When parents between 1950s and 1960s established a need to break from day-to-day parenting and linked that to the thought that while they are on a break their child could get care and education that will prepare them for school, they never thought about the complexity of delivery, accessibility, affordability, equity and quality; today these complex issues and differences are reinforced by government policies, funding issues and administrative divisions throughout the sector which is widening the care-education divide
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Quality, Practice and Staffing .
Over the years extensive research have been conducted in many areas of early childhood education in an attempt to promote and justify quality in children's growth and development.
In From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000) in (Elliott, 2006) noted five key findings that have most influenced knowledge about the impact of early experiences on children's wellbeing and educational outcomes.
- Early experience affects the development of the brain and lays the foundation for intelligence, emotional health.
and moral development.
- Healthy early development depends on nurturing and consistent, dependent relationships.
- Healthy early development, and particularly school readiness, is dependent on how young children think and feel.
- Rapid changes in society mean that the needs of many young children are not being met.
- Early intervention is important, and well-designed, accessible early intervention programs are needed for children at risk.
Clearly many questions have been raised in regards to the effect of separation and mother-child attachment, much of the questions raised had no answers and the negative attachment findings were often seized by media to initiate ideological debates about the damaging effects of child care and the need for mothers to take greater responsibility for their children and their moral development, linking this to the adverse affects that it could have on in point one above.