The NICHD Study of early child care and Youth Development: Findings For Children up to 4 1/2 Years

"raising children is one of the hardest, but most important and rewarding things
we do. the daily task of caring for children can be a challenging job in and of
itself. Selecting persons and situations for child care can be even more difficult.
child care is now a fact of life for many american families, and many parents now
use child care from their child’s infancy through kindergarten. more than 10 years
ago, the national institute of child Health and Human Development (nicHD) launched
the nicHD Study of early child care and Youth Development (SeccYD) to investigate
the relationships between child care and children’s development. the study examines
how differences among families, children, and child care features are linked to the
intellectual, social, and emotional development and health of children. the study is
about more than child care; it describes children’s lives and development.
this booklet is for all parents: for those whose children are in child care on a full-
or part-time basis, for those parents considering child care, and for parents whose
children are not in any non-parental child care arrangement. We hope that this
booklet will inform some of your decisions about child care and help you understand
your child’s development. We will continue to study the complex relationships among
child care, families, and children and to make these results available to you as they
are known."

-Alan Gutmacher