The US government has promoted daycare, preschool, head start, and the out-of-the-home working mother for years. The effort has been misguided and has not achieved its objectives.
A large study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides new evidence that head start is not beneficial. The result: “Children who were in the federal Head Start program do worse in math and have more problems with social interaction by the third grade than children who were not in the program.” (Fred Lucas, CNSNews, Feb. 21, 2013)
Lindsey Burke and David Muhlhausen reported at The Heritage Foundation website (Jan. 10, 2013) that the research shows Head Start is a failure. Here’s their conclusion after studying the recent Head Start research: “The federal government’s 48 year experiment with Head Start has failed children and left taxpayers a tab of more than $180 billion.” That’s $180 billion wasted.
As one commentator said that if the government got out of the daycare-type programs, mothers would have to stay home and learn how to take care of their children. In my opinion, maybe more of them would continue to breastfeed longer as well.
What is the best start for children under 5? A mother who breastfeeds and loves her little one, talks with them, reads to them, and has books around for them to look at and to read when they’re able. A mother who breastfeeds for at least one year is developing her baby’s brain. Children who are breastfed do better academically during grade school and high school. Breastfeeding also offers many health benefits to both mother and baby.
If I were a baby, would I prefer a breastfeeding mother who leaves me for 8 to 10 hours a day or would I prefer a mother who offers me formula and stays with me in my early years? I greatly dislike both formula and daycare arrangements but if given the choice in this paragraph, I would definitely pick my mother’s full-time presence anytime over daycare.
God’s plan is for the mother to be in a close breastfeeding relationship with her baby and to keep that child with her during the early years. Again, the best start for any child is breastfeeding and for the child to have that close relationship during the early years with his mother and soon his father.
More on this topic next week.
Sheila Kippley
The First Three Years
Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood