An important question for child care researchers today is how characteristics of the home and the child care setting together affect children's development. There is mixed opinion on how differences and similarities between professionals' beliefs, values and practices for raising children impact their development. There is strong theoretical support for the idea that continuity in children's experiences from home and child care settings promote optimal development, and that major differences pose developmental challenges, especially for children in very early childhood. However, research that is available suggests that children from families with lower educational and economic resources can benefit from different environments if the care setting is more advantageous than that provided by the family. .
This paper examines early child care settings and the effects, whether they are good or bad, on the developing child. Also, different factors and variables will be presented in relation to the quality and promotion of congruence across care settings. .
This paper details different studies done on early child care from accredited literature and institutions, as well as magazines that focus on the topic of children and their development. .
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Early Child Care and Effects on the Developing Child.
Recently there have been different viewpoints concerning the child care question, with assertions that non-parental care of young children is detrimental to their development. However, despite these assertions, research suggests that, given high quality care, the experience of child care is not harmful and can be beneficial to children. .
The simple question, "Is child care good or bad?- can be thrown out the window. In order to ensure that all children receive good quality care one must ask questions that revolve around what makes up good quality care, and how it meets the requirements of the children involved.