Breach of Trust - a Portland Press Herald special report

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Day-care environments must stimulate or risk stunting child

By Andrew Garber

At right: Anna Berks, left, and Cal London play with coffee beans at a "texture table" at the Catherine Morrill Day Nursery in Portland, an accredited day-care center praised by experts in child development. Staff photo by John Ewing

Sterile surroundings might keep children safe, but the lack of nurturing can have devastating effects on their futures.

Every day thousands of Maine parents drop off their children at brightly lit day-care operations that are safe, clean - and intellectually barren.

No blocks. No paints. No dress-up area. No books in easy reach. No adult to talk to for more than a few seconds at a time.

Just long days of playing with the same plastic toys over and over, getting in spats with other toddlers or staring at yet another Disney video.

They are warehouses for children.

Most preschoolers in day-care situations - children who are in their most critical developmental years - spend their days in such sterile environments, national and local experts say.

Children generally are not at risk of getting physically hurt in such environments, but there are serious consequences.

Studies show that low-quality care can interfere with the intellectual development of children. Research also indicates that disadvantaged children who do not receive high-quality child care are more likely to commit crimes later in life than children in nurturing day-care environments.

Why is mediocre child care so common?

The underlying reason is ignorance, said William Gormley, a public policy professor at Georgetown University.

''I don't think as a society we have appreciated the need to move beyond babysitting to child care for preschool children,'' he said.

''We haven't invested sufficient resources to ensure standards are enforced; we haven't provided sufficient funds to pay a decent wage to people who care for children at the most (vulnerable) stage of their lives; we haven't taken big steps or small steps to promote child care.''

DANGEROUS PATH TO DELINQUENCY, CRIME

The nation's leading child-care experts don't mince words when talking about the quality of day-care facilities.

''We're warehousing children,'' said Ellen Galinsky, director of the Families and Work Institute. She recently testified before Congress on the topic.

Her definition of warehousing: Children are not being talked to, they are not being held, they are watching TV, they are running around, they are wandering.

''The kids are safe, but they aren't really learning,'' Galinsky said.

Day-care facilities offering good care, by comparison, are safe, supportive and offer plenty of learning opportunities for children, she said. They are places where teachers are highly trained and have classes small enough to give children individual attention.

National studies have found that most day-care providers don't meet those higher standards:

Galinsky was the project director of a 1994 study that looked at 226 day-care homes in three states. Their findings: Only 12 percent of regulated day-care homes provided good care; the rest provided mediocre care, Galinsky said.

A similar study, published in 1995, looked at 401 large day-care centers in four states. It also concluded that most child care - six out of seven centers - is mediocre.

''We're jeopardizing our kids' learning opportunities,'' said Sharon Lynn Kagan, a Yale University researcher who worked on the study. ''There is a reason why we have all these academic problems in school in the early years.''

Studies also indicate quality of care plays a role in crime. A High/Scope Foundation study of at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds in Michigan found that children who did not receive high-quality preschool care were five times more likely to become chronic lawbreakers by the time they turned 27 than children who received good care.

''It's fairly simple,'' said Edward Zigler, a professor at Yale University and a leading expert on child care. ''We have a sizable body of evidence which indicates that high-quality child care or preschool programs result in much less later delinquency and crime.

''You have this opportunity early in life to give kids an experience that seems to head them away from crime, or you can give them a custodial experience that doesn't head them away from crime,'' he said.

Zigler said research shows high-quality programs help all children, ''but they are particularly beneficial to poor children. Kids in poverty are the kids who are at a high risk of later crime.''

'MISSED OPPORTUNITIES WITH PRESCHOOLERS'

Local child-care experts believe Maine follows the national pattern when it comes to the quality of its day-care providers.

Fewer than 3 percent of the 466 day-care centers in Maine are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. A NAEYC accreditation is a key indication of quality.

Audrey Maynard, as director of the childhood education program at Casco Bay College, regularly goes through day-care operations to observe her students doing internships.

Common problems she sees:

Small rooms that do not have much space for children to move around, or private spaces where children can escape from the hubbub of other children playing. ''It's like a Dilbert cartoon,'' Maynard said. ''These children live in cubicles.''

Day-care providers that do not have enough for children to do. For example, Maynard considers wooden blocks of different sizes to be a basic component for child care, yet few programs have them. Blocks help children develop their spatial skills.

Children who spend a lot of time chasing each other around. That generally means the children are bored and don't have enough to do, Maynard said.

''Too many children are being asked to stay for long periods of time in relatively dull environments,'' Maynard said.

Sue Reed, who teaches early childhood education at the University of New England, agreed.

In addition to teaching, Reed runs a day-care center at UNE and helps the National Assocation for the Education of Young Children assess centers seeking accreditation.

Reed said many day-care providers not only have a dearth of activities, but they also have few teachers who fully understand how to work with children.

Good teachers, for example, get down to eye level when talking to children, they help them resolve problems on their own, they respond to children who want attention, she said. In short, they treat them as individuals, she said.

Reed says that is not happening at many day-care operations. ''There are so many missed opportunities with preschoolers,'' she said.

DEVELOPING ABILITIES, TEACHING LIFE SKILLS

One example of a day-care provider that is doing a good job with children, Reed and Maynard agree, is the Catherine Morrill Day Nursery in Portland.

It is one of only 12 day-care centers in the state with an NAEYC accreditation.

The center has spacious rooms for the children, and teachers with college degrees and extensive training in early childhood education.

Maynard said the center has plenty of things for children to do.

Each classroom has an area set aside for wooden blocks, which are organized on low shelves. The blocks are important to help children develop abilities that come into play when they learn math in school.

There also are open tables in every classroom where children can play with water or sand. The tables help children develop their cognitive skills and they also find them relaxing.

At the center, children have the option of working on a computer or using puzzles, Legos and other construction toys. There are plenty of books on display in a cozy area where children can look at them, which helps them develop their language skills.

Art supplies are plentiful and readily available. The center displays children's artwork throughout the building. Working with paintbrushes, markers and crayons helps children develop writing skills.

Reed, during a visit to the center, noted that teachers paid close attention to the children and helped them do things for themselves.

In one incident, when two children began arguing, Reed saw a teacher walk over to intervene.

In many day-care centers, teachers simply move the children apart and try to divert their attention.

That's not what happened at Catherine Morrill. There the teacher ''knew to get down at the children's eye level and ask each child what happened and how they felt about it. Finally she asked them to come up with a solution to the problem,'' Reed said. ''These are skills that will take them through the rest of their life.''

Catherine Morrill is the type of center all parents should try to put their children in, Reed and Maynard said.

But be prepared for a wait. It can take three to six months to get a spot at Catherine Morrill. Other centers with NAEYC accreditation have waiting lists more than a year long.