Ten hours a day in childcare are too many. When childcare becomes a child's waking life, there's a serious life problem. A recent study by the Society for Research in Child Development found that too many hours in childcare actually produced a host of negative behaviors. But when schedules were changed and the same children spent fewer hours in childcare and more hours at home, the behavior patterns also changed for the better. Anyone working in childcare knows that the parent is the primary educator of the child, and that childcare can only support the parent and the home.
Children arrive earlier and earlier and leave later and later.
Children who spend additional hours in childcare are often the problem children. It makes sense and probably has something to do with sleep. Twelve hours of sleep falls into the healthy category. Ten hours a day in childcare leaves only two hours a day to actively be with family. One solution is to arrive and leave work on time.