The Good The Bad and the Hopeful in Child Care

There is a rift in early care and education between well-meaning parents using care and well-meaning teachers providing that care. At the heart of this rift is the fact that each group is being regulated to the bottom of our economic system. At least that's true in the US.

Someone has to care for all those little kids for little or nothing so that people can keep going to work, right? So child care keeps limping along and parents and teachers find ways to cope with a failed system. Then they move on to elementary school. Or they quit. The brain science experts say children need continuity and connection.

Who's providing that? High-quality teachers understandably quit when they can no longer cope. In 2022 the turnover rate for child care workers was 65% higher than the typical occupation.

The high quality parents move on to elementary school bringing their talents with them. Sometimes the parents and the teachers blame each other for failures.

Where's the hope?

The hope is in unity. There is strength in numbers. We know that 60% of our children are attending mediore to poor child care. We need to find the quality early childhood experiences and replicate those until the tables are turned and 90% of all child care is high-quality.

During the first few years of life we learn to learn. All other learning is build on that foundation. That is why early education matters so much.

High-quality teachers and parents exist right now. We can focus on them. Transparency and bravery are going to be necessary. Early childhood rocks is busy revamping our members-only area to make it more useful to our cause. We're working on small ways that parents and teachers can support each other.

Make sure you open and read your mini-conference next week for very important details.

We are so excited!!!

Stay tuned.