Report claims day care causes stress for children

Many of you will have seen this report in various forms around the country. Not only is it being published widely in newspapers but many of the local radio stations are making comment and getting comment from community members. It is important to discuss these issues with families and to challenge some of the questionable research findings. Advocacy for high quality ECE for all young children is critical. Keeping some of the real concerns visible e.g. the appalling legal ratio levels for babies in our country. No infant should be cared for by someone who is also caring for another 4 babies. A ratio of 1 teacher to 5 babies must be challenged! 

Conservative lobby group Family First is using a report from a controversial academic to claim day care is detrimental to children.

The group issued today the report that claims spending long periods of time in day care, and away from parents, is detrimental to a child's long-term development.

However, the study, by Dr Aric Sigman, hit the headlines last year in Britain, where it was questioned by experts. Dr Sigman is also behind a 2009 claim that Facebook and other social networking sites cause cancer. He was accused of "cherry-picking" evidence and ignoring that which did not support this theory. 

Writing in The Guardian last year, Dorothy Bishop, professor of developmental neuropsychology at Oxford, disputed his claims and questioned his credentials.

"Sigman ignores or selectively reports evidence for this more nuanced position," she wrote. "He justifies his one-sided approach to the evidence on the basis that "while open-mindedness has its place in academia, it is a luxury children can't afford".

Family First commissioned its report, Who Cares, to look at the increasing number of children and infants spending time in early childhood education while their parents are at work. 

Advocates say staying at home with their children is a luxury that many parents can no longer afford. 

Hayley Whitaker, early childhood spokeswoman for the NZEI union, said parental policies in New Zealand were "abhorrent" compared to other countries.

"We should be able to give people the choice to be at home with their children. They shouldn't have to feel that they're forced back into the workforce." 

However, there was a lot of evidence to show high-quality early childhood education benefited children, she said. 

"Everything in moderation, really." 

That quality depended on having qualified teachers and better student teacher ratios.

In his report, Dr Sigman said the level of a stress hormone, cortisol, was increased in 70 to 80 per cent of children in centre-based care. The hormone is produced in response to fear and uncertainty and too much of it was linked to a lowered immune system, he said. 

"Attending daycare for an extended time, whether small-scale and home-based, or large-scale and centre-based, that routinely triggers stress in young children could have potential long-term consequences for their mental and physical health as adults."

High-quality care did not override the effects, the report said. 

"The degree of warmth and affection, particularly between mother and child, can curb a child's stress reactions and generally make a child more resilient to stressful and difficult situations later on."

Dr Sigman recommended fulltime parenting should be a child's right, that the status of fulltime mothers should be enhanced and the current 14 weeks' paid parental leave be extended considerably.

Child Poverty Action Group spokeswoman Susan St John said the problems in accessing day care were inflexibility and the high cost.

"It's like a contract and a commitment, which then gets parents trapped on to a treadmill, and at the end of the day they might be quite surprised when they do the sums to work out that actually they're not much further ahead."

None of that was concerned with what was best for the child, she said.

Labour social development spokeswoman Jacinda Ardern said financial constraints often forced parents back into work.

"Families need to be able to make the decisions around the care of these children that work best for them, but right now it's not a matter of choice for many of them."

Labour's policies of Working For Families tax credits and 20 hours' free early childhood education were not designed to push people into work but to allow families to make the best choice for them, she said.

"ECE is not about day care, it's about education at an appropriate length of time for our children."

Labour campaigned on extending paid parental leave to 26 weeks.

Plunket spokeswoman Nikki Hooper said people were increasingly aware of the importance of the early months in a child's life. The organisation advocates six months' parental leave. 

'KIDS SHOW NO SIGN OF STRESS'

 

For 4-year-old Archie Bills, day care is so much fun he never wants to leave.

His mother, Sarah, said he was usually reluctant to leave Childspace in Wilton when she went to pick him up at the end of the day. 

