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> Early childhood development is about the most important thing society does in a person's life, after safe birth. By the time they're at high school problems a

> Early childhood development is about the most important thing society does in a person's life, after safe birth. By the time they're at high school problems are intractable which could have been remediated in kindy or prep. Do you have any evidence for that assertion? James Heckman spent many years saying that infant and early childhood interventions were far more cost effective than those on later ages but he is no longer willing to defend his earlier position [1]. > I'm being mildly hyperbolic because I think a lot of people assume it's just watching kids play. It's not. Not people who have children. They’re aware that they demand constant attention. > Where do you think fine motor skills, balance, exercise habits, mental health, diet, recognition of emerging health issues comes from? I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here but it sounds like you think these can durably be changed by childcare workers in some way. The behaviour genetics evidence is pretty clear that everything you mentioned is highly heritable and the normal range will emerge just fine in almost any non-abusive environment. I teach children from 3-7 during my time in childcare/kindergarten and having my own children has just reinforced what I thought then. Teachers have very little impact on academic performance and personality but they can make the classroom a better or a worse place to be and help children deal with others in a slightly more productive way. They certainly don’t have any long run impact on fine motor skills or balance. [1] https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2020/08/12/heckman-curve-update-update/ https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2020/08/12/heckman-cu...

ggm 4y ago
The stats don't say the investment per child should be less. They say an argument they skew strongly in favour of early over late are bad stats. Well, I'll wear that. I still think early education should be paid better and be trained to recognise development issues and help triage them, and to impart good habits. Can they instill or improve them? Fair to question. At least they can make sure they happen, experientially per child. I don't think teachers at kindy can make Michaelangelo happen but yes I do think they encourage rich experiences and those help kids build better, stronger pathways in life. If you don't get to play with water and scissors and pencils at home, kindy is where it happens. And learning how to control your temper, and deal with other people. The persistent biter who'd been brought up by grandparents on the end of a piece of string and the firebug with adhd? Nobody was going to get rid of all of that. But some kids arrive at school unable to even hold a pencil or recognise their name or distinguish numbers from letters and they may wind up inside the normal range but they're getting a harder start.
- barry-cotter 4y ago
  Why not target childcare at those who will benefit? It’s harmful to the middle and upper classes, more so for boys but helpful for those with low human capital. If we’re trying to do the best we can for children most of the population should not be sending their children to outside the home care until school age. > Jim Heckman, who is a Nobel prize winner in economics, has talked about how early childhood education and care can both promote equity and efficiency but he is focusing this message on targeting the disadvantaged, not for everyone. > In fact, in the paper that Mike Kottelenberg and I just had published last year in the Journal of Labour Economics, we actually can explain this heterogeneity because we are finding there are large gains to universal child care for kids in the lower part of the distribution from single parent households, but for most kids in the middle of the distribution from two-parent families, we are getting these negative declines. It’s not that universal childcare is effective or not effective, it’s effective for some, but not for others. https://www.convivium.ca/articles/daycare-demands-diversity/ https://www.convivium.ca/articles/daycare-demands-diversity/

ggm 4y ago

The stats don't say the investment per child should be less. They say an argument they skew strongly in favour of early over late are bad stats. Well, I'll wear that. I still think early education should be paid better and be trained to recognise development issues and help triage them, and to impart good habits. Can they instill or improve them? Fair to question. At least they can make sure they happen, experientially per child. I don't think teachers at kindy can make Michaelangelo happen but yes I do think they encourage rich experiences and those help kids build better, stronger pathways in life. If you don't get to play with water and scissors and pencils at home, kindy is where it happens. And learning how to control your temper, and deal with other people. The persistent biter who'd been brought up by grandparents on the end of a piece of string and the firebug with adhd? Nobody was going to get rid of all of that. But some kids arrive at school unable to even hold a pencil or recognise their name or distinguish numbers from letters and they may wind up inside the normal range but they're getting a harder start.

barry-cotter 4y ago
Why not target childcare at those who will benefit? It’s harmful to the middle and upper classes, more so for boys but helpful for those with low human capital. If we’re trying to do the best we can for children most of the population should not be sending their children to outside the home care until school age. > Jim Heckman, who is a Nobel prize winner in economics, has talked about how early childhood education and care can both promote equity and efficiency but he is focusing this message on targeting the disadvantaged, not for everyone. > In fact, in the paper that Mike Kottelenberg and I just had published last year in the Journal of Labour Economics, we actually can explain this heterogeneity because we are finding there are large gains to universal child care for kids in the lower part of the distribution from single parent households, but for most kids in the middle of the distribution from two-parent families, we are getting these negative declines. It’s not that universal childcare is effective or not effective, it’s effective for some, but not for others. https://www.convivium.ca/articles/daycare-demands-diversity/ https://www.convivium.ca/articles/daycare-demands-diversity/