAR1996
Child care
in a provider's home is the most prevalent form of child care for
young children with employed mothers in the United States today.
The quality of family care and relative care is of concern partly
because of growing public recognition that child care experiences
are children's education before school. As the first in-depth, observational
study of family child care and relative care in more than a decade,
this study focuses on 820 mothers and 225 of their children in the
homes of 226 providers in the communities of San Fernando/Los Angeles,
California; Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Key findings from the study are in the following areas: (1) definitions
of quality; (2) effect of quality of child development; (3) predictors
of quality, including job commitment, professional development,
planning, regulation, and conformance; and (4) causes for concern.
The study found that care in the home of a provider is offered by
three distinct groups: (1) regulated family child care providers;
(2) nonregulated family child care providers; and (3) nonregulated
relatives who provide care. Parents and providers agree about what
is most essential: the child's safety, the provider's and parents'
communication about the child, and a warm, attentive relationship
between the provider and child. Family child care providers who
intentionally seek out opportunities to learn more about child care
and education are also those people who create the most nurturing
and educational environments. These are intentional providers who
offer warmer and higher-quality child care. (Contains 62 references.)
(BGC)
Descriptors: *Caregiver Child Relationship; Caregiver Role; Child
Caregivers; Child Development; *Child Rearing; Definitions; Early
Childhood Education; Educational Quality; *Family Day Care; Family
Environment; Preschool Children; Professional Development; *Young
Children
Identifiers: Caregiver Attitudes; Caregiver Evaluation; Caregiver
Qualifications; Child Safety; Parent Caregiver Relationship
