Child Care Solutions

It's not time for whining about the child care crisis in the US. It's time to do something positive about it.

Since a usable, unified system for early care and education doesn't exist, we need to make some changes.

Instead of explaining how we got here, I'd like to take a look at possible solutions. This 3-legged stool model shows how it could be done.

Notice that in the stable stool model, the support given to the programs holds up the teachers, who surround the children with supportive and responsive care and education.

The broken stool model shown is what we currently have to work with. In many cases, the parents supply the only funding the programs get.

If you're wondering where the money could come from to hold up the government leg of the stool, you have a good point. For answers, we can look at states like Vermont., California, New Mexico, and Michigan These states are successfully addressing that issue with political innovation and focus. They might not be perfect, but at least they're moving forward.

Parents and teachers everywhere are uniting in support of politicians who support child care and education, as well as parental leave policies, because they know that early care and education is a valid way to shrink government costs and save money.

How? Counselors, special education, behavior programs, aggression training for teachers, tutors, security, truancy, teen pregnancy, incarceration, and the list goes on.

Here's a quote from the National Research Council that talks about how meaningful early childhood experiences are:

The supporting structures of virtually every system of the human organism, from the tiniest cell to the capacity for intimate relationships are constructed during this age period-National Research Council, Institute of Medicine

We need to help young children thrive during their first few years of life, not just survive. This includes supporting both parents and caregivers.

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Nanci J Bradley is an early childhood and family educator, author, teacher, family aerobics instructor, and an all-around fun-loving person. She believes in the power of sleep, healthy eating, lifelong learning, and most of all, PLAY!  She studied early childhood ed at Triton College and received her BS in education in 1986 from NIU. She received her MA in human development from Pacific Oaks College in 2011. She lives and teaches in Madison WI and is the founder of early childhood rocks, a non-profit org dedicated to creating change through early childhood education.