In the enormous child care care ecosystem conversation, there is an idea that one to one care, like a nanny, parent, or grandparent, is ideal until a child is three years old, at which point they are able to "benefit" from being in a group with other children. We look at this claim, the idea that group care is either not beneficial or actively detrimental, and talk about what quality of care really comes down to.

Sources:

Eckstein-Madry, T, Piskernik, B., Ahnert, L. Attachment and stress regulation in socioeconomically disadvantaged children: Can public childcare compensate? DOI: 10.1002/imhj.21878

Bernier, A., Cote, S. M., Theriault, R. L., Leclerc, G. On executive functioning and childcare: The moderating role of parent–child interactions DOI: 10.1111/desc.13534

Barry, K. M. Early childcare arrangements and children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms: an individual participant data meta-analysis of six prospective birth cohorts in Europe https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.101036

Nystad, K. Change in toddlers’ cortisol activity during a year in childcare. Associations with childcare quality, child temperament, well-being and maternal education https://doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2022.2048371

Fukkink, R. Is childcare good or bad for children’s socio-emotional development? Context matters https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.101044

While there isn't often a hard and fast rule, coloring pages are often looked at as "busy work" or as having no place in a child led classroom, with beliefs about the potential for negative impact on children's creativity and discovery. Why would a child want to learn to draw independently if we have pages already made with all of the pictures they could want to draw! Surprisingly, there's very limited research on coloring pages and their impact on creativity... or anything else for young children.

References:

Creative and Mental Growth (Third Edition) Viktor Lowenfeld

Nurturing Creativity: An Essential Mindset for Young Children’s Learning by Rebecca Isbell and Sonia Akiko Yoshizawa

Coloring-Book-Type Experiences and Children's Divergent Pictorial Production* N. ASHLEY RANDALL, JR.; THOMAS W. DRAPER

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The Reggio Emilia approach values the idea of the teacher as researcher; program director Alexandra Dutton, of Old Firehouse School, has nearly 20 years of experience supporting educators in their role as researcher of their own group of children.

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