Many families seek quality, inclusive care for their young children with disabilities. A key to successful inclusion is understanding the needs of families and professionals who serve them. This review examined literature about the inclusion of young children with disabilities in childcare programs and collaboration among early childhood…

There is a growing concern that adults who supervise children's play may restrict opportunities for children to engage in risky activities. Risk-benefit assessment is commonly advocated as a way of allowing children to take managed risks within settings. However "risk-benefit" adopts a limited strategy of convincing professionals of the…

This paper offers a discussion of the literature of an under-developed area of early years research--the exploration of childminding or home-based childcare and the contribution which this form of provision makes for children and families. Despite growing interest in childminding at the policy level and some international research on understanding…

Considers the emergence of family-centered child care as a program model. Presents an historical overview of the family as a child-care component of quality and past efforts in parent education and parent involvement. Outlines a conceptual framework for family-centered child care, and discusses implications for public policy. (Author/KB)

Expansion of nonparental child care in the United States has led to increased scholarly attention to the link between home and day care experiences. This article summarizes and comments on the six central themes that define the home/day care literature, with the purpose of helping to organize existing knowledge on the home/day care link as well as…

Caring for infants and toddlers has long been conceptualized in Western society as mothers' work, and consequently devalued. Alternative care for infants and toddlers has lacked a knowledge base like that undergirding preschool education. Factors impeding research on infant/toddler care include strong ideological opposition to nonmaternal care,…

Focusing on formal care arrangements, this literature review proposes that: (1) caregivers' ambivalent and critical attitudes toward parents are not surprising nor risky for children; (2) high rates of parental satisfaction with day care are a product of perceived marketplace constraints; and (3) documented low rates of caregiver-parent contact…

This paper analyzes the concept of parent involvement in the early childhood literature, and discusses the applicability of this information to the day care context. A review of the literature suggests three main goals of parent involvement programs: (1) parent education; (2) the right of parents to influence programs that affect their children;…

This report reviews the literature pertaining to parent and caregiver attitudes, values, and practices, and their effects on children. Topics include: (1) child care selection; (2) assessment of continuity between the home and day care; (3) communication between parents and caregivers; (4) variables which affect communication; (5) parent and…

Although informal care provided by relatives, friends, and neighbors is the oldest and most widespread form of child care, it received little attention from researchers or policymakers until the late 1980s. This report summarizes what available research says about informal child care and identifies significant gaps in knowledge. Information was…