Is Your Child Watching
Too Much TV at Day Care?

SEATTLE, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ — A national survey finds that 89
percent of children in home-based child care settings regularly watch
television at day care, an average of 1.5 hours a day.

Although the amount of television that young children watch at home has been well documented, no study until now has examined how much television preschool children watch in day care. A study by Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH, Michelle M. Garrison, MPH and Frederick J. Zimmerman, PhD, published in the October issue of Communication Reports, examines the amount of television viewing in home-based and in center-based child care programs.

Using data from the nationally representative Profile of Child Care Settings study, the authors found that children in 89 percent of home-basedchild care settings and in 35 percent of center-based child care settings regularly watch television. In those settings in which children regularly
watch television, it is on for an average of about 1 hour per day in center-based care, and for about 1.5 hours per day in home-based settings.

Furthermore, for children in home-based child care settings, approximately 30 percent of the programming is “non-educational.” To put that amount of television viewed into perspective, it is worth noting that prior estimates for children this age based on parental reports of home viewing, were about 1.5 hours a day (Rideout et al., 2003). Previous estimates may
substantially underestimate the total television exposure for many children.

There are reasons to be concerned about television viewing in this context, the authors report. There is some evidence that heavy early television viewing may adversely affect children’s diet, physical activity, aggression and ability to pay attention. Moreover, early childhood environments represent important opportunities for socialization and for
adult-directed learning.

“Given the opportunities for interactions with peers, teachers and other educational activities — which is what is expected of high-quality child care — it is disappointing to determine that passive viewing of a screen is displacing some of this rich stimulation,” said Dr. Christakis.
While some viewing has proven educational value, it is generally agreed that even the best programs are not the equal of thoughtful adult interactions.

A full copy of the study can be viewed at TV

Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH, is a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital in Seattle; associate professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Washington, and director of the Child Health Institute.

Author of more than 100 original research articles, a textbook of pediatrics and The ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM: Make Television Work for Your Kids, he has appeared on CNN, NPR, Today, CBS News, ABC News, and NBC News Fred Zimmerman, PhD, is associate professor in the University of Washington’s School of Public Health and director, with Dr. Christakis, of
the Child Health Institute.

Dr. Zimmerman has published widely in the fields of developmental economics and child health and co-authored The ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM: Make Television Work for Your Kids. His research has been featured on Good Morning America, NBC News, the BBC, and in The New York Times and USA Today.

Michelle Garrison, PhD, is an epidemiologist and research consultant at the Child Health Institute in Seattle. Her research interests focus around child and adolescent mental health.
Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, Washington is consistently ranked as one of the best children’s hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report and Child magazines, Children’s serves as the pediatric referral center for Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Children’s delivers superior patient care, advances new discoveries and
treatments in pediatric research, and serves as a primary teaching, clinical and research site for the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. For more information about Children’s, visit http://www.seattlechildrens.org .

Slip Into a Steady Slumber

Tips to Cure Insomnia
— By Liz Noelcke, Staff Writer

7 Simple Stress Busters

Peace of Mind in Just a Few Minutes
— By Zach Van Hart, Staff Writer

Today is Grandparents’ Tea. It’s been a furious week talking about families, genetics, look alikes, names, who’s who, etc. Children love their families, and have a special place in their hearts for grandparents. We’ve done a few special things this time. Our staff is really quite wonderful and we have worked so hard to make this a nice occasion.

What some of you don’t see is what goes on behind the scenes.

It’s been a tough week for me because of extended family news.

Miss Molly was out a good deal of the week because of William’s paw.

Miss Jana has furiously made a very personal and very spectacular effort to clean the school. She has an eye for order and she has tried to make sense out of nonsense and the place looks marvelous! I’m so impressed and so grateful. I don’t think our little place has ever looked better and it was her idea and her work and talent.

Miss Kelly has made some wonderful surprises for grandparents today. It is one hundred percent her doing and her invention and her work. She is such a dedicated teacher. We are so grateful for her kind quiet style. She’s a real asset to the school and our achievement because she seems to like us too. She has been with us nearly a year and it seems like that year has just flown by.

Mrs. St. Louis has been exhausted holding me up through menopause and with her left hand has been making wonderful breakthroughs in listening skills with her children. The first and primary goal of a good teacher is to teach the children begin to listen. It has only taken a few weeks, but what is 40+ years of teaching experience for?

