School readiness among low-income, Latino children attending family childcare versus centre-based care

Abstract

Latino children often struggle in school. Early childhood education programmes are seen as critical for fostering children's school readiness. Latino families often choose family childcare (FCC) over centre-based childcare (CBC), yet little is known about the school readiness of Latino children attending FCC. We compared school readiness over the pre-kindergarten year for low-income Latino children who attended either FCC or CBC with childcare subsidies. Teachers and parents rated children's social skills and behaviour with the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment. Cognitive, motor, and language development were assessed with the Learning Accomplishment Profile Diagnostic. Although there were no family demographic differences between children who attended FCC versus CBC, children in CBC improved over time in cognitive, language, and social skills, whereas children in FCC stayed the same or lost ground in these areas over time, especially boys. The school readiness of Latino children, especially boys, may be better served by attending CBC.