"He always tells me he loves his teachers," she said. 

The Karori boy had not shown any signs of stress and was settled and happy.

"If we saw anything like that he would be out of child care." 

Mrs Bills and her husband, Hamish, made sure they spent time together as a family in the weekends and took turns picking him up from the early learning centre.

Stay-at-home dad Tim Richards said the benefits of children in day care outweighed the negatives. He and his wife, Megan, chose to send their sons Jack, 9, and Sam, 3, to St Mary's Early Childhood Education Centre at a young age to help develop socialisation.

Jack, who started preschool at the age of 1, quickly adapted, while Sam, who went at 2, took a few months to adjust to the child care environment, he said.

Both boys flourished, with their speech skills improving quickly along with their social skills. 

"I've never heard any parents who sent their kids there say that they're stressed."

Former Wellingtonian Haydn Jones and wife Zanta moved to Taranaki with their children Marley, 2, and Archer, 5 months, a year ago because they wanted to raise their children themselves. "I think it's a luxury to be able to raise our kids ourselves, which in itself is sad."

A Christmas Play.

I said I would be in charge of the games on Christmas day when we joined a couple of friends. A trip to the 2 dollar shop saw me armed with handfuls of possibilities. For about $20 we had an afternoon filled with madness and laughter. The most popular were the plastic racing cars powered by balloons. It was quite a skill to blow the balloon via the exhaust, and not let the air out until the start of the race.

So there we were; adults squashed in together at the start line on the lounge floor. Countdown; and they were off- or rather everyone elses were off. My car did premature victory laps. It just went round and round in circles whilst my friends cars zoomed past, crashing each other off the course and toward the

cushion finish line.
I lodged a protest. Having an engineer and a mechanic present proved a godsend. My car was then modified. How can a plastic car with only 2 moving parts can be modified? Believe me it is possible.
At the start line I positioned myself in the middle, lined up for the cushion. My car raced in straight and fast and won! My victory speech acknowledge the

racing crew and the pit boys. Chocolates were dished out as prizes and it was on to the next game.

Frog tiddly winks. A game of skill and co-ordination. Both of which were lacking slightly by this time in the day. For awhile we played according to the rules, and then innovation and creativity stepped in. How many frogs can jump at once. How high can they jump? The wine glass proved possible, as did the water jug. We drew the line at open mouths as targets.

So as a final wind down to our games, I introduced the balloon helicopter and we sat and watched the dog as it leapt excitedly around the garden and crashed through the flower beds as it followed the erratic flight of the helicopter. Who would be the one to retrieve it from the trees? As the games organiser I was exempt! We learnt some valuable lessons about flight paths, and obstacles.

I was reminded how we need to play and the excuse of Christmas should not be the only time when we retrace our childhood, get down on all fours and allow our playfulness to come to the fore.
I am thinking marbles and knucklebones will be next on our list and I won’t be waiting until next Christmas.

The Christmas Break!

I have been reflecting on the Christmas break and am thinking about the learning this brings.

There were the usual highlights. There was the pleasure and joy in a growing family that now includes new additions with each year and in-law members. There was the sharing of good food, great company and having fun together.

There were gifts and presents of wide variety and the delight and joy of giving, receiving and opening to share. There was the annual decoration of the whole lounge room floor beautifully strewn in the discards of hasty present un-wrapping.

Santa brought some water guns and yes we had a water pistol or two already here. For a great water fight and in the name of fairness we added in some loaded lemonade drink bottles. Water fights have been a family tradition in our family for a while.