Miss Annie has taken a real serious interest in her brief but necessary (for us) job. She is finishing a very difficult senior semester and working full time at Angelo’s as well.

Edith and I shared some thoughts at the Blood Center yesterday. We donate platelets to Cancer patients and we talked about our absolutely wonderful little world and how much we will be able to do this year. With a staff like ours, the sky is the limit.

The older girls are growing up so fast, they will be running the place for us by Christmas, and that’s OK. It’s a community, and this is where they learn to manage, to lead, to make their mark. I find it remarkable how quickly these older girls come to the aid of the little littles. When teachers stand back and let children help one another, it’s a whole school day of lessons. These first grade girls will have this great giving talent for the rest of their lives. Sure they quibble about one another, but they keep it among themselves, and that’s family. I have never loved a group as much.

Next week we start Halloween. Report cards are ready. Field trips will be announced, and the beat goes on!

State board OKs preschool rules

By Martha Raffaele
Associated Press

HARRISBURG – The state Board of Education unanimously approved instructional guidelines for state-funded preschool programs yesterday.

The regulations would set standards for the first time for public school programs enrolling children between 3 and 5 years old, such as a minimum 21/2-hour school day and a maximum class size of 20 students.

“We’re moving in a very important, correct direction,” said Ed Donley, a board member and chairman of the committee that developed the regulations.

The rules must receive final approval from the state House and Senate education committees as well as an independent regulatory review panel before they take effect.

The rules allow school districts to decide whether to provide preschool programs and make enrollment optional for children. Seventy-one of Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts offered pre-kindergarten classes in the 2005-06 school year, according to the state Education Department.

Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, teachers’ aides would have to meet one of three criteria to demonstrate their qualifications: completing at least two years of college, earning an associate’s degree, or passing a state or local test assessing their ability to help teach reading, writing and math.

School districts would be exempt from certain regulations if they can demonstrate to the education department that they are offering high-quality programs.

The regulations have been endorsed by the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, and by the nonprofit advocacy group Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

Comment: You would think that this would have been in place years ago.

“Ancient” Chinese school to open

Children learn Chinese characters during a trial course in Futian District, Shenzhen, Sept.17, 2006. (Photo: Shenzhen Daily) Photo Gallery >>>

BEIJING, Sept.18 — Children learned Chinese characters during a trial course in Futian District, Shenzhen, Sunday.

The “traditional” preschool teaching calligraphy, Chinese classics, ink painting, etiquette and other traditional Chinese knowledge will open its first branch in Shenzhen later this month.

Started by Zhou Zongkui, professor at Central China Normal University, the school targets children between 3 and 8 and aims to cultivate in them good character and behavior during weekend courses.

Comment: It’s a long way from Evansville.

WFIE News
Daniels: 3 Full-Day Kindy Proposals

Sep 21, 2006 07:56 AM

New Media Producer: Kerry Corum

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels presents three different financial scenarios, to implement full-day kindergarten statewide.

The Governor’s proposals include one that would make it available statewide for the 2007-2008 school year, and two others that would phase it in over five years.

Daniels’ budget office estimates making full-day kindergarten available statewide in the 2007-2008 school year would cost about $166 million.

The Governor is making full-day kindergarten a top priority in the legislative session that begins in January.

UPDATE, FRI, 1:30 PM: School officials in the tiny New Harmony district say their full-day kindergarten program helps prepare children for first grade.

New Harmony has a long history with early childhood education.

The town was the site of a utopian community in the 1800s that believed in free education and sent children as young as three to boarding school.

Governor Daniels is making all-day kindergarten his top priority for the next legislative session.

This is the first year of New Harmony’s full-day program. Of the 15 kindergarten students in the tiny district, ten participate in the full-day option.

Parents pay $60 a week for the full-day program.

UPDATE, THU, 8:00 AM: Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels says full-day kindergarten will be one of his top legislative priorities next year.

Daniels says it’s time to push for the full-day program – even with the difficulties expected. One of those is funding. Early estimates put the price between $120 million and $150 million a year.

Critics worry it will become tax-supported babysitting.

But supporters say investing in early childhood education pays-off in the long run.

The EVSC already has full-day kindergarten at eight of its schools.

