At 6:21 a.m. on a cold March morning, in a darkened parking lot a few blocks north of downtown, the most significant change in American family life to occur over the last half-century sleepily renews itself.
From their cars, heaters working against the morning chill, several parents and children wait expectantly for the Wiles Center Day Nursery to open. Mrs. Betty Rayborn, the nursery’s kitchen supervisor, is escorted by her husband to the day care center entrance, where they unlock the door.
Lights are turned on inside the center, coats taken off and Mrs. Rayborn slips on her baby blue apron to prepare the day’s oatmeal and banana breakfast. When the clock shows 6:30, Ms. Thiery opens the doors and, on cue, kids and parents climb out of their cars and file quietly into the center. Andre in the royal blue sweatsuit and Martina, a 3-year-old with her blond hair pulled up high on her head, come into a classroom and wordlessly begin working on puzzles. Both Jaran and Shelly immediately lie down to sleep on a forest green plastic mat on the floor. By 6:45, it’s still dark outside, but seven kids are already here for the day, many of them dropped off by mothers wearing hospital scrubs. By 7:20, a dozen more will have arrived.
Another day of child care has commenced at the Wiles Center, as it has at hundreds of other locations in living rooms, converted gymnasiums and church basements throughout Indianapolis.
It is a day that is very different from anything imagined just a few decades ago. Census and labor statistics show that in 1972, less than a third of all American mothers with preschool-age children worked outside the home. Today, at least 60 percent do, and half of all American mothers are back at work by the time their child is 6 months old. The numbers of kids in child care are expected to rise even more, in part because welfare reform laws are compelling more mothers of young children to join the workforce. Nearly a third of working mothers report needing at least two different child care arrangements to cover their needs, and in Indiana and most states, full-time child care costs more than public college tuition.
These radical changes in the structure of American family life have caused a mushrooming demand for high-quality child care at the same time as scientific research reaffirms the importance of early childhood development. This combination of events has presented the country with a test of our ability and willingness to serve the needs of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. It is a test that, for the most part, we are failing.
Red triangles
The Wiles Center is considered to be about as good as it gets in Indianapolis child care. It is one of seven centers in the Indianapolis area run by Day Nursery, a 100-year-old local, non-profit organization, and it is one of a handful of Indianapolis area care centers accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
The Red rooms at the Wiles Center are for 2-year-olds; the rooms, divided into Red Circles and Red Triangles by a short row of bookcases, mark the vital distinction between the potty trained and the non-potty trained. “Well, we’re supposedly potty trained on this side of the room,” says Red Triangle teacher Sally Coombs with a knowing smile. “We have our accidents sometimes.”
Near the 3-foot high sink and drinking fountain are a fish tank, kids’ “cubbies” (cubicles to hang up coats and, today, to store the paper raccoon hats made to commemorate Wildlife Week), an arts supplies station, a water activities table, a dramatic play area and a big stash of blocks. Every available inch of wall is covered with colorful posters like the one showing the sign language alphabet, collages, the kids’ art work and the fruits of a variety of class projects. Prominently featured are construction paper clocks made to celebrate Black History Month. Each one includes Ms. Coombs’ printing: “Invented by an African-American, Benjamin Banneker.”
The setting and curriculum are obviously designed to stimulate the little Red Triangle minds at a time in their lives when they need this stimulation the most. Brain research has shown that the pre-kindergarten years represent an irreplaceably important phase of a child’s cognitive, language and social development. Other research has shown that high-quality child care, including well-trained caregivers and low teacher-child ratios, can enhance that development, especially for low-income children who ordinarily are the most at risk for learning and behavioral disorders later in life.
The importance of these developmental years and the growing demand for high-quality child care are so evident that there is little serious political conflict on the issue. Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush boasts that he increased Texas’ child care funding by $357 million and provided tax relief for child care costs, while Democratic candidate Al Gore proposes a multibillion dollar federal-state partnership to guarantee preschool access to all 4-year-olds. There is no real argument with the point that, in our prosperous country, we should insure that every American family has access to high-quality child care.
But we don’t do it.
[more]