Daycare programs may have psychological developmental effects on children. According to a Child Care Center Quality and Child Development brief by Cornell University, higher quality daycare programs may provide positive psychological benefits for children, especially youngsters from low-income families. Higher quality daycare programs may hold national or regional registration and accreditation and employ caregivers with formal child education degrees. Staff background checks and safety standards are other factors that contribute to high-quality daycare.
Social Competence and Cooperation
High-quality daycare may positively affect children's social competence and cooperation. According to a brief published by Cornell University's College of Human Ecology, infants and toddlers who have more stable relationships with daycare staff members may display more appropriate social behavior. Low employee turnover rates may help to develop stable and affectionate relationships with teachers in daycare. Higher quality emotional interaction between daycare teachers and children may promote better social competence and fewer behavioral problems. Higher quality daycare programs may reduce aggressive behavior and support better social-emotional development in children from low-income families. Such programs have warm and caring caregivers who are attentive, culturally sensitive and use positive discipline. This kind of pre-kindergarten daycare program may help children enter kindergarten with fewer behavior problems.
Cognitive and Language Development
Higher quality daycare programs may affect cognitive and language development in children. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, daycare may affect reading recognition. The Institute released a news report suggesting children from low-income families, who begin daycare before the first birthday, may develop higher reading recognition. However, daycare programs may reduce reading recognition for children that begin daycare before the first birthday if they are from more "optimal" home environments. Daycare may promote higher mathematics scores for children from low-income homes, whereas it may hurt mathematics skills development for children from higher-income families or more stimulating home environments. Preschoolers who have better-educated teachers may develop higher cognitive capacities and better language skills. Warm and caring daycare caregivers may improve cognitive and language development in children.
Aggression
Daycare may affect aggression in children. According to a Med Page Today report, daycare programs may reduce a child's potential for physical aggression if the mother did not finish high school. The report suggests that maternal characteristics are strong indicators of physical aggression in children and adolescents. A daycare child whose mother has less education may be 80 percent less likely to show aggressive behavior if the child began daycare before 9 months of age. Children whose mothers graduated high school may have a lower risk of developing aggressive behavior. However, a CBS report suggests that children who spend more time in daycare are more likely to become aggressive. The report references a study in which 17 percent of pre-kindergartners who spent more than 30 hours per week in daycare displayed more aggression. According to the report, researchers suggest that more hours in daycare and away from parents may promote more aggressive behavior in children.
