1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« The overall aim of this study was to examine the association between child care regular use and quality during the preschool years and the development of three school related abilities of 4 year-olds children: vocabulary, knowledge of number and general preschool abilities […]. We also examined whether specific dimensions of child care services might be related to better development in children. Finally, we examined whether the association between child care and children’s development varies following the socioeconomic level of families. » (p. 5)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
« Children were individually tested on their understanding of vocabulary, knowledge of number and general preschool related abilities when they were 4 year-olds. [...] Children participating in this study were born in the province of Québec between June 2003 and April 2004. A sample of 346 participants and their family participated in the individual assessment at 4-year-olds. » (p. 6) Les enfants ont participé à différents tests, dans leur maison, pour mesurer leur compréhension du vocabulaire et leur connaissance des nombres. Enfin, la qualité des services offerts dans les services de garde a été évalué par le biais de l’observation directe.

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« There were three main findings. First, we found that it was not whether the child is attending child care services or not that was related to the development of its preschool related abilities, but rather the quality of the child care that children received at 4 years of age. […] Second, three different aspects of child care services quality were associated with the different child development measures: quality of learning activities were related to better preschool abilities, quality of social interactions were related to better vocabulary, and finally, better quality of language reasoning experiences were associated with better knowledge of number. Results also showed that child care use differs as a function of family characteristics: families with insufficient income and families with mother who present a lower education use child care services less regularly, and when child care services are used, children from these families start at a later age, and spend fewer hours weekly than children from more advantaged families. » (p. 6-7)