Respect, Ratios, Raises!!

Respect, Ratios and Raises. These 3 important issues can't wait any longer in early childhood care and education. They need to be addressed now. They were the biggest issues we faced as as newly educated teachers in 1979 when I first studied ECE and they are still the biggest issues we face today.

That was 45 years ago. Brain science and early childhood development have made many key advances since then. Because of advances in brain-imaging, scientists now know the crucial importance of the experiences young children receive during their first few years of life.

Everything we are as adults is based on a foundation. That foundation is built during the first few years of life.

Basic trust is an important aspect of development during those crucial years. So is communication. Positive "serve and return" interactions with adults who care for and understand their developmental and emotional needs create a positive approach to new situations and learning experiences. If you want to know more about serve and return, there's a great article and video from The Harvard Center on the Developing Child here.

Even with all of this knowledge about the earliest years and their importance, mediocre child care programs consistently hire the most well-educated and experienced teachers to teach the oldest children in the program, allowing the infants and toddlers to receive a lower level of care.

When unannounced visits were done in licensed child care programs for the NICHD study the stats looked like this.

Only 20-36% were at or under ratio for birth to 3. That means 64-80% of licensed centers visited unannounced were in violation of state licensing ratio rules for infants and toddlers.

It's impossible to build a strong and capable structure on a broken foundation. I can tell you from years of experience that it's impossible to give a child an adequate level of care at a facility that routinely operates over ratio.

Here's a chart from the Harvard Center on the Developing Child found in the section called "Brain Architecture" alongside a quote from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Young babies need relationships with caregivers who are:

• Sensitive to their needs and messages

• Timely in responding (especially to messages of distress)

• Accurate in the reading of their cues

• Understanding of appropriate levels of stimulation (Bornstein 2012) NAEYC

Our experiences during the first few year of life plus our own genetic makeup define who we are.

Here are some facts to think about.

• 22.5 million children between 2-5 in 2022 reside in the US.

• 60% of children under the age of 5 (13.5 mil) use some form of childcare.

• 10% of that childcare is considered high quality.

• 1.3 mil children are in high quality care.

• That leaves 12.2 million children between the ages of 0-5 in mediocre-poor quality care. That's well over 1/2 of the children under the age of 5 that reside in the US. The sad fact is that families are paying a lot for that low quality of care.

We need to do better.

High-quality childcare programs have a great level of respect for their employees. They hire people with experience and education who tend to stay a long time.

However, The average national turnover rate in childcare is as high as 40%. That's horrific considering the responsibility of caring for and educating our youngest.

High quality programs tend to pay better, offer benefits, and allow the teachers in their program to truly teach the children because they maintain excellent ratios well above and beyond what is required by state licensing regulations. They charge more money (out of necessity) than most families could ever afford.

We need to look carefully at that high-quality top10% and figure out a way to replicate programs like these and make them affordable to all families , not just the rich.

Chances are, if you've read this far, you are one of those high-quality child care providers we want to support. Now we need to join together with parents, employers and government officials to build a new child care system that works. The present and future integrity of our country depends on it. Please share the information in this article with others. It's time we wake up to the truth. Naptime's over!

In love and support for all you do, we'd love to offer you a gift. The gift of laughter. Click on the self-care picture and indulge yourself. You deserve it!

You can join us for free here if you haven't already and you'll instantly receive our eBook, Magic Words, How To Get Kids To Listen And Like It! This is a great resource to share with parents because it explains why high-quality childcare providers choose the words they do and why they tend to work so well.

Nanci J Bradley is an early childhood and family educator, author, teacher, family aerobics instructor, and an all-around fun-loving person. She believes in the power of sleep, healthy eating, lifelong learning, and most of all, PLAY! She studied early childhood ed at Triton College and received her BS in education in 1986 from NIU. She received her MA in human dev from Pacific Oaks College in 2011. She lives and teaches in Madison WI and is the founder of early childhood rocks, a non-profit org dedicated to creating change through early childhood education.