Then there were the Christmas sales. Well in the Sale there were water guns with the equivalent of nuclear war heads. So again in the name of fair fighting I bought three of them. They have a 7 metre spray range with a 500ml tank capacity. I headed home from the shop and had lunch. The fight was on. Daughters, mother, father, son-in-law and two grand children fully armed. The fight started on the drive way (concrete). Running shooting squealing and water eschewed. Husband ran for cover beside the house. I crouched and waited to ambush and inflict the full force of my new super squirter. To cut a long story and water fight short – I stepped into the drain and fell backwards onto my right hand and Whew yep knew it straight away broke my wrist. Everyone saw it and calmly, not wanting to scare the small ones around me with big eyes, I held my arm tight and asked for a clean shirt, a brush of my hair and a ride to the medical centre. I returned with a bright and shining sling and cast to a fanfare of interest and care.

I have learnt a lot about being the ‘cared for’ rather than being the ‘carer’. I have learnt how to ask for and accept help. I have learnt that making mistakes is easy for me - forgiving myself and being kind to myself for those mistakes is a “work in progress”.

I have learnt about pain and how it made me grouchy at times with those who were caring. I have learnt about patience and taking a little longer to do things. I have always thought that I am left-handed - in fact, I am two handed!!! and so my brain has had to work hard at me being one-handed and I am proud to say I can do most things one-handed!!!

As Hawaiki, 4 years old, left to go home from what we now call Christmas Break 2011 he said

“Nana you won’t be having water fights anymore now eh?”

I said “Oh yes I will. Next time – we will just be on the grass”.

So I learnt about taking risks and rose to Hawaiki’s challenge. I will not be hanging up my water gun yet. And Hawaiki learnt that nana’s have fun and can pick herself up and keep going - ready with her water gun another day.

As I write this the car is packed for my trip to Hawaiki and Pipiana’s house and yes the cast is waterproof and the gun is loaded... And we look forward to another fabulous learning year.

Kathryn

Information and Communication Technology - an invitation to participate

We live in exponential times, when I worked in an early childhood setting digital technology was a relatively new thing and we had computers and cameras, as well as a fax machine, laminator and cordless phone! Now there is a plethora of digital devices, both desktop and handheld and I am really interested to know what has changed in the last few years as far as using Information Communication Technology (ICT) goes,within Early Childhood settings. To this end, over the first half of 2012 I am undertaking a small research project investigating how teams are currently using ICT in Early Childhood. In late August I will be presenting this research at a conference and it will also form the basis for my lecture later in 2012.

In particular I would like to find out:
What digital devices (Computers, Cameras, tablets, MP3 players etc) you have in your centre and how you are using these.
What programmes do you find most useful and what are you using them for?
Do you blog or are you part of any online community? Do you use Wiki’s or Google Documents?
What has helped or hindered your use of ICT?
How are children using the ICT you have within your setting?
Has ICT made a difference for children's learning? If so how?
Do Parents and Whanau have access to ICT within your setting?
Do you have iPads, iPods or other handheld devices that children are able to use and if so what are they using them for?
I am keen to support  Centres that currently have an iPad but maybe not using it to its full potential, so let me know if you are interested in this.

If you could answer the above questions and anything else you would like to add,  email me at jo.colbert@elp.co.nz
This is a great opportunity to showcase some of the fabulous work happening in your centre and I look forward to reading your responses.
Ka Kite

A small selection of ICT in my house!

Jo                                                                       

A Curious Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree is a source of delight for all of us. It is a new one, quite posh and 7 feet tall.

You may remember last year I wrote in a blog about the joy I have each year in greeting all of the decorations as 'friends'. The decorations are prompts and reminders of special times in my life. Decorating the Christmas tree is a time of re-visiting my life for me. I love decorating the Christmas Tree.

This year its life as an 'adult' Christmas Tree was only a day long. In that day it looked fabulous. Stunning in all of it’s balance and symmetry. Now it is decorated in two halves - the top half is the ‘adult’ half - it drips with the breakable baubles. The bottom half my grandchildren get to touch and play with. My grandchildren check out the decorations. They take them off, move them around and now happily all three of my mobile grandchildren can put them back on. I have the most undecorated and re-decorated Christmas tree in the world.

