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KU researcher offers tips on finding good child-care

LAWRENCE - The key to finding high-quality child care is finding time to observe and visit with child-care providers, says Marion O'Brien, University of Kansas researcher participating in an long-term federal study of child development.

O'Brien, one of the investigators involved nationally in a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study, says it is not an easy task for parents to find the time to make several visits, including some unannounced visits.

Nationally, about 20 to 25 percent of child-care centers are estimated to be of high quality, O'Brien says.

"The vast majority of centers are sort of in the middle range. They're not awful, but they're not high-quality care," O'Brien says.

High-quality child care is not necessarily the most expensive, she adds. "Cost of care is not always a guideline that you can depend on."

O'Brien says it doesn't matter whether it is a care center or home-based child care or grandmother doing the child care - it can be good or bad.

"Parents need to go beyond their initial feelings about the person and actually observe what's going on," O'Brien says.

"Whether it's a teacher in a child-care center or a home-care provider or a grandparent - whoever the provider is, how that person behaves with the child is what's really important.

"If a care provider is very upset that a parent has dropped by unexpectedly, then I think that would be a warning sign to the parent that they might not really be as comfortable with that situation," O'Brien says.

"One of the things that the study shows is that education begins very early and that high-quality child care will affect children's ability to succeed in school," O'Brien says.

Early child care affects how a child gets along with other people and makes a difference in family relationships, so it is important what happens to children from birth until the time they go to school, O'Brien says.

High-quality child-care providers are actively involved with the children and talk to the childen a lot, O'Brien says. They don't use TV as a substitute for talking or playing with children. If they have the TV on, they have it tuned to a child's program and watch with the child, talking to the child about what they are seeing.

High-quality child-care providers talk to children, especially infants and toddlers whose language is just emerging, O'Brien says. Research shows that children who have been talked a lot to since infancy tend to know more language and do better on school readiness tasks at the age of 3.

In choosing quality child care, O'Brien recommends that parents visit and watch the care provider as he or she interacts with children. High-quality child-care providers:

1. Respond quickly to a child's needs, both when a child may be upset and when the child is happy. They are sensitive to the reasons a child may be upset or happy and react appropriately.

2. Talk to and with the children and encourage them to respond. They recognize that talking a lot to infants and toddlers will help them learn more language skills.

3. Don't use TV as a substitute for talking to children, but may use children's TV programs to encourage a child to respond as the adult talks with the child about what he or she is seeing.

4. Make the child's play their first priority and play with children rather than just watch them play.

5. Welcome unexpected or unannounced visits by parents.

O'Brien, associate professor of human development and family life at KU, also directs KU's Sunnyside Infant-Toddler Program, a center focused on inclusive care and early intervention for children from birth to age 3.

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study followed about 1,200 youngsters from birth through age 3 and beyond. The original families continue to participate in the study and the children are now in the fourth grad