Over the course of their developmental years, millions of children and youth will spend more time in child care arrangements than they will in formal education. Schools are typically open less than half of the days of the year, and usually only provide educational experiences until mid-afternoon. Children spend less than 20 percent of their waking hours in school.
Child care is at the top of the nation's agenda.
Educational, economic, employment and environmental issues are at stake. Educational issues are critical in the context of meeting the intellectual, social, and emotional developmental needs of infants through school-age children and youth. High quality child care helps children enter school ready to succeed in a number of ways, and has a particularly strong impact on low-income children who tend to be at greater risk for school failure. Although quality care is critical, most center-based care in this country is poor to mediocre with almost half of infants and toddlers experiencing less than minimal quality care. In family-care programs, equally alarming information is reported.