Child care is a fact of life in America today. More than two-thirds of all children under the age of five are cared for on a regular basis by someone other than a parent. These children may attend day-care centers or nursery schools, go to the home of a provider who tends to a number of children, or be cared for by a relative, neighbor, baby-sitter, or nanny (Zaslow, M.J. & Trout, K., 2002).

Besides feeling guilty or insecure about leaving young children with someone for a period of time on a regular basis, what do parents really know and understand about quality of child care?

The quality of child care not only impacts positive social functioning of children, but also enhances the ability to learn both now and in the future. The quality of child care does matter. Children in high-quality care are less likely to be aggressive than are children in lower-quality care. Children in high-quality programs also tend to develop better language and thinking skills. Parents can find high-quality child care settings by looking for things like small adult-to-child ratios; well-trained, sensitive, and responsive caregivers; and a setting that provides stimulation and teaches children how to solve problems and resolve conflicts (Bales, D., 2001).

With Dr.Bales's expertise and Ms.Gibson's assistance, I will be constructing a web-based educational multimedia for young adults, parents, caregivers, policy makers etc. I plan to follow combination of Hypermedia and Web-based learning methodologies. I also would like to add “Quizzes” section using Tests and/or Educational Games methodologies in order to make the learning experience more interactive and fun.

Reference:

Martha J. Zaslow and Kathryn Tout, "Child-Care Quality Matters ", The American Prospect Online, Apr 7, 2002
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=6234

Bales, D. (2001). What do we really know about child care and aggression? , the National Network for Child Care; http://www.nncc.org/Research/aggression.html