The study found that language and cognitive development are directly related to the quality of daycare but countered that these deficits diminish as the child ages. Which brings up the question of whether the educational system is working around kids who would be entering school with higher degrees of skills had they spent the first years of their lives getting the exclusive attention of their moms. Mom has always been the center of her child's universe. She has taught her family's values, developed her children's emotional and learning skills and has been the rock a child could cling to in the choppy waters of growing up. Not just of children who are unfed, unwashed and unwanted, but also of the children who are deprived of nurturing or just plain ignored.
Brain development depends on attention and affection.
Children need to be held and rocked and kissed and sung to by the people who love them. Purple dinosaurs and electronic toys may be a distraction, but they can't provide the basic needs of childhood. We've seen studies of baby monkeys and other social animals who develop dysfunctional behavior when deprived of affection and care. We know that most brain development occurs before age five. There are no guarantees of course, and even the most conscientious parenting doesn't always result in perfect children.