and the evidence of having a loving mother looking after her children while a loving father provides. Not aloud to go there because the results would be embarassing. No doubt the children are far more likely to thrive with that scenario.

Come on folks, Susan is only trying to promote some jobs for her graduates. Lets face it, no jobs for graduates could lead to no faculty.

But do tell us Suse, who did all this research you talk of. It wouldn't have been folk like yourself, trying to justify their existence now would it?

Still I suppose it could be worse, you could have used the fools who reckon a bit of plant food will cook the whole planet, & we all know, they'll say anything for a quid.

A very long term US study followed a substantial sample of children from their very early years, to well into their adulthood.
The survey measured the different if common outcomes, between those who attended preschool and those that didn't.
As Susan will no doubt confirm, the difference couldn't be more stark, and backs everything Susan has commented on, with cogent validation!
Just for starters, those kids that got the preschool head start, were generally reading by the second grade.
Those with no head start, often failed to learn to read by grade two.
And this group then went on to leave school as illiterates, and to lose out every which way as a consequence.
A healthy debate is a fine way to sort the wheat from the chaff, the facts from assumption!
But at no time can we mount a case or alternative argument, while ignoring the plain as the nose on your face evidence.
Sure Finland has a superior education model, a model that includes home schooling, and a climate and harsh winter conditions, that make such outcomes almost mandatory!
I mean it's not like kids can go out and play, in winter blizzard conditions.
Moreover, average Finnish incomes, allow many women to CHOOSE to stay at home and educate their own kids, with the basics.
Something almost any adult with basic reading skills can manage!
But beyond the scope of women, who needs must work full-time, just to balance the family budget.
Perhaps if we also compared average pay scales between Australia and Finland, we might shed some additional light, and or underline the fact, that we do need a one stop child care/preschool/primary school paradigm.
If we would but give our kids the best possible start; and enable them to seek and get far better outcomes, throughout their adult lives!
And we the people, get a big time 7 for 1 payback, for this modest initial investment, in our nation's future!
Rhrosty.

What's the big deal with a little tot learning to read?

There are heaps of things to learn before you go about learning to read. Isn't it a fact that children master about 80 percent of what they will need to have in place in order to participate fully in human activities before they turn five. That's a lot of stuff going down in each and every child as they grow through these formative years....that's "formative".

My son began reading fluently while he was still in kindergarten and my daughter at pre-school (in both cases, it was spontaneous, not coached). It was all very nice and all that, but I never supposed that either of my children would succeed on the strength of their early reading ability.....much more to it than that.

I think we have to get over this thing we have for interrupting normal early-childhood development with oodles of scripted learning goals.

Frankly your reference to..."...we do need a one stop/childcare/ preschool/primary school paradigm.." sends shivers down my spine.

Just like going to the mall.

Funny, isn't it, how different parts of the set up reflect each other.

The thing is, Poirot, that there are children for whom childcare and pre-school are the only calm and ordered places in a dysfuntcional life. These are the ones for who intervention provides the greatest benefit, and for whom the delightful family childhood you describe is never going to happen. Staff trained in early childhood development can also identify problems that can best be helped by early intervention. Again, not necessary in your ideal family who would doubtless be alert to any difficulties being experienced by their children, but vital for children from families who are, for a variety of reasons, clueless and/or disinterested. So we can either sit back and say it is the parents' problem and watch the cycle of social disadvantage keep on rolling through the next generation or we can try to help children out of trouble.

If you have ever observed families from different socio-economic groups you will have noticed that the further down the pecking order the less likely it is for children to ever have a discussion with their parents. Communication is constructed as a series of commands: Come here, sit down, don't do that, get in the car. No please, no thank you, no reason given for the command. They need to learn what you and I would regard as normal social interaction, and they don't learn it at home. When they start school without these basic skills they can really struggle.

I have learned that day care centres don't see Day Care in the same terms as me.

To me, they're just minding my kids, but to them they're taking my children on a fantastic educational journey of personal fulfillment in an encouraging inclusive atmosphere.

To me, my kids painted some lines on some paper. To them, they have explored the wonderful world of colours with the care center's 'Art Specialist' (No sh1t it's on their web site), and learned to express themselves using a visual medium.

In the end our 'goals and expectations' are different. I'm happy if the kids are kept off the road, and not kicked in the head by another kid daily. The center are looking to be the cornerstone of my child's life, and feel entirely responsible for my child's emotional, physical and intellectual development.

But I can see candide's point. My kids go 2 days a week, and the extra money earned while they are out of the way allows us the luxury of overseas travel to see grandparents more often. Some kids have but one parent, working dog-long days, with emotional problems and drug dependencies, and are there all week.

Each to their own,