Zane, (21months) categorised the Christmas tree decorations! He likes to remove the decorations and carry them around. He has a transporting schema. The other day he walked straight in to our house and searched the tree. He found 3 matching embroidered NZ birds and placed them carefully on the coffee table. He said “Birds". Went back to the tree found 3 matching glitter gold stars and placed them carefully on the coffee table. He said “Stars". Then went back again and searched (read rustled with both hands in the branches now) and pulled out three matching branches of berries. Placed them on the coffee table carefully and said "Strawberries". He then went off to play only once glancing back to the coffee table totally satisfied.

I am so curious about him and his learning.

Pipiana is especially curious about the lights and sparkly things. As she fondled and re-arranged some decorations the other day she looked over at her mummy kindly reassuring her and said “Mummy! just looking!!?” They both smiled at each other, mummy raised her eyebrows and Pipiana carried on re-decorating the Tree.

I am curious about the kind ‘looking’ we love in our house that looks like enquiring with one’s own hands.

Hawaiki’s curiosity lies in the vehicles on the tree and the magnificence of the Tree’s height. And... of course! the magnificence of his own 4 year old growth and height, and his own place in our family - being the oldest and tallest grandchild. He stood beside his cousin, sister and the Tree, he pulled himself up to his tallest self, and raised his hand above his head and said “Whoa this is a BIG Christmas tree Nana - and I am up to here”. “Whoa you have grown such a lot Hawaiki. You are getting as tall as the Christmas tree”. I am curious about how tall he may grow and who he may be.

I love my Christmas Tree, I love the decorations and the prompts they provide for my remembering, and most of all I love the kind of curious learning and love the Christmas Tree invites and provokes.

It is indeed a Curious Christmas Tree.

A Christmas Wish of Curiosity to you all.

Kathryn

Lens and long grass

I was walking up the hill to my house and thinking about how long the grass was, how I hadn't transplanted the roses, how the grapes needed tying up, etc etc. It can get a little overwhelming at times. So much to do. As I paused I took in this view in front of me. I saw the roses very happily sharing their space with the lovely grass. Many of the grasses have different heads and subtly differing shades of green. Some of them almost sparkle in the light. The overgrown grapes were waving at me in the wind and I loved that they were taking over the place- like Sleeping Beautie's castle! I often say I live in a castle, so it is fitting that it is being overtaken by the greenery around me!
Looking with a different lens allowed me to see; really see and a calmness and a humble sense of wonder took over from the feelings of being overwhelmed.
I just need to do this more often, pause and really see, and appreciate the subtle beauty amongst the business and sometimes chaos that seems to surround me.
So the roses have been left alone, the grass still grows and the grapes are winning their takeover bid. Maybe visitors will need a pair of clippers to get to my front door but I promise it will be worth it!!!
So do stop to smell the roses, they are beautiful at the moment and the way the long grass dances in the wind can bring joy to the heart. A new lens can be so helpful, or maybe just dust off the lenses that we haven't used for awhile.

Is Respect Part of Your Environment?

"Make the most of the small things in life because as time goes on, you realise these are the big things."

I read this in a shop recently and thought about these words this morning. My grand daughter Devon had stayed for the weekend. She is 8 and is lovely company. Devon likes to write on any paper she can find, this time on the small pad I keep in the car. I discovered a message on this pad today. It read "Hi,my name is Devon, whoever is reading this, I will tell you what cool is. Cool is an old Grandma! It made my day. I am not sure about the old part, in her eyes I must be ancient but I like the cool bit. Devon and I share lots of small things and this is what has built our relationship, through caring and sharing.

Children can give us well qualified reflections and descriptions, not just in our homes but in our centres. It just depends on how we do it and what relationships we have established with them. Sometimes we need to respect children's rights not to speak or to express themselves on unpleasant subjects or be challenged. Making time and space for children to express themselves and to be listened to is an example of how "in order to honour children's participation rights we must establish the conditions in which they can be honoured". (Mayall, 2000)