Early Childhood Care and Education » (New Edition)

Early Childhood Care and Education is central to the lives of every family with young children. This insightful book investigates the unique approaches taken by different Countries to key issues such as; parental leave, childcare, and preschool services. By examining all of these options and the evidence around them, the authors are able to explain how best to provide for young children.

Nine countries, including, China, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, UK and the USA, are considered. These countries all have very different policies and provision, and this book examines the ways that these countries are tackling early childhood services and how these services affect young children's experiences and development, for better and worse. The book will answer some of the recurring questions of childcare provision:

· How does a country cope with families' childcare needs?
· Is daycare detrimental to children?
· Does quality of childcare matter?
· Does childcare affect children with different home backgrounds differently?
· How can we best organize parental leave, employment regulations and childcare provision?

This book fills a gap in providing up-to-date information in an area where rapid developments are underway and further changes are being considered. We need to better plan the future of early childhood services and preschool education in relation to children's development, as well as parental employment regulations. Through presenting the situation in various countries and allowing the comparison of alternative approaches, each reader would be able to see new possibilities that transcend the limited experience offered within their own country.

Early Childhood Care and Education is an essential read for anyone interested in both the future and alternative approaches to childhood services and pre-school education.

List of contributors     vii
Introducing international perspectives on early childhood care and education   Edward Melhuish   Konstantinos Petrogiannis     1
Childcare in the United States: characteristics and consequences   Virginia D. Allhusen   K. Alison Clarke-Stewart   Jennifer L. Miner     7
Policy and research on early childcare and education in Greece   Konstantinos Petrogiannis     27
Policy and research on preschool care and education in the UK   Edward Melhuish     43
Children's and parents' needs and early education and care in Italy   Tullia Musatti     65
Policy and research on childcare in Sweden   C. Philip Hwang     77
Early childhood care and education in Aotearoa-New Zealand   Anne B. Smith   Helen May     95
Early childhood care and education in Israel   Miriam K. Rosenthal     115
Early childhood care and education: an Indian perspective   Shraddha Kapoor     133
Development of kindergarten care and education in the People's Republic of China since the 1990s   Li Shenglan     151
An international overview of early childhood care and education   Edward Melhuis   Konstantinos Petrogiannis     167
Index     179