Previously: Governor Mitch Daniels is planning to meet with the state’s Education Roundtable Wednesday afternoon, to talk about the possibility of state-funded, full-day kindergarten.

Daniels says full-day kindergarten will be one of his top priorities for the legislative session next year. But he has questions about implementing such a program.

Daniels said in a memo to Roundtable members, he wants to talk Wednesday about possible problems with full-day kindergarten – like whether schools have enough space for it and whether transportation will be an issue.

Some estimates say offering optional full-day kindergarten at every Indiana school district could cost between $120 million and $150 million a year.

Education advocates say full-day programs help students prepare for first grade.

ANY KINDERGARTEN teacher can tell. When the school year starts, it’s easy to spot a youngster who went to preschool and began the learning process — and a kid who didn’t and is already behind.

This crucial gap is the argument for expanding such quality-time programs for 4-year-olds before they get to elementary school. Last June, voters rejected Proposition 82, which called for a universal preschool system for every California youngster. It was a complex package with a price tag of $2.1 billion and a tax on the rich.

This past week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a $50 million preschool plan to hire teachers where they’re needed most: in the state’s low-scoring schools. The measure means up to 17,000 youngsters will get a chance at early education and arrive better prepared in kindergarten.

Study after study shows that preschool helps young kids do better in the classroom later on. It’s especially true for students don’t grow up speaking English.

The measure, authored by Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, will help both public schools and nonprofit programs certified by the state. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell would evaluate the programs to make sure the money is properly spent.

State and federal money pays for 160,000 children in preschool. Chan’s bill would reach down to schools where students test in the bottom third of the state Academic Performance Index. These schools also have a disproportionate share of poor families.

Though most of the $50 million will be spent on new hires, there will also be funds for equipment, training and advisories to parents to sign up their children.

Alongside this measure is a welcome addition. Another $50 million will be appropriated for expanded facilities for preschools. This is one-time money aimed at updating and enlarging school buildings across the state. In many poor school districts, Chan notes, there are waiting lists for early education. Enrollment is often limited by a lack of space, she said.

The job of preparing young children for school isn’t completed. Thousands are still denied a preschool slot. But the state has taken a first step in the right direction.

Comment: What we need to remember is that politicians forget that children don’t succeed because of money poured into schools. They succeed because of families. You can’t buy that. Thinking that more opportunities for children will help undo damage at home is a pipe dream. Putting the responsibility on teachers to rear children lost to neglect is also a pipe dream.

ANY KINDERGARTEN teacher can tell. When the school year starts, it’s easy to spot a youngster who went to preschool and began the learning process — and a kid who didn’t and is already behind.

This crucial gap is the argument for expanding such quality-time programs for 4-year-olds before they get to elementary school. Last June, voters rejected Proposition 82, which called for a universal preschool system for every California youngster. It was a complex package with a price tag of $2.1 billion and a tax on the rich.

This past week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a $50 million preschool plan to hire teachers where they’re needed most: in the state’s low-scoring schools. The measure means up to 17,000 youngsters will get a chance at early education and arrive better prepared in kindergarten.

Study after study shows that preschool helps young kids do better in the classroom later on. It’s especially true for students don’t grow up speaking English.

The measure, authored by Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, will help both public schools and nonprofit programs certified by the state. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell would evaluate the programs to make sure the money is properly spent.

State and federal money pays for 160,000 children in preschool. Chan’s bill would reach down to schools where students test in the bottom third of the state Academic Performance Index. These schools also have a disproportionate share of poor families.

Though most of the $50 million will be spent on new hires, there will also be funds for equipment, training and advisories to parents to sign up their children.

Alongside this measure is a welcome addition. Another $50 million will be appropriated for expanded facilities for preschools. This is one-time money aimed at updating and enlarging school buildings across the state. In many poor school districts, Chan notes, there are waiting lists for early education. Enrollment is often limited by a lack of space, she said.

The job of preparing young children for school isn’t completed. Thousands are still denied a preschool slot. But the state has taken a first step in the right direction.

Comment: One of the things politicians forget is that preschool is only one of the elements that allow children to succeed. Families are the primary educators of children, and the idea that we can simply sink more money into the rearing of children and expect that “it will all be fixed” is a myth. To do well in school, children need their parents’ interest and that can’t be bought. Public education has not succeeded, so why pour more money into it?