TLDR
Children tended to do best before kindergarten when they had good-quality care both as toddlers and preschoolers. Good preschool care was especially linked with stronger language and early school skills, while good toddler care was linked with better memory.
Summary
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1 Study Aim
The authors examined whether the timing of high-quality child care (care with warm, responsive interactions and learning support) during infancy and toddlerhood versus preschool was linked to children’s thinking, language, and preacademic skills (early reading and math) before kindergarten. They tested whether high-quality care in both periods offered greater benefits than care in just one period. The study asked whether the quality of care at different ages matters for children’s development.
2 Study Design
The study analyzed data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care, which enrolled 1,364 healthy, full-term newborns at 10 U.S. sites. Researchers rated care at ages 6, 15, 24, 36, and 54 months using the Observational Record of the Caregiving Environment (ORCE; ratings of caregiver interactions). Scores above 3 marked high-quality care; children were grouped by quality in infancy-toddlerhood and preschool. Outcomes included thinking at 24 months and memory, language, reading, and math at 54 months. Propensity score matching (a method that pairs groups with similar measured family and child characteristics) reduced selection differences; the study was observational, not randomized. Researchers compared children who received different levels of care at different ages.
3 Findings
The authors found that high-quality infant-toddler care was linked to higher thinking scores at 24 months, a difference of 0.28 standard deviations (a measure of how far apart group averages were). At 54 months, high-quality preschool care was linked to better language, reading, and math, regardless of earlier care; differences were 0.19, 0.28, and 0.22 standard deviations. High-quality infant-toddler care was also linked to better memory at 54 months when preschool care was low. Children with high-quality care in both periods generally scored highest, while those with low-quality care in both scored lowest. The authors recommend supporting quality care across both periods, while noting that unmeasured differences between families could still affect results. Children generally did best when their care was good in both